Why do criteria have weights?

Not every factor matters equally - a business prioritizing cost above all else should weight Price higher than Warranty. The weighted score multiplies each rating by its criterion's weight, so criteria you care more about have proportionally more influence on the final ranking.

What should the weights add up to?

100, ideally - the tool works with any total, but weights summing to 100 make each criterion's percentage contribution intuitive to read at a glance.

Can I change the default criteria?

Yes - rename any criterion, adjust its weight, add new criteria (e.g. sustainability, geographic proximity), or remove ones that don't apply to your evaluation.

How many vendors can I compare?

Any number - add as many as you're evaluating. The radar chart and matrix scale to however many vendors you add.

Analysis

Vendor Comparison Sheet

Choosing between suppliers by gut feel or a single factor like price often overlooks quality, reliability, or support issues that show up later. Accountdesq's Vendor Comparison Sheet formalizes the decision: rate each vendor 1-10 on every criterion that matters - price, quality, delivery reliability, lead time, credit terms, support, warranty, minimum order quantity, shipping cost, and tax/GST compliance by default, all fully customizable - assign a weight to each criterion reflecting how much it matters to your business, and get a weighted score, a radar chart visualizing every vendor's profile at a glance, and a plain-English recommendation naming the strongest overall choice and why.

Read the full guide

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How it works

Add the vendors you're evaluating, adjust the default criteria and weights (or add your own), and rate each vendor 1-10 on every criterion - 10 always means best performance on that specific criterion. The tool calculates each vendor's weighted score out of 100, ranks them, identifies each vendor's strongest and weakest criteria, and generates a recommendation naming the top vendor, the gap to the runner-up, and any weak points worth negotiating on. Export the full comparison matrix and ranking as a PDF or Excel report.

Vendors

Columns: Criterion, then one column per vendor with its 1-10 score

Criteria, Weights & Scores (1-10 per vendor)

Total weight: 100%

Criterion	Weight %	Vendor A	Vendor B

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Comparing vendors on price alone while ignoring quality, reliability, and support differences
Not weighting criteria at all, letting every factor count equally even when some matter far more than others
Scoring vendors from memory instead of gathering comparable, current quotes and references
Picking the highest scorer without reading the weakness list - the runner-up may be safer if the winner's weak points are deal-breakers

Best Practices

Agree on criteria and weights BEFORE scoring vendors, so the process isn't reverse-engineered to justify a preferred choice
Get multiple people to score independently, then average or discuss disagreements
Re-run the comparison periodically for critical suppliers, not just at initial selection
Use the weakness list as your starting point for contract negotiation, not just the final ranking

Why use this tool?

A documented, weighted vendor comparison is far more defensible - to a boss, a board, or an auditor - than 'we went with the cheapest one' or 'we've always used them.' Making the weighting explicit also surfaces disagreements early: if procurement weights price highest but operations weights reliability highest, that's worth resolving before signing a contract, not after a late delivery.

Frequently Asked Questions

Rate each vendor 1-10 on every criterion, where 10 means that vendor performs best on that specific criterion. For a criterion like Price, a 10 means highly competitive pricing - you're rating competitiveness, not entering a raw price figure.

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Disclaimer: Accountdesq provides this Vendor Comparison Sheet for informational and convenience purposes only. Output is not a substitute for professional accounting, legal, or tax advice. No data entered is transmitted to or stored on our servers - all calculations happen locally in your browser. Accountdesq accepts no liability for errors in generated documents. Always consult a qualified accountant or tax professional for compliance matters.