Purchase Requisition Forms: A Guide to Simplify Procurement Processes

Purchase requisition forms are internal documents employees use to request resources they need — ranging from simple office supplies to advanced SaaS tools.

So, whether it is a box of pens or a subscription to project management software, employees don’t just purchase goods directly. Instead, they raise requisitions for proper approvals and vendor selection to avoid maverick spending.

Such a practice is especially important when companies have a decentralized spending ecosystem, where employees make purchasing decisions independently, but procurement teams struggle to consolidate and monitor these expenses.

So, this blog will explore purchase requisitions and their role in streamlining the procurement process. 

Purchase Requisition Vs Purchase Order  

A purchase requisition is the step that comes before sending out a purchase order.

While a purchase order is a formal agreement with a vendor to deliver specified goods, a purchase requisition is a document used by teams to communicate resource needs and seek approval before any purchase is processed.

For example, if a team realizes they need stationery items, they can buy them themselves and later submit a reimbursement request or use corporate cards. 

However, this becomes problematic when employees purchase from random vendors, leading the company to pay higher prices. The discounts negotiated with approved vendors are wasted.

This is where a purchase requisition allows the procurement team to check if the requested resources are already available, in line with internal policies, and sourced from approved vendors.

6-Step Purchase Requisition Process

For most companies, the purchase requisition process is simple and straightforward: employees fill out a form, get manager approval, and the procurement team places an order with preferred vendors. 

However, to ensure thoroughness and completeness, the process can be strengthened with the following steps. 

By adding these layers of verification and validation, companies streamline their procurement, reduce errors, and enhance cost management. 

Here's a breakdown of the 6-step purchase requisition process that helps ensure efficiency and control at every stage:

1. Fill out the Purchase Request Form

The first step in the process is for the employee to complete a purchase request form, specifying the resources they need—whether it’s office supplies, equipment, or services. 

This form would include detailed descriptions, quantities, and any relevant specifications to ensure clarity in what is being requested.

2. Obtain Approvals From Managers

Once the request form is completed, it must be submitted for managerial approval. 

Managers review the request to assess its necessity, compliance with departmental goals, and overall relevance to the team's needs. 

Approvals are typically required at this stage to ensure that the purchase aligns with company objectives and priorities.

3. Validate Internal Policies

After the manager approves it, the purchase request is reviewed against internal policies. 

This step ensures that the requested resources meet company guidelines, such as procurement processes, vendor preferences, and any compliance regulations. 

This validation helps avoid unauthorized or non-compliant purchases.

4. Check Inventory

Next, the procurement team checks the inventory to determine whether the requested resources are available. 

If the requested items are already in stock, the resources are sent over directly, eliminating unnecessary purchases and ensuring better resource utilization.

5. Assess Alignment With the Budget

The request is evaluated before purchasing to ensure it aligns with the allocated budget. 

The procurement team checks if the cost of the requested items fits within the approved budget, ensuring that spending remains within financial constraints. 

If the request exceeds the budget, further adjustments or approvals are required.

6. Create the Purchase Order

Once all approvals and validations are completed, the purchase requisition is converted into a purchase order. 

The purchase order is a formal document sent to the vendor detailing the items or services to be delivered, agreed-upon prices, and other transaction terms. This step finalizes the purchase process and initiates the delivery of goods or services.

Benefits of the Purchase Requisition Process

While smaller teams have a quicker procurement process—sometimes skipping detailed steps—larger firms managing thousands of purchases each month rely on a structured approach. 

Regardless of company size, integrating purchase requisition forms into the procurement workflow ensures greater control, efficiency, and compliance. Below are the key benefits of using purchase requisitions, explained in detail:

Ensures Compliance With Company Policies

Purchase requisition forms act as a checkpoint to ensure all purchases adhere to company policies, including preferred vendor usage, spending limits, and approval hierarchies. This reduces the risk of unauthorized or non-compliant spending.

Prevents Budget Misuse

By validating requests against the allocated budget, purchase requisitions prevent overspending and misuse of funds, ensuring that all purchases stay within financial constraints.

Involves Stakeholders Early in the Process

Requisitions require managerial and stakeholder approvals, encouraging collaboration and transparency. This involvement ensures that the purchase aligns with broader organizational goals and priorities.

Guarantees Purchases From Preferred Vendors

Purchase requisitions direct procurement teams to source goods or services from approved vendors, enabling companies to leverage negotiated discounts, maintain quality standards, and strengthen vendor relationships.

Facilitates Timely Availability of Resources

By initiating the process early and including detailed requirements, purchase requisitions help procurement teams arrange the needed resources promptly, avoiding delays and disruptions in operations.

Reduces Maverick and Wasteful Spending

Requisition forms discourage employees from making ad hoc purchases from random vendors, reducing wasteful spending and ensuring better control over procurement activities.

Improves Inventory Utilization

Checking inventory during the requisition process ensures that existing resources are utilized before new purchases are made. This prevents unnecessary expenses and optimizes resource use.

Enhances Recordkeeping and Auditing

Purchase requisitions create a documented trail of all procurement activities, making it easier to track spending, resolve disputes, and streamline auditing processes.

Supports Better Budget Planning

With requisition data, companies' procurement spend analysis and procurement budgeting are more effective, improving financial forecasting and decision-making.

How Purchase Requisition Becomes a Challenge for Procurement Teams

Purchase requisitions, intended to streamline procurement, often become a source of inefficiency and frustration for procurement teams. What should be a straightforward process turns into a tangled web of delays and mismanagement.

1. Incomplete or inaccurate purchase requisition forms

Employees overlook details like specific quantities, delivery timelines, or vendor preferences, forcing procurement teams to seek clarifications, disrupting workflows and delaying purchases.

2. Lack of standardization

No two forms look the same—different teams submit requests in varied formats, making it challenging to process and compare them. This inconsistency slows decision-making and increases the likelihood of misinterpretation, adding to the inefficiencies.

3. Key stakeholders are brought in too late

Finance teams, compliance officers, or legal advisors only get involved after a requisition has been approved. At this point, aligning the request with internal policies, vendor agreements, or budget constraints requires significant rework, negating any progress made up to that stage.

Especially with manual processes and communications happening back and forth on Slack and email threads, it creates communication gaps. This results in low visibility, leaving employees uncertain about when—or even if—their needs will be addressed.

Ultimately, the time-consuming and cumbersome nature of the process discourages employees from following it altogether. For procurement teams, this lack of adoption creates additional pressure to chase down approvals or manually resolve discrepancies.

As these challenges mount, they create a domino effect that undermines the very purpose of purchase requisitions. Instead of enabling efficiency and accountability, the process becomes a drain on resources, with procurement teams caught in a cycle of chasing approvals, reconciling errors, and managing ad hoc purchases.

Strengthening Purchase Requisition Workflow 

These challenges can easily be fixed with a well-defined purchase requisition workflow. 

Such a workflow standardizes forms, centralizes data, and ensures accurate submissions, streamlining approvals and aligning requisitions with budgets, policies, and vendor agreements. It also improves visibility, making it easy for employees and procurement teams to track and manage requests without unnecessary delays.

Yet, many companies remain stuck in inefficient processes, even with standardized forms in place. While employees fill out the necessary information, approvals remain fragmented, with little to no visibility. This leaves procurement teams scrambling to gather incomplete data and manually enter it into ERPs or create purchase orders. 

To address these challenges, we've written a detailed blog outlining how to create an efficient purchase requisition workflow. It covers best practices for reducing manual work, improving visibility, and ensuring alignment with policies and budgets.