Purchase Request
Go to: Purchase → Purchase Request
A Purchase Request records an internal need: what material is required, how much, by when, and into which warehouse. It is the document that turns “we’re running out of packing tape” into something procurement can act on and finance can trace.
It commits you to nothing. No supplier, no price, no stock movement — that is exactly why it is safe to let anyone raise one.
Where requests come from
| Source | How it happens |
|---|---|
| Manually | Someone raises it from the Purchase Request screen |
| Reorder rules | Stock falls below its reorder level and a request is created automatically — instantly or at midnight, per your Reorder Rules |
| Work Order | Production needs material; the request rows are linked back to the work order item |
A purchase request is optional. If you already know the supplier and the price, go straight to a Purchase Order. The request exists to capture demand that has no order yet.
Header fields
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Number | Auto-generated document number |
| Posting Date | When the request was raised |
| Purpose | Why the material is needed — Purchase, Manufacture, Material Issue, or Material Transfer |
| Required By | The date the material is actually needed. This is what drives urgency |
| Target Warehouse | Where the material should end up |
| Status | Draft → Pending → Ordered / Cancelled |
| Terms and Conditions | Free text or a saved template |
| Notes | Free text — used to record why a request was cancelled |
Purposes
| Purpose | Use when |
|---|---|
| Purchase | Material must be bought from a supplier |
| Manufacture | The need will be met by producing it in-house |
| Material Issue | Existing stock should be issued to meet the need |
| Material Transfer | Stock exists elsewhere and should be moved |
Only Purchase requests are expected to become purchase orders. The other purposes let you record a need and then resolve it from your own stock or production instead of buying — which is often the cheaper answer.
Item rows
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Item | What is needed |
| Item Description | Free-text detail — specification, grade, reason |
| Quantity | How much is needed |
| UOM / Conversion Factor | Unit the quantity is expressed in |
| Required By | Per-row need date, where rows differ |
| Target Warehouse | Per-row destination, where rows differ from the header |
Creating a purchase request
Open the screen
Navigate to Purchase → Purchase Request and click New.
Set the purpose and dates
Choose the Purpose, set the posting date, and — most importantly — a realistic Required By date.
Set the target warehouse
Where the material should be delivered.
Add the items
Item, quantity, and unit. Use Item Description to record specification detail a buyer would otherwise have to ask for.
Save, then send for approval
The request starts as Draft. Move it to Pending for approval.
Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Being prepared |
| Pending | Approved and awaiting action by procurement |
| Ordered | A purchase order raised from this request has been approved |
| Cancelled | No longer required — record why in Notes |
A partial order still marks the request Ordered. When a purchase order created from this request is approved, the request moves to Ordered regardless of how much of the requested quantity was actually ordered. Order 100 out of 500 and the request is still Ordered.
So the status tells you “an order was raised from this” — not “this need has been fully covered”. If you order in stages, raise a separate request for the remainder, or track the shortfall through the Procurement Tracker rather than relying on the request status.
What happens next
A request does not become an order by itself. Someone in procurement either:
| Next step | When |
|---|---|
| Raise a Supplier Quotation | You want to compare prices first |
| Raise a Purchase Order directly | Supplier and price are already known — pull the rows in with Get Items |
| Meet it from stock instead | The purpose was Material Issue or Transfer |
| Cancel it | No longer needed |
Raising a purchase order from a request does not change the request on its own — the request moves to Ordered when that purchase order is approved. See the warning under Statuses: this happens even when only part of the requested quantity was ordered.
Reorder-driven requests
If Reorder Rules have Auto Create Purchase Request switched on, ERPX raises requests for you when stock breaches a reorder level. Two things worth knowing:
- Quantities already covered by an open request (Draft or Pending) are not requested again, so you do not get duplicates.
- Timing is either Instantly or At Midnight. Midnight batches a day’s worth of breaches into fewer requests.
Reports
| Report | Answers |
|---|---|
| Procurement Tracker | Where each request is, from raising through to order fulfilment |
| Stock Balance | Whether the need still exists |
Tips
- Put a real date in Required By. It is the only field that tells a buyer what to work on first.
- Use Item Description generously — specification ambiguity is the most common cause of a wrong delivery.
- Cancel requests you no longer need rather than leaving them Pending; stale demand distorts the tracker.
- Review auto-created reorder requests daily. They are a prompt to buy, not a decision to buy.