Create Purchase Requests

A purchase request (PR) asks for items for your store. It goes to the buyer for prices and vendors, then to approvers.

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Business Value

• Lets you build a request as a draft, so approvals never start by accident.
• Sets one store or one vendor for every line at once.
• Keeps item approvals when the buyer changes the vendor or the price.
• Returns a single line to the creator or to an earlier approval level.
• Logs every change and approval per item, by item number and name.

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Use Cases

• A department head drafts the monthly order and submits it when it is complete.
• A buyer sets one vendor for all lines, then changes the two that come from elsewhere.
• A Level 3 approver finds a price problem and returns one item to Level 2.

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How It Works

To follow a request’s ordering, approval and closing, see Purchase Requests – Status, Authorization & Closing.

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Create a Purchase Request

1. Add a Description, for example “Monthly order”.
2. Add the Date.
3. Select the cost control Buyer. The buyer sets item prices and chooses vendors.
4. Add each item on its own line.
5. Choose the store that will receive the items.
6. Enter the quantity for each item.
7. Click Save and edit.

After the first save, the buyer gets an email about the request.

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Item Description

You can add a description to each item line.

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Draft and Submit

A saved request starts as Draft.

• In Draft, only Submit for Approval shows.
• Submit for Approval moves the request to Pending. Then Approve, Reject and Create PO show.
• Return to Draft shows only while no action has been taken in Pending.
• Only the request’s creator can Submit for Approval or Return to Draft.
• You cannot return a request to draft if it has approved items.

In Pending, you can edit only these fields:

• Unit Price
• Discount
• Total
• Vendor

To find your drafts, open Purchasing → Purchase Requests and search by the Draft state.

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The Buyer Adds Prices and Vendors

1. Open the purchase request.
2. Enter the total price or the unit price. The other one is worked out for you.
3. Set a vendor on each line.
4. Click Save and edit.

To compare vendor prices on each line, see Compare Vendor Prices in Purchase Requests.

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Bulk Update Store and Vendor

The Bulk Update section on the request header has two fields.

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Store

• Set before adding items: each item you add takes that store, even if it has a default receiving store.
• Set or changed after adding items: every line changes to that store right away. Lines that had a store change too.
• Items added after a change take the new store.
• The help text says “Selecting a store will apply to all line items below.”
• It works like the From Store field on the Store Usage screen.

The Item picker follows the store:

• After you set a header store, each line’s Item picker lists only items linked to that store.
• Items not linked to any store still show on every line.
• Lines added later follow the same filter while the header store is set.
• Items already picked on a line stay as they are.

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Vendor

• The vendor you set applies to every current line right away.
• Only the buyer assigned to the request can edit it. The same rule applies to the vendor on each line.

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Usage Department

A request has a department field. It tracks spending for each division.

• A requester adds one usage department per request.
• Requesters can add requests only for usage departments linked to their divisions.
• Requesters see only the requests for their usage departments, even after resetting the search.

Create a usage department: add divisions to your account families.

1. Add divisions to the account family. You can add more than one.
2. Click Save.

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Print a Purchase Request

Click print at the top right of the request. To show approvers’ signatures on the printout, see Show or Hide Approvers’ Signatures.

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Approve and Reject Items

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Approvals Stay When the Vendor or Price Changes

• The creator or buyer can change the vendor or unit price on an item that already has approvals.
• All approvals stay valid and visible. No level is reset.
• Editing any other field follows the normal workflow.
• If you delete an item and add it again, approvals start over.
• Every vendor or price change is saved in the item history.

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Reject or Return Items

1. Select one or more items.
2. Click Reject.

3. Enter a Rejection Note (10–300 characters). It is saved with your name, the date, the time and your approval level.

4. Choose where the item goes, then submit.

After a return:

• Only the creator can edit and submit items returned to them, with Submit Returned Items.
• All other items are locked.
• Items returned to a level keep the approvals below it.
• Approval history and rejection notes always show.

Each item shows its state by color:

• Green: Approved
• Yellow/Orange: Pending
• Red: Rejected
• Own color or icon: Returned

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History Log

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Clone a Purchase Request

You can clone a request in any status.