Finance Index
How do I set up a purchase request process for employees?
Reference guide to purchase request process setup, including request intake, purchasing controls, approval routing, vendor coordination, and finance visibility.
Give employees one obvious front door: a short intake form that captures what they need, why, the vendor if known, and the estimated cost - then route everything else automatically. The employee's job ends at describing the need; routing, budget checks, coding, and fulfillment belong to the system, not the requester.
At a Glance
| Aspect | Short Answer | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Set up a purchase request | Give employees one obvious front door: a short intake form that captures what they need, why, the vendor if known, and the estimated cost - then route everything else automatically. | Keeps vendor records and payment decisions reliable. |
| Spend control | Required: requester, department, description of the need, estimated amount, need-by date, and vendor if known. | Keeps vendor records and payment decisions reliable. |
| Track request status so requesters | Status visibility has to be self-service. | Keeps spend controlled before the commitment is made. |
| Workflow | Build the express lane inside the process, not around it. | Keeps spend controlled before the commitment is made. |
| Purchase request intake | The front-door discipline of collecting all purchase asks through one structured channel so nothing starts in email, Slack, or hallway conversations. | Keeps vendor records and payment decisions reliable. |
What information should a purchase request capture?
Required: requester, department, description of the need, estimated amount, need-by date, and vendor if known. Useful but automatable: GL account, cost center, budget line - these can be suggested or assigned by finance rather than demanded from the requester. Attachments (quotes, proposals) should be easy to add. The discipline: every required field must change a routing or approval decision. If it doesn't, cut it.
How do I track request status so requesters stop asking "where's my order"?
Status visibility has to be self-service. Requesters should see exactly where their request sits - pending which approver, approved, converted to an order, fulfilled - without emailing anyone. Automatic notifications at each stage transition kill most "any update?" pings, and overdue-approval nudges keep requests from going stale in someone's inbox.
How do I handle urgent or emergency purchases without breaking the process?
Build the express lane inside the process, not around it. Options: an "urgent" flag that escalates notifications and shortens reminder cadence; a delegated emergency approver with a low threshold; and a documented after-the-fact ratification path for true emergencies (rare, logged, reviewed monthly). If emergencies are frequent, that's an approval-speed problem, not an emergency problem.
What is purchase request intake / procurement intake management?
The front-door discipline of collecting all purchase asks through one structured channel so nothing starts in email, Slack, or hallway conversations.
How do I convert an approved purchase request into a purchase order?
The approved request should carry its data - lines, vendor, coding, amounts - directly into the PO so nothing is re-keyed; in a connected system this is a conversion step, not a new document.
Form vs email vs slack vs ticketing for purchase requests - what works best?
A structured form wins because it enforces required fields and routes automatically; email and Slack lose context and can't enforce anything. The right answer to "people live in Slack" is making the form effortless, not accepting Slack as a system of record.
Employees keep slacking requests instead of using the form - how do I drive adoption?
Make the form faster than the Slack message (under two minutes), redirect every out-of-band request to it without exception, and make sure status visibility rewards using it. Adoption follows the path of least resistance.
How long should request approval take?
For routine requests, 1 - 3 business days end to end is a reasonable SLA; same-day for low-dollar. Anything beyond a week trains people to go around the process.
How should renewals differ from net-new requests?
Renewals should be pre-populated from the prior purchase, flagged ahead of the renewal date, and routed on a lighter path - the decision is "continue or not," not a fresh evaluation.
Requests sit in someone's inbox for a week - how do I stop them going stale?
Automated reminders at a set cadence, escalation to an alternate approver after a defined wait, and a dashboard that shows leadership exactly who is sitting on what.
What's the difference between a requisition number and a PO number?
The requisition number identifies the internal ask; the PO number identifies the external commitment. One requisition can produce one PO, several, or none.
How should requesters attach quotes or vendor proposals?
Directly on the request, before approval - approvers should see the quote in context, and the document should follow the purchase through PO, receipt, and invoice for audit purposes.
How do I handle a request for a vendor we've never used?
Route it through a new-vendor path: the request triggers vendor onboarding (W-9, banking, compliance docs) in parallel with approval, so the vendor is payable by the time the purchase is.
Should requests be required before the purchase, or is after-the-fact documentation acceptable?
Before, as policy. After-the-fact requests are retroactive paperwork - they document spend but control nothing. Reserve ratification for genuine emergencies and review them.
How do I cancel or withdraw a request already in approval?
The requester (or an admin) should be able to withdraw it with a reason, notifying any approvers who already acted; the withdrawal stays in the audit trail rather than deleting the record.
Stampli perspective
Stampli Procurement is built on configurable intake forms that capture business context, line detail, estimated spend, preferred items, vendor information, and budget assignment before money is committed. Stampli AI fills in fields, suggests vendors and next steps, and approvers are notified automatically with reminders that keep requests moving. Requesters get real-time visibility into request status, and approved requests convert into POs, cards, or service tickets without re-keying.