Knowledge Base

Procurement

This page manages purchase requests for office supplies, IT equipment, furniture, software, and services, as well as the vendors you order from. Every purchase request follows a fixed process from creation through to delivery.

What can I do here?

  • Create and edit purchase requests while they are still a draft
  • Submit purchase requests, then approve or reject them
  • Mark approved requests as ordered, and later as received
  • Create and search vendors, and see their active status
  • Search and filter by title, status, category, and other criteria
Screenshot of the Procurement pageScreenshot of the Procurement page
View: /hr/procurement

Step by step

  1. Create a new purchase request: Switch to the "Requests" tab, click "New Purchase Request", fill in title, requester, category, estimated amount, urgency, vendor, and description, then save. The request is created as a draft.
  2. Submit the purchase request: For a request in "Draft" status, click the submit icon. The request moves to "Submitted" status and awaits approval.
  3. Approve or reject: For a submitted request, use the green or red icons to approve or reject it.
  4. Order and record receipt: Mark an approved request as "Ordered" via the truck icon once the order has been placed with the vendor. Once the goods arrive, mark it as "Received" via the package icon.
Rebuilt excerpt of the view: /hr/procurement

Fields explained

Field Meaning Notes/Impact
Title Short description of the purchase request Required
Requester Person the request is made for/by Required, captured as an employee ID
Category Type of purchase (see Values & status) Drives the colored category badge in the table
Estimated Amount Expected cost of the purchase Optional; shown together with the currency
Urgency How urgent the purchase is (see Values & status) Affects display only, no automatic escalation
Vendor Name of the desired vendor as free text Optional; independent of the vendor directory in the "Vendors" tab
Description More detailed explanation of the purchase Optional
Created At Date the request was created Set automatically
Status Current stage in the procurement process (see Values & status) Determines which actions are available

Vendors tab:

Field Meaning Notes/Impact
Name Vendor's company name Required
Contact Person Contact person at the vendor Optional
Email Vendor's email address Optional
Phone Vendor's phone number Optional
Website Vendor's web address Optional; shown in the table as a clickable link
Address Vendor's postal address Optional
Status Active or Inactive New vendors are created as active by default

Values & status

Purchase request status

Label Meaning What happens then
Draft Request was created but not yet submitted Can be edited, submitted, or deleted
Submitted Request was put forward for approval Can be approved or rejected
Approved Request has been approved Can be marked as ordered
Rejected Request was not approved No further actions in the normal flow
Ordered Order has been placed with the vendor Can be marked as received
Received Goods or service have arrived Process complete
Cancelled Request was withdrawn Can be deleted

Category

Label Meaning
Office Supplies Consumables and office equipment
IT Equipment Hardware and technical accessories
Furniture Office furniture
Software Software licenses and subscriptions
Services Externally purchased services
Other Anything that doesn't fit another category

Urgency

Label Meaning
Low No rush
Normal Standard processing
High Should be handled with priority
Urgent Requires immediate attention 
flowchart LR
    A[Draft] -->|Submit| B[Submitted]
    B -->|Approve| C[Approved]
    B -->|Reject| D[Rejected]
    C -->|Mark as Ordered| E[Ordered]
    E -->|Mark as Received| F[Received]
    A -->|Delete| G[Cancelled/deleted]

FAQ

Can I still change a purchase request after it has been submitted?
No. Once a request has moved past "Draft" (submitted, approved, ordered, etc.), its details can no longer be edited. Only requests in "Draft" status can be changed.

Why is there no delete button on my purchase request?
Deleting is only possible for requests in "Draft" or "Cancelled" status, to prevent accidentally removing requests that are already in progress.

What's the difference between the vendor field on a purchase request and the vendor directory?
The vendor field on a purchase request is a free-text field for the name of the desired vendor. The vendor directory in the "Vendors" tab is a separate list of contact details — the two are not currently linked automatically.

Who can approve a purchase request?
This depends on that person's permissions in the system. Not everyone with access to this page can automatically approve requests.

What exactly does the estimated amount mean?
It's a cost estimate at the time the request was made, not a binding invoice amount.