Purchase Requests: A Complete Guide for Procurement Teams
- John
- Sep 12, 2025
- 4 min read
Table of contents:
If you don't have time to read the whole article, here’s a quick discussion outline to highlight the key ideas:
Procurement isn’t just about negotiating contracts and issuing purchase orders. It starts much earlier with a simple but critical document: the purchase request. Get this step right, and you’ll have visibility, control, and smoother operations. Get it wrong, and you’ll face maverick spending, budget overruns, and constant firefighting.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
What a purchase request is (and how it differs from a purchase order).
Why purchase requests are vital for procurement teams.
The step-by-step process to create and approve them.
The benefits of a structured request system.
How technology (and Prokuria) can make the whole process painless.
What is a Purchase Request?
A purchase request (PR) is an internal document an employee submits to request goods or services from procurement. It’s not yet an order; it’s essentially a formal “ask” that requires review and approval before moving forward.
Think of it as the gatekeeper between “I need this” and “Let’s buy this.” Once approved, the purchase request can be converted into a purchase order (PO), which is the actual document sent to the supplier.
Curious about the difference? We’ll break it down in the next section.
Why are Purchase Requests Important?
At first glance, purchase requests may look like “extra paperwork.” But in practice, they’re a safeguard for financial discipline, compliance, and transparency.
Budget control: By requiring approvals, companies ensure no money leaves the organization without oversight.
Policy compliance: PRs enforce procurement rules, such as ordering only from approved suppliers or keeping within category limits.
Operational clarity: Procurement knows in advance what departments need, which prevents last-minute urgent purchases that usually cost more.
Stronger negotiations: When procurement teams have visibility into requests, they can consolidate needs across departments. For example, instead of three departments each buying laptops separately, procurement can negotiate a bulk discount.
In short, purchase requests balance flexibility for employees (they can easily ask for what they need) with control for procurement (they can ensure it’s bought the right way).
Purchase Request vs Purchase Order
These two terms often get confused, but they serve very different roles. Here’s a side-by-side comparison:
The Purchase Request Process (Step by Step)
Here’s how a standard purchase request workflow looks:
Need identified – An employee spots a requirement: raw materials for production, office supplies, or a new software license.
Form submission – The employee fills out a PR with details such as item description, quantity, estimated cost, and urgency. In some companies, this is still done via email or Excel—but digital platforms now make this step much easier.
Managerial review – The request moves to the employee’s manager or budget holder for approval. They check if the request is reasonable and within budget.
Procurement evaluation – Once approved, procurement verifies compliance with supplier lists, contract terms, and overall strategy.
Decision – The request is either approved, modified, or rejected. If approved, it’s converted into a purchase order (PO) that gets sent to the supplier.
This process ensures purchases align with both department needs and company strategy, creating a balance between autonomy and control.
Key Information in a Purchase Request
Not all purchase requests are created equal. A good one includes enough detail for procurement to decide without chasing the requester. Typical fields include:
Item description and quantity – Clear, precise details avoid miscommunication.
Suggested supplier – Optional, but useful if the requester knows a preferred vendor.
Estimated cost and budget code – So finance can check whether the spend fits within budget.
Delivery timeline – Urgency often determines procurement strategy.
Requester details – Who’s making the request and for which department.
Approval routing – Which managers or roles need to sign off.
These fields ensure procurement has everything needed to validate the request without chasing down missing information.
Benefits of a Structured Purchase Request Process
Companies that adopt a structured PR process see measurable improvements:
Cost control: Prevents impulse purchases and enforces budget discipline.
Audit trail: Every decision is documented, making compliance audits smoother.
Efficiency: Clear workflows mean faster approvals and fewer bottlenecks.
Supplier leverage: Consolidated requests strengthen negotiation power.
Accuracy: Less risk of duplicate orders or missing details.
Think of it as building lanes on a highway. Without lanes, cars drift, swerve, and cause chaos. With lanes, traffic flows faster and safer. PRs are the “lanes” of procurement.
Common Challenges Without a Proper PR Process
When organizations skip or underinvest in purchase requests, issues pile up quickly:
Maverick spending – Employees order directly from suppliers, bypassing procurement.
Budget overruns – Approvals happen too late, after money is already spent.
Data chaos – Requests get lost in email chains or spreadsheets.
Delays – Without clear approval flows, urgent requests stall.
In other words - chaos.
How Technology Streamlines Purchase Requests
Paper forms and email approvals worked 20 years ago. Today, procurement teams use digital platforms to make PRs painless. The advantages include:
Automated workflows – Requests route instantly to the right approvers.
Budget integration – Requests are checked against real-time budget data.
Mobile access – Employees can submit requests on the go.
Status tracking – Everyone sees where a request stands, no chasing needed.
The result is not just speed, but visibility. Procurement leaders can analyze request patterns, anticipate needs, and even renegotiate supplier contracts based on recurring demand.
How Prokuria Helps with Purchase Requests
Prokuria takes the headache out of managing purchase requests. Instead of scattered emails and Excel files, everything runs in one intuitive platform:
Employees submit requests with all the right fields from the start.
Approvals flow automatically to managers and finance.
Procurement can turn approved PRs into POs with one click.
Dashboards provide complete visibility into requests across the company.
The outcome? Faster approvals, fewer mistakes, and more control over spend.
Ready to simplify your purchase request process? Book a free demo with Prokuria and see how it works in practice.