A Purchase Requisition Form, which may also be referred to as a Purchase Request, is a document that is used within an organisation, whether in the public, private or voluntary sector, to tell the department responsible for purchasing items, that an item is required. Generally the form will offer information about the number of items that are required, the type of items and when the items are needed by.
However, there is other information that should be included to ensure that the Purchase Requisition Form (PRF) is as comprehensive as possible. The PRF is the trigger for the purchasing of items and needs to clearly show who authorised the purchase of goods and where the need originated, so that it can be retained if required for proof in the future.
If items are simply bought with no records kept then there is no proof of who bought the item, why they bought the item and who authorised it, in fact it would simply be unmanageable for companies to exist without purchase requisitions, especially if the company is a large one and it is hard to keep track of expenditure authorisations. It needs to have some key elements, but should not be overly complicated, or it will require too much administrative overhead.
Layout
The requisition requires the purchasing department to supply goods. So if an employee requires10,000 screws, then they would fill out a PRF. The layout of the form needs to include the following:
What is required: This section outlines exactly what is required. There needs to be room for the employee to describe or provide specification on what is required, so that the correct items are bought.
Quantity required: This part of the PRF indicates exactly how many are required. After all the purchasing department may not be familiar with end user requirements, so they have to be told the minimum of how many items are needed (note this may not be how many are procured due to Minimum Order Quantities dictated by the supplier).
Details of Supplier: Possible sources of supply need to be highlighted to support the purchasing department in obtaining price and delivery information. There are occasions when the purchasing department may hold details of suppliers for specific goods, so the supplier put forward may not be used.
Need by date: It is important to know when the items are required. If they are urgent then this needs to be highlighted but the delivery date does need to be included. If items have to be secured by a certain date then this has to be clearly stated within the form.
Budget information: The purchasing department will need to know how much money its authorised to spend coupled with what booking/cost code will be charged.
Who Authorised this: There is a need for a signature or electronic input as to who actually authorised this purchase. Then if there is a problem in the future, then it is clear who actually said that it was ok to purchase these items.
Any other information: This section should include any other relevant information that needs to be included for some specific orders. That could be information about the fragility of the goods requested or the way that they need to be transported or stored. It is the section where any ‘special needs’ can be highlighted.
Purchase Requisition Forms And Purchase Orders
A PRF is an internal document. It cannot be used to secure the actual goods and items themselves. It does not leave the organisation, whereas a purchase order is an order between two companies and leaves one company to be received by another, even if this is done electronically. A PRF cannot be used outside the company but simply is a clear record of what was purchased and who instigated the order.
Comments
2 Responses to “Key Elements To Include In Your Purchase Requisition Form”
A nice summary of the requisition form basic requirements. Thanks for sharing; there really aren’t enough of these basic procurement concepts on the web.
In development of our requisition and procurement solution, eRequester, we have seen that authorization routing is a key area where requisition approvals can stumble. This is an area where a web-based solution can really enhance the requisition process by codifying approval routing based on organizational requirements. A requisition and procurement solution can also provide visibility into where the requisition is at in the approval hierarchy — for both the request originator as well as others on the approval chain, including the purchasing manager in the accounting department.
A requisition form in itself (paper or digital) really can’t compare in terms of purchasing transparency.
thank you very much for sharing such a useful information