How to Approve a Purchase Requisition

Why approvals stall or get signed by the wrong person

If the buyer who typed the request is also the person who approves it, the control is only a formality. If the approver is named in a policy document that nobody opens, the request waits in a mailbox until someone chases it.

Manager approval is another common gap. The policy says the reporting manager decides, but the sheet has a column anyone can tick. When the manager is away, the request either waits forever or is approved by whoever is online.

A workflow on the requisition names the stage, blocks the requester, and keeps reject and revise on the same record. Delegation covers a date range. Escalation marks the wait. It does not silently hand the decision to someone else.

Why this happens

• No workflow applies, so submit is refused.
• The requester tries to approve their own requisition.
• Manager or department head is used when HRMS is not licensed.
• A late approval is assumed to have moved to a different person.

Biznsbook addresses this through ordered approval stages, role or named-user approvers, delegation for a date range, escalation without reassignment in the Procurement module. The module creates a draft purchase order in Purchase. It does not receive stock and it does not post journals.

Buying problems rarely come from one large order. They come from requests that were approved in email, retyped, and then impossible to match. One requisition, with the decision and the draft order attached, removes that gap.

Step-by-step: Approve a Purchase Requisition

Written for buyers and approvers who need a request on record before a purchase order. The steps follow Procurement in Biznsbook.

1. Open Settings and keep a workflow. Licensing seeds one workflow for both manual and replenishment requisitions, with one stage: anyone in the Company Admin role. You can change that stage.
2. Choose who acts at each stage. A stage can name anyone in a role, a specific user, the requester's reporting manager, or the requester's department head. Stages run in order.
3. Use manager or department head only with HRMS. Those two stage types read the employee on the requisition, then the reporting manager or the department head, then the linked user. A workflow cannot be saved with those stages when HRMS is not licensed. If the person cannot be resolved at submit, the requisition stays a draft and the buyer sees the reason.
4. Submit from the requisition. Submit moves it to pending approval. Approve permission is not enough: the person must be the assigned approver, a member of the assigned role, or an active delegate.
5. Approve or reject. The requester cannot approve their own requisition. Reject asks for a reason and sets the status to Rejected. A rejected requisition never becomes a purchase order.
6. Revise when it should be tried again. Revise returns a rejected requisition to Draft and starts the next approval round.
7. Delegate or wait for escalation. An approver can delegate to another user for a date range under Settings. The delegate can act only while the dates include today. An hourly job marks an approval escalated after the hours in Settings, default 48. It does not reassign the approver. Site Admin can pause that job under Background Jobs.

Review results after the first full monthly cycle. Adjust roles, mappings, or approvals where the same exception repeats.

Inside Biznsbook, open Procurement and then Guide for the seven setup checks. This article explains the business process behind those screens.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Mistake 1: No workflow applies, so submit is refused. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in a purchase that skipped approval or no longer matches the request.
• Mistake 2: The requester tries to approve their own requisition. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in a purchase that skipped approval or no longer matches the request.
• Mistake 3: Manager or department head is used when HRMS is not licensed. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in a purchase that skipped approval or no longer matches the request.
• Mistake 4: A late approval is assumed to have moved to a different person. Repeating this each month usually shows up first in a purchase that skipped approval or no longer matches the request.

Each of these shows up as an order that does not match the request, or a request nobody can find. Fix it on the requisition rather than with another spreadsheet tab.

Best practices that hold up as you scale

• Open Settings and keep a workflow — Licensing seeds one workflow for both manual and replenishment requisitions, with one stage: anyone in the Company Admin role.
• Choose who acts at each stage — A stage can name anyone in a role, a specific user, the requester's reporting manager, or the requester's department head.
• Use manager or department head only with HRMS — Those two stage types read the employee on the requisition, then the reporting manager or the department head, then the linked user.
• Submit from the requisition — Submit moves it to pending approval.
• Approve or reject — The requester cannot approve their own requisition.

Keep the request, the approval, and the draft purchase order on the same requisition. Purchase still approves, receives, and bills the order.

How Biznsbook supports this workflow

ordered approval stages is part of Biznsbook Procurement. It stays on the requisition or the request for quote until a draft purchase order is created in Purchase. Procurement does not receive goods and does not post a journal.

role or named-user approvers is part of Biznsbook Procurement. It stays on the requisition or the request for quote until a draft purchase order is created in Purchase. Procurement does not receive goods and does not post a journal.

delegation for a date range is part of Biznsbook Procurement. It stays on the requisition or the request for quote until a draft purchase order is created in Purchase. Procurement does not receive goods and does not post a journal.

escalation without reassignment is part of Biznsbook Procurement. It stays on the requisition or the request for quote until a draft purchase order is created in Purchase. Procurement does not receive goods and does not post a journal.

Access is permission-based. Procurement Manager covers requisitions, requests for quote, budgets, and settings. Buyer can create and submit requisitions and run requests for quote. Procurement Approver can view and approve assigned requisitions. Company Admin keeps full access. There is no separate reports screen in this release.

Suggested implementation timeline

1. Week 1: License Procurement with Purchase, save Settings once, and confirm the approval workflow. Then try ordered approval stages.
2. Week 2: Pilot with one buyer and one approver: raise a real requisition, approve it, and leave the purchase order in Draft until Purchase approval runs.
3. Week 3: Add a budget row or leave the mode on Warn, and send one request for quote if you compare suppliers.
4. Month 2: Assign Buyer, Procurement Approver, and Procurement Manager. Retire the request spreadsheet for new buys.
5. Ongoing: Monthly review using empty stages versus no workflow.

Related guides

Start with raising a purchase requisition and approving a purchase requisition, then sending a request for quote.

The Procurement overview lists what this add-on includes. Procurement software vs spreadsheets is the decision page. Purchase orders, receipts, and bills stay in Purchase.

Industry: wholesale, manufacturing, retail.

Metrics to track monthly

• Requisitions waiting for approval longer than the escalation hours
• Approved requisitions that still have no purchase order
• Requests for quote past their deadline
• Requisitions warned or blocked by a budget

Start with three metrics; trend direction matters more than a single point-in-time snapshot.

Spreadsheets and email vs Biznsbook Procurement

Compare a typical email-and-spreadsheet buying process with Biznsbook ordered approval stages and the related Procurement capabilities.

Empty stages versus no workflow

If a workflow exists and has no stages, submit treats the requisition as approved and continues to sourcing or conversion. If no workflow applies, submit is refused. Check Settings before you ask buyers to submit, and use the in-app Guide. One of its checks is an active workflow with at least one stage.

Write the rule into your buying policy so requesters, approvers, and buyers follow the same steps, and revisit it each quarter.

Frequently asked questions

How this differs by industry