Purchase Requests

Section: Purchase Management
URL: /admin/purchase/purchase_request
Page title: Purchase Requests

Overview

Purchase Requests (PRs) are internal documents that employees submit to request approval for a planned purchase before a formal order is placed. They sit upstream of the RFQ and Purchase Order flow, enforcing an authorisation step that keeps spend under control.

Business value

Purchase Requests formalise the "ask before you buy" rule that procurement teams rely on to prevent maverick spending. An employee submits a PR describing what they need and why; a manager or procurement officer reviews and approves (or rejects) it; only approved PRs can progress to an RFQ or Purchase Order.

Who uses it: All staff (requestors), department managers, procurement officers
Key benefit: Spend visibility and approval governance before any vendor commitment is made.
Metrics it influences: Approval cycle time, compliance rate, off-contract spend ratio

Typical use cases:

A developer requests a new software subscription; the IT manager approves and procurement creates the PO.
A field team needs equipment; the PR captures the business justification before budget is allocated.
Finance sets an approval threshold — PRs above €500 route to a director automatically.

At a glance

Navigate to Purchase → Purchase Requests in the sidebar, or open:

/admin/purchase/purchase_request

List view

The list view shows all purchase requests with columns for reference number, requestor, department, vendor, total amount, and status. Filters are available for vendor, department, assignee, and linked purchase order or estimate.

Status values:

Status	Meaning
Draft	Created but not yet submitted for approval
Pending	Submitted; awaiting approver action
Approved	Approved; can be converted to RFQ or PO
Rejected	Declined; no further action without a new request
Cancelled	Withdrawn by the requestor

Create / edit form

Open the create form at /admin/purchase/purchase_request → Add, or navigate to a specific request to edit it.

Key fields:

Vendor — optional at request stage; can be specified after approval.
Department — the cost centre owning the request.
Items — list of products or services with quantity, unit price, tax, and currency.
Linked PO / Estimate — optionally attach to an existing estimate or purchase order for traceability.
Attachments — supporting documents (quotes, screenshots, justification notes).

Common actions

Submit a request — create a PR with items and click Submit for Approval; status moves from Draft to Pending.
Approve / reject — approvers with the purchase_request permission open the PR and use the Approve or Reject action; a comment can be added on rejection.
Convert to PO — use Copy to Purchase Order on an approved PR to pre-fill a new PO from the request lines.
Copy a request — duplicate an existing PR as the basis for a similar new request.
Export PDF — generate a printable PDF of the PR for offline sign-off or filing.
Bulk operations — select multiple PRs to bulk-change status or export.

Approval settings

Administrators can configure approval thresholds and routing at Purchase → Purchase Requests → Approval Settings (/admin/purchase/approval_setting). Rules can require approval above a monetary threshold and specify which staff roles are authorised to approve.

API

This module is available via the REST API.

Authentication. All API requests require the header authtoken: <token> (generate one at /admin/api/api_management).
Base URL. https://your-domain.tld/api/

Key endpoints:

Method	Path	Purpose
`GET`	`{{base_url}}purchase/purchase_request?page=1&per_page=50`	List all purchase requests
`GET`	`{{base_url}}purchase/purchase_request/{{id}}`	Get one purchase request
`POST`	`{{base_url}}purchase/purchase_request`	Create a purchase request

See the full payload schemas, query parameters, and example responses in the API reference (`Purchase`).

Source: demo.crmconnect.io/admin/purchase/purchase_request