A requisition is an internal request to buy something. It is raised by whoever needs the thing, approved by whoever controls the money, and only then does it become a purchase order that goes to a supplier. The distinction between the two is the whole reason purchase order systems exist: the requisition is internal and reversible, the order is external and committing. This page is about what a requisition is, what its form has to capture, and what managing them looks like when there is no procurement department to manage them.
Requisition against purchase order
A requisition asks. A purchase order commits. The requisition goes from an employee to an approver inside the company; the purchase order goes from the company to a supplier. One requisition usually becomes one order, but not always: several requisitions for the same supplier can be combined into one order, and a rejected requisition becomes nothing at all, which is the point. If your process goes straight to a purchase order, you have no stage at which a purchase can be declined without a conversation with the supplier.
What the requisition form captures
What, why, how much including tax and shipping, which budget, and who is asking. Optionally a preferred supplier, which is a suggestion rather than a decision, since choosing the supplier can be the approver's job or a separate step. The form is short on purpose. Requisition forms that ask for specifications, quotes and justifications are written for organisations that buy capital equipment; a business ordering laptops and stationery needs the five fields and a fast answer.
Requisition management without a department
Managing requisitions in a small business means three things and no more: knowing which are waiting, knowing who they are waiting on, and knowing what the approved but not yet ordered ones add up to. The third is the one nobody has. Keep a single list with a status, review it weekly rather than continuously, and make the approver's queue visible to somebody other than the approver, since the most common failure is not rejection, it is a request sitting unread while the requester assumes it is being considered.
When an online requisition system is worth it
When the queue stops being visible. A shared list works while the volume is small and one person can see it; it fails when requests arrive faster than the review, or when approvers need to act from wherever they are. An online requisition system earns its price by making the queue self-maintaining, notifying the approver, and turning the approved requisition into a numbered order without anyone retyping it. That last step is the one to test, because retyping is where the errors and the delay both live.
Questions people ask about what is a requisition
What is a requisition?
An internal request to buy something, raised by whoever needs it and approved by whoever controls the money. It becomes a purchase order only after approval.
What is the difference between a requisition and a purchase order?
A requisition asks and is internal; a purchase order commits and goes to the supplier. Without a requisition stage there is no point at which a purchase can be declined without involving the supplier.
What goes on a requisition form?
What, why, how much including tax and shipping, which budget and who is asking. Keep it short: long forms are written for organisations buying capital equipment.
What does requisition management involve?
Knowing which requests are waiting, who they are waiting on, and what the approved but unordered ones total. The last is the committed figure most small businesses cannot produce.