Procurement FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Procurement.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Procurement Overview.
Setup
Do I need to create an approval workflow before anyone can submit a requisition?
No. Requisitions can be submitted without any workflows configured. If no workflow matches a requisition and no default workflow exists, the requisition skips multi-level approval. Whether it still requires manager sign-off depends on the Require Manager Approval for Requisitions toggle and Manager Approval Required At in Settings. They are on and 500 (in your default currency) by default, so requisitions under 500 are approved on submission and those at or above 500 route to a manager.
Which roles can create requisitions, and where do I change that?
By default every role can create requisitions: Member, Manager, Admin, and Super Admin. To restrict it, go to Settings → Permissions, find the Create requisitions row and untick the roles you want to exclude. Anyone whose role is unchecked sees an error when they try to create a requisition.
What needs to be set up before supply ordering works?
Supply ordering is on by default. For employees to order from the catalog, you need at least one inventory item with quantity on hand. If your tenant uses Stations, create the stations first — they link each cost center to a delivery location so those fields are set automatically on every order. If you want to pull items from an external vendor catalog, set up a vendor integration (Staples, Grainger, or a manual CSV provider) under Setup → Vendor Integrations.
Permissions and access
Who can see a requisition besides the person who submitted it?
Admins and Procurement app admins see all requisitions. A manager sees requisitions from their direct reports and their own. An approver assigned to a requisition can view it. A member sees only their own requisitions. The same scoping applies to the requisition list and CSV exports.
Who can manage purchase orders?
By default only Admin and Super Admin roles can create, edit, approve, issue and cancel purchase orders. To change that, update the Manage purchase orders row in Settings → Permissions. The same row lets those roles add, edit and export vendors. Procurement app admins can always manage purchase orders regardless of the role list.
Who can access the fulfillment queue?
Admins, Procurement app admins, and any roles your admin ticks on the Work the warehouse row in Settings → Permissions. The same roles can also use Scan and the label printers and receive deliveries on purchase orders; managers can always receive deliveries, whatever the row says. The Inventory page under Warehouse has its own rows: View inventory and Issue & move stock.
Day-to-day
How does the approval flow actually work once a requisition is submitted?
When a requisition is submitted, the system uses the first matching active workflow in this order: the highest minimum amount first (so an amount escalation is never skipped), then the one with the most department, category and asset-purchase rules, then the narrowest amount range. If no specific workflow matches, the default workflow is used. Each workflow has ordered approval levels. A level can require approvers by role, by specific users, by budget owner, department head, or the requester’s manager. Each level can require all approvers or a minimum number, and can escalate to a backup approver. The requisition advances level by level until all levels are satisfied, then it is marked approved. A rejection at any level rejects the entire requisition.
Can an admin approve a requisition even if they are not a designated approver?
Yes, if they hold the Admin or Super Admin role: they can approve a requisition that is pending approval even when they are not a designated approver on the current level. A Procurement app admin can approve a requisition that no approval workflow owns; once a workflow owns it, only the approvers that workflow names for the current level (or an Admin) can sign it.
What happens when someone delegates their approval authority?
The delegator picks a delegate, a date range, and optionally scopes the delegation to a maximum dollar amount, specific departments, or item categories. During that date range the delegate receives and can act on approvals that would go to the delegator. Delegations cannot overlap for the same delegator, and you cannot delegate to yourself. They auto-deactivate when the end date passes.
What does “Auto-create PO from Approved Requisition” do?
When this setting is on, approving a standard requisition (not a supply order) automatically creates a draft purchase order with the same line items and vendor. The requisition status changes to Converted to PO and you can find the new PO from the requisition detail page.
When something looks wrong
My requisition was submitted but nobody got an approval notification
Approvers get an in-app notification whatever the email settings say; for the email, check three things. First, the Enable Email Notifications master toggle in Settings must be on. Second, Approval Pending must be ticked under that master toggle. Third, the requisition amount must be at or above Manager Approval Required At (default 500). Requisitions below it are approved on submission without routing to anyone, unless an approval workflow owns them.
I submitted a requisition and it was immediately approved — why?
Either its total was below Manager Approval Required At (default 500, in Settings → Approval Workflow) or Require Manager Approval for Requisitions is off, so submitting it approved it; or the Procurement agent’s automatic actions approved it under Auto-approve purchase requests (which runs only while the master switch in AI Operations is on, and only at or below the Agent Auto-approval Ceiling), in which case the requester’s notification says it was approved automatically and why. Lower the threshold (or turn the agent’s auto-approval off) to route more requisitions to a manager.
I’m trying to submit a requisition but it’s blocked with a budget error
The budget the request is charged to (its Charge to budget, or its cost center’s budget when none is picked) has hard stop enabled, and the requisition amount exceeds what that budget has available. The error message names the budget and shows how much is available. Either reduce the order, increase the budget allocation, or turn off the hard-stop flag on that budget.
Why does my invoice show “Discrepancy” after I approved it?
When an invoice is linked to a purchase order, the system runs a three-way match comparing the invoice total against the PO total and receipt status. If the variance exceeds the tolerance (default 5%) or the PO has not been received, the invoice’s match reads Discrepancy. You can approve the variance from the invoice match detail, or reject it.
A vendor will not deliver — how do I cancel or close a purchase order?
Open the purchase order. If nothing has arrived and no invoice stands against it, click Cancel PO and give the reason. A draft or pending invoice for it is cancelled first, on the invoice’s own page; an approved or paid invoice needs a credit from the vendor, and the order then stays open — the page says which. If part of it arrived, click Close short instead: what arrived is kept as received and the rest is no longer on order. Both are offered to the roles on the Manage purchase orders row in Settings → Permissions. A purchase request whose only purchase order is cancelled goes back to Approved, with its budget hold still committed, so a new PO can be raised.
I can’t find the fulfillment queue — where is it?
The Warehouse tab appears for admins, Procurement app admins, and users whose role is ticked on the Work the warehouse row or one of the inventory rows — but the Fulfillment Queue inside it needs the Work the warehouse row. If you don’t see it, ask a Procurement admin to tick your role on that row.
An employee says they can’t order a supply item — it doesn’t appear in their catalog
Two things can hide an item. First, if the item has eligibility tags set, the employee’s matching user attribute (configured in Settings → Eligibility User Attribute, which defaults to practice level) must include one of those tags. Second, if the employee is ordering from a Station and that station has per-item limits, they may have already hit the maximum quantity for the current period.
Budgets
How do budget reservations work?
When a requisition with a budget is submitted, the requested amount is reserved against that budget. On approval the reservation moves from reserved to committed. On rejection or cancellation the reservation is released back to available funds. Reservations expire after 30 days if not committed. If the budget has hard stop enabled, submitting a requisition that would exceed the available amount is blocked outright.
What are the default budget alert thresholds?
Every budget starts with three alert thresholds: 75%, 90%, and 100% utilization. When utilization crosses a threshold, the system creates an alert and notifies the budget owner. Alerts are suppressed for 24 hours after firing to avoid duplicates.
Licensing and limits
Does Procurement require a licence?
Yes. Procurement requires a licence and must be enabled by an admin from Admin → Apps → All Apps before it is available to users.
What currencies are supported?
New requisitions, purchase orders and budgets start in the organization currency, set in Admin → General Settings → Financial Settings (USD until one is chosen). To buy in another currency, pick it in Settings → Numbering & Currency → Purchasing Currency. The currency pickers offer USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, INR, JPY, CNY, SGD, CHF, SEK, NOK, DKK, MXN, BRL and ZAR.
What payment methods can I record?
Check, Wire Transfer, ACH, Credit Card, and Other. The default payment terms on an invoice are 30 days.
More help
- Procurement Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Procurement questions from these articles.