To purchase goods and services, companies still make extensive use of e-mail exchanges, Excel spreadsheets or paper forms. However, this method of procurement request makes it difficult to centralize information. As a result, it’s not possible to clearly monitor a company’s budgetary situation, or to control the conformity of procurement. Worse still, this unified approach can lead to numerous issues, such as :
- Time and comfort are lost for teams, who have to cope with multiple entries, copy and paste, frustrating searches for information with colleagues, and multiple connections to other software.
- Lack of visibility of the order life cycle for managers and directors
- Risks of non-compliance and fraud
- Out of stock…
The digitization of procurement request using Procurement software, otherwise known as Procure-to-Pay, is a powerful solution for improvement. Supported by a new generation of software such as Lapala, it represents a simple and effective way of optimizing the purchasing process for companies of all sizes, including very small businesses.
The strength of these new procurement management software lies in their power, pricing and ergonomics, which enable teams to use them without training.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the theory behind Procurement request, share key steps and best practices, and introduce you to Procurement management software that could satisfy a company’s quest for modernity.
What is a Procurement request?
Definition of Procurement request
A Procurement request is an internal document or digital form that formalizes an employee’s intention to acquire a good or service.
- Purpose: To clearly communicate a department’s needs to the hierarchy (manager, management, Procurement department) in order to obtain the necessary approvals.
- Scope: This may involve one-off purchases (e.g. spare parts, consulting services) or recurring purchases (e.g. office supplies, raw materials). It may lead to a direct Procurement or a call for tender.
- Form: Traditionally on paper or in spreadsheet format, purchase requisitions are increasingly digitized via online forms connected to other company software (ERP, accounting software, etc.).
Once the request has been validated, an official purchase order is usually issued to the supplier.
Procurement request vs. purchase order
- Procurement request:
- Purely internal
- Describes and justifies the need
- Must be approved by line management or Procurement department
- Order form :
- Contractual document sent to the supplier
- Commits the buying company to honor payment, delivery date, etc.
- Validates the transaction for the supplier
In short, the Procurement request is an internal starting point, while the purchase order is the official completion of a Procurement.
The 2 types of Procurement request
Different approaches coexist in companies to manage Porucrement, and depend on the complexity of the need and internal policy:
1- Direct Procurement request
- Objective: To inform management of the need to purchase a specific good or service, indicating the quantity, estimated budget and justification. Once validated, the employee can initiate the order and issue the purchase order.
- Process:
- The employee identifies a need (insufficient stock level, new project, etc.).
- He fills out a purchase requisition (paper, Excel, e-mail or online form).
- A single or multi-stakeholder approval circuit begins. The manager, Procurement department, director… approve (or reject) it.
- The validated request is notified to the applicant, who can then convert it into a purchase order.
2-Call for tenders
The buyer expects the supplier to provide a global proposal or solution.
- Objective: Find a service provider capable of providing expertise, innovation or customization.
- Process :
- The employee identifies a need (insufficient stock level, new project, etc.).
- He fills in a Procurement request (paper, Excel, e-mail or online form), without necessarily imposing any specifications.
- A single or multi-stakeholder approval circuit begins. The manager, Procurement department, director… approve (or reject) it.
- Several suppliers were contacted to respond to the call for tenders
- Suppliers offer a scenario, a schedule, a price, and sometimes technical/strategic support.
- A committee decides on the most suitable supplier
- The validated Procurement requisition is notified to the requester, who can then convert it into a purchase order.
- The supplier is added to the company’s supplier repository.
Some companies break down RFQs into 3 sub-categories: RFI (Request For Information), RFQ (Request for Quotation) or RFP (Request for Proposal). However, the majority of companies do not distinguish between these processes.
Why are Procurement request so important? And especially with purchasing management software
Risk reduction
- Reduce out-of-stock situations: By planning requirements via formal requests, we avoid last-minute emergencies, which are more costly and run an operational risk.
- Manage compliance: an approval circuit limits the risk of fraud or purchases that don’t comply with the company’s budget policy.
Budget control and cost management
Procurement requests force employees to clarify the whys and wherefores of expenditure. They make the required budget visible. Result:
- Opportunity to negotiate more upstream with suppliers (better price, payment terms)
- Reduce waste and unnecessary purchases
Collaboration and traceability
A clear, digitized procurement process with procurement management software promotes healthy collaboration between the various parties involved (operator, manager, Procurement department, accounting).
It’s easier to find the history of an order and validate each step.
Team and partner satisfaction
By streamlining and standardizing requests, we reduce friction between departments.
Exchanges are faster, everyone knows where to find the information they need, and supplier relations improve thanks to better prepared and tracked orders.
And a host of optimizations: time savings, automation, far fewer errors, visibility, etc.
Purchase requisition and procurement software integrate functionalities that enable companies to transform themselves simply and free teams from non-value-added, repetitive and tedious tasks. With software like Lapala, centralize all your Procurement request, automate your ordering processes and gain visibility thanks to an intuitive, guided and collaborative platform.
Steps to creating an effective Procurement request
Although each organization has its own specificities, there is generally a common pattern of steps:
1- Identifying your needs
- Determine the nature of the product or service.
- Check whether existing stock is insufficient.
- Calculate or estimate the budget required.
2- Preparing the purchase requisition
- Write the request: quantity, budget, justification.
- If necessary, attach supporting documents (quotes, vouchers).
3- Validation
- Automatic notification of manager or Procurement department.
- Conditional approval (amount, type of purchase, urgency).
4- Choice of supplier
- Simple allocation if the supplier is already known (Procurement request).
- Launching a call for tender or consultation
5- Issuing the purchase order
- Confirmation of final conditions.
- Send purchase order to supplier.
6- Reception
- Verification of compliance (quality, quantity, on-time delivery).
- Record any anomalies or returns.
7- Billing and payment
- Invoice/purchase order/receipt slip reconciliation.
- On-time payment and archiving.
In practice, subtleties and inconsistencies can arise, particularly in the case of inconsistencies between the initial request and the final estimate.
Best practices for digitizing and automating Procurement request
Today, many companies are still hampered by manual tools such as Excel or e-mail communication, resulting in re-keying, errors and lack of visibility. Digitization solutions, known as procurement software or Procure-to-Pay, provide a concrete and simple solution.
Centralize and automate flows
Procurement management software such as Lapala allows you to :
- Customize 100% personalized Procurement request forms (no-code) from industry-standard templates
- Set up an approval circuit according to different criteria (amount, type of purchase, etc.)
- Automate notifications (e-mails, alerts) and updates to ERP or accounting software
- Facilitate document storage and archiving (invoices, purchase orders, etc.)
- And to make these data visible to facilitate controls
Connecting all internal and external players
Collaboration around a Procurement request is not just about the person expressing the need:
- Managers must approve the budget.
- The Procurement department negotiates contracts and monitors suppliers.
- The finance department integrates invoicing and payroll.
- The external supplier must receive a clear purchase order and know the expected delivery date.
A Procurement management tool links these players around a single platform, speeding up decision-making and reducing the need for round-trips.
Control using rules and indicators
With digitalization, it becomes possible to set control rules (e.g. no more than a certain amount without a manager’s signature, etc.) and monitor key indicators:
- Average validation time
- Number of applications refused for non-compliance
- Budget overrun rate
Real-time monitoring encourages proactivity: if an indicator deteriorates, the company can immediately investigate and adjust its process (for example, by adding an approval level, or removing one if it is too blocking).
Find all the best practices for procurement management by reading this article: 11 Procurement Best Practices in 2025.
Why choose 100% customizable Procurement management software?
100% customization doesn’t mean that you have to redo everything, it just means that you can modify various elements of the process as you wish, such as the content of input forms, the conditions and actors of validation circuits, automations, adding and deleting steps according to your know-how…
Each company has its own rules, players and data flows. A no-code tool, i.e. one that can be installed without writing a line of code, such as Lapala, enables :
- Add or modify steps in the workflow, without delay and without having to be an IT specialist.
- Create new fields or new approval rules (e.g., if the order exceeds 20,000, inform the finance department).
- To adapt as we go along: if fiscal policy changes, we simply adapt the configuration.
Concrete benefits of using Lapala Procure-to-Pay software
- Reduce administrative time by 30%: fewer e-mails, less copying and pasting, fewer duplicates.
- Reduced error rate: every piece of information is captured at source, validated and transmitted automatically.
- Smooth collaboration: requester, manager and Procurement department follow the same workflow.
- Real-time visibility: monitor orders in progress, the status of each request, and the budget consumed.
Conclusion
The Procurement request is the foundation of an efficient procurement process. It helps clarify needs, align the team with priorities, frame the budget and negotiate the best terms with suppliers.
Thanks to a rigorous approach and the support of Procure-to-Pay software such as Lapala, any company, whatever its size, can now set up a fluid, secure Procurement request process. Ultimately, this transformation translates into improved financial visibility, tighter control over spending and greater collaboration between departments.
In the final analysis, adopting modernized Procurement demand management is not only a lever for savings, it’s also a factor of agility, performance and competitiveness for your company. With flexible software like Lapala, you can free your teams from cumbersome administration, reduce the risk of errors and focus on what’s essential: developing your business and fully satisfying your customers’ needs.
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