A practical guide to purchase requests, approvals, receipts, supplier invoices and payment controls. The aim is to help teams identify practical decisions, ownership and controls before changing technology.
Start with a valid request
A purchase request should identify what is needed, why, quantity, estimated cost, budget owner and required date.
Give requesters a simple route to submit complete information; excessive fields invite workarounds.
Match approval to risk
Use approval thresholds and separation of duties that reflect the organisation’s exposure. Urgent purchases need a controlled exception path, not an invisible bypass.
Review approval delays and bottlenecks regularly.
Link purchase orders and receipts
Record approved commitments before goods arrive. On receipt, confirm quantity and condition, including partial deliveries and discrepancies.
The receiving record should be independent of the supplier invoice.
Check invoices before payment
Where applicable, compare purchase order, receipt and supplier invoice. Resolve price, quantity or tax differences before posting or payment.
Maintain duplicate-invoice checks and clear evidence of authorised payment release.
Close the loop with finance
Connect commitments, accruals, supplier balances and cash planning so purchasing decisions are visible beyond the procurement team.
Measure cycle time, off-contract spend, invoice exceptions and supplier delivery performance.
Practical next steps
- Identify one accountable owner for the process and the records it creates.
- Document the current workflow, including delays and exceptions.
- Agree the control or performance measure that will demonstrate improvement.
- Test the proposed approach with real users before scaling it.
Core1ERP can be evaluated against your specific requirements in a tailored product discussion. Features and configurations should be confirmed for your chosen modules and deployment.