PROCURE TO PAY · REQUEST
How does a purchase requisition turn a need into an authorized request?
A purchase requisition makes demand visible before the business commits to a supplier. It can be entered manually or generated from planning and operational demand, and defines what is needed, when and where it is needed, and who will bear the cost.
PROCESS ROLE
The requisition creates controlled internal demand
Material or service, quantity, delivery date, plant, requester, purchasing group, and account assignment give Purchasing enough context to source the need. The requisition may originate from MRP, a sales or production requirement, maintenance, a project, or a manual request; it remains an internal document, not a supplier commitment.
OPERATIONAL FLOW
What happens in SAP
Read the sequence as one connected business event, not as isolated transactions.
Create or inherit the business need
A requester, MRP run, sales requirement, production order, maintenance order, or project can supply the material or service, quantity, date, plant, and demand reference.
Identify who bears the cost
Stock procurement carries inventory value; consumption uses a cost center, order, asset, project, or another account assignment.
Check completeness and authority
Field rules, budget controls, source rules, and workflow determine whether the request is ready and authorized.
Release executable demand
An approved requisition becomes available for source assignment, quotation, contract call-off, or purchase-order conversion.
DESIGN & CONTROL
What shapes the result
These controls work together; a locally correct setting can still produce the wrong end-to-end outcome.
Document and item behavior
Document type, item category, field selection, number range, and processing status control what the request represents and what can follow.
Account-assignment integrity
Account-assignment category, valuation, G/L proposal, cost object validity, and budget availability protect the intended financial destination.
Approval and segregation
Flexible workflow, thresholds, responsibility rules, substitutions, and release evidence prevent requesters from authorizing their own commitments.
DIAGNOSTIC EVIDENCE
Prove that the request is actionable
A requisition is ready when its demand, ownership, account assignment, approval, and source status can all be explained.
Document type, item category, material or service, quantity, delivery date, plant, purchasing group, and requester.
Account-assignment category, G/L account, cost object, valuation behavior, budget result, and commitment value.
Workflow instance, approvers, decision history, source assignment, conversion status, and any rejection or block.
PROJECT MOMENT
A replacement motor is needed before the next shutdown
Maintenance requests ten stock-managed motors for plant 1100. The required date and specification are complete, the budget owner approves the request, and Purchasing can assign the contracted supplier.
- Demand is complete
- Ownership is explicit
- Approval is recorded
- Source assignment is possible
See how demand, sourcing, commitment, receipt alternatives, invoice matching, accounting entries, payment, and clearing connect.