What a purchase requisition is
A purchase requisition is an internal document: someone within the business requests that a specific item or quantity be purchased, and that request goes to whoever has approval authority before any commitment is made to a supplier. It exists to create a checkpoint before money is spent particularly useful in organizations where the person who notices a need (a warehouse worker, a department lead) is not the same person authorized to spend the budget.
Purchase requisition vs. purchase order
The key difference is who it is addressed to and what it commits you to. A requisition is internal and non-binding it's a request for approval, and no supplier is involved yet. A purchase order is external and (once accepted) a binding commitment to buy from a specific supplier at a specific price and quantity.
In a business with a formal approval process, the flow is: requisition raised → reviewed and approved → purchase order created and sent to the supplier. In a smaller business where the person who spots a low-stock item is also the person authorized to reorder, this often collapses into a single step going straight to a purchase order without a separate formal requisition.
- Purchase requisition: internal, a request for approval, no supplier involved
- Purchase order: external, sent to a supplier, a binding commitment once accepted
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