The stages in organizational procurement

This list details the possible stages in the organizational procurement process. In practice, of course, each organization implements the stages relevant to that organization, according to its needs in each case.

Need for procurement

The need for procurement comes from the employees themselves or from systems that know how to identify shortages and create purchase requests (MRP). When needed, our system can identify these requests in the existing ERP system and synchronize them so they go through the required approval flow.

Purchase Request (PR – Purchase Request)

This is the stage where the procurement process itself begins – entering the required items (not necessarily with prices) into a purchase request form.

Approval flow (Workflow)

The request is routed to a relevant approval flow according to the organization’s policy.

Request for Proposal (RFP – Request For Proposal)

Once there is an organized and approved purchase request, the requested items can be supplied to the requester from the organizational warehouse, or alternatively, the required items can be sent to relevant suppliers so that the suppliers can enter a price quote for each of the items.

Purchase Order (PO – Purchase Order)

If we already know who the supplier is, what items are required, and what their prices are (through an item catalog or RFP), the order is recorded for a specific supplier with priced items and budget lines.

Approval flow (Workflow)

The order is routed to the relevant flow according to the organization’s policy; sometimes the organization’s policy will require filling out forms and uploading relevant files.

Sending the purchase order

This is the stage where the order goes out into the world – the supplier receives the purchase order.

Fulfillment

The supplier provides the goods or the required service.

Purchase Invoice (Purchase Invoice)

The supplier sends its invoice (tax invoice or transaction invoice) in order to receive payment (by email, by mail, manually, or through a dedicated portal).

Account Matching (Account Matching)

Matching the invoice to the purchase order lines for which it was issued – accounting closure.

Packing Slip (Packing Slip)

The supplier provides the packing slip (relevant only for physical items).

Item Matching (Item Matching)

Matching the packing slip to the purchase order items for which it was issued – item-level closure.

Payment (Payment)

Sending payment to the supplier for the invoice.

Matching the tax invoice/receipt to the transaction

If the supplier sent a Proforma Invoice, after receiving payment they are required to send a Tax Invoice, and this will close the open transaction invoice.