Last year, leading procurement organisations that had digitised their workflows delivered 25 % higher performance compared to their peers, according to Deloitte’s Orchestrators of Value study.
Yet many companies in the UAE and wider Middle East still rely on manual purchase approvals, scattered paperwork, and opaque spend visibility.
The result? Delays, budget overruns, and audit risk. In that landscape, the purchase requisition becomes pivotal. It formalises the request to buy goods or services, assuring that every purchase aligns with internal policy and budget.
For finance and procurement leaders, understanding this process is not optional; it is central to control, compliance, and efficiency.
Key Takeaways
- Purchase requisitions bring structure and control to company spending, ensuring every purchase is approved, justified, and aligned with the budget before commitment.
- Manual requisition systems limit visibility and increase errors, while automation delivers faster approvals, audit-ready records, and real-time financial insights.
- Automating requisitions with platforms like Alaan connects corporate cards, approval workflows, and accounting systems — improving accuracy and compliance.
- In the UAE’s VAT-regulated environment, a digitised requisition process ensures proper documentation and easier FTA-compliant reporting.
What Exactly Is a Purchase Requisition?
A purchase requisition is an internal document used to formally request the purchase of goods or services within an organisation. It is typically the first step in the procurement process, created by an employee or department that identifies a business need.
Before any external purchase commitment is made, the requisition must be reviewed and approved by authorised stakeholders, often the department head, finance manager, and procurement team.
The purpose of a purchase requisition is twofold: to ensure financial control and to maintain compliance. By routing all purchase requests through a structured workflow, organisations can prevent unauthorised spending, avoid budget overruns, and maintain transparency for audits and VAT reporting.
In the UAE, where businesses must adhere to Federal Tax Authority (FTA) documentation standards, this process also helps ensure accurate and traceable financial records.
A typical purchase requisition form contains key details such as:
- Requestor’s name and department
- Description and quantity of items required
- Estimated cost and cost centre or budget code
- Preferred vendor or justification
- Supporting documents (such as quotes or specifications)
- Approval signatures and submission date
Once approved, the purchase requisition moves forward in the procure-to-pay (P2P) cycle, forming the basis for a purchase order.
For a detailed breakdown of this end-to-end process, see our post on procure-to-pay systems and steps.
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Common Types of Purchase Requisitions You’ll See in Growing Businesses
Not all purchases follow the same process or urgency level. Depending on the nature of the request, organisations use different types of purchase requisitions to maintain control and efficiency.
Understanding these categories helps finance and procurement teams standardise approvals and reduce errors.
1. Standard Requisition
Used for routine purchases such as office supplies, software renewals, or recurring maintenance services. These requests follow established approval rules and are typically low-risk.
2. Special Requisition
Raised for unique or project-specific items that fall outside routine procurement. These often require additional validation or budget approvals, as they may not have predefined vendor contracts or pricing.
3. Emergency Requisition
Created when immediate action is needed, for example, replacing damaged equipment critical to operations or handling urgent client requirements. Emergency requisitions are usually fast-tracked but must be documented for post-approval review to ensure compliance.
4. Blanket Requisition
Used for recurring purchases over a defined period, such as monthly inventory replenishment or regular service payments. A single blanket requisition simplifies approval and reduces repetitive documentation for similar requests.
Each type serves a specific control purpose. Standard and blanket requisitions streamline routine workflows, while special and emergency requisitions balance flexibility with oversight.
Establishing clear policies for each category ensures consistency, accountability, and adherence to internal controls.
Why Purchase Requisitions Are the First Step to Smarter Spending
A well-managed purchase requisition process is how finance teams keep spending controlled, compliant, and predictable. For growing organisations in the UAE, it builds discipline into every purchasing decision.
1. Financial Control and Budget Alignment
Every requisition acts as a checkpoint before funds are committed. Approvals ensure that purchases fit within budgets and department limits, helping finance leaders maintain visibility over upcoming expenses.
2. Transparency and Accountability
With clear approval records, organisations can trace every purchase from request to payment. This transparency simplifies audits and supports VAT compliance under the UAE Federal Tax Authority (FTA) rules.
3. Fraud Prevention and Risk Management
Structured approval chains reduce unauthorised spending and detect anomalies early. Requisitions provide an internal safeguard against misuse of company funds.
4. Operational Efficiency and Insight
Centralising requests gives procurement teams a complete view of spending needs. Over time, requisition data highlights cost patterns, enabling better forecasting and vendor negotiations.
Learn how Alaan’s platform enables this visibility in our centralised spend solution for procurement managers.
The Purchase Requisition Process: Step-by-Step Workflow
A purchase requisition process ensures that every request to buy goods or services is reviewed, justified, and aligned with the organisation’s financial policies before any commitment is made. In well-governed companies, this process forms the foundation of strong procurement and spend management.
Below is a step-by-step overview of how a purchase requisition typically progresses from identification to approval:
Step 1: Identifying the Need
The process begins when an employee or department identifies a requirement, such as equipment, software, or services.
At this stage, teams may conduct preliminary research to understand potential suppliers, estimated costs, and delivery timelines. The goal is to define the requirement clearly before raising a request.
Step 2: Creating and Submitting the Purchase Requisition
Once the need is validated, the requester completes a purchase requisition form. This includes details such as item description, quantity, estimated cost, cost centre, vendor preferences, and business justification. Supporting documents like quotations or specifications are attached for transparency.
When the form is complete, it is submitted electronically or manually to the relevant approver, depending on whether the organisation uses an automated or manual process.
Step 3: Internal Review and Approval
After submission, the requisition goes through a review and approval chain. Typically:
- The line manager or department head reviews the necessity and budget alignment.
- The finance team validates the budget code and ensures funds are available.
- Procurement team checks vendor eligibility, pricing, and compliance with policy.
In many UAE organisations, approval hierarchies depend on the spending threshold. For example, purchases below AED 5,000 may require a single approval, while higher-value requests could require multi-level sign-offs from finance and procurement leadership.
Step 4: Inventory Check
Before proceeding, an inventory review is carried out to determine if the requested items are already available.
This step prevents duplicate purchases and ensures efficient use of existing resources, a crucial practice in cost-sensitive industries such as logistics or retail.
Step 5: Purchase Order Creation
Once the requisition is approved, the procurement team converts it into a purchase order (PO). The PO serves as a formal, binding document sent to the vendor, specifying agreed quantities, prices, and delivery terms.
This marks the transition from internal approval to external commitment in the procure-to-pay (P2P) cycle.
Step 6: Record Keeping and Audit Trail
Every approved requisition and purchase order must be archived for accounting and audit purposes. In the UAE, maintaining these records supports VAT documentation and compliance under the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) requirements. Digitising this step helps organisations ensure accuracy and reduce audit preparation time.
An efficient purchase requisition process creates a balance between control and speed. While it enforces discipline and accountability, automation can ensure that approvals move swiftly without manual bottlenecks, a topic we’ll explore in later sections.
Managing approvals shouldn’t slow your business down.
At Alaan, we help finance teams in the UAE streamline purchase requisitions with instant approvals, smart corporate cards, and centralised spend visibility.
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Where Manual Requisitions Go Wrong, and What It Costs Your Business
Many organisations in the UAE still rely on manual requisition systems, spreadsheets, emails, or printed forms. While simple at first, these methods quickly lead to inefficiency, delays, and compliance risk as a company scales.
Below are the most common challenges businesses face when managing purchase requisitions manually:
1. Time-Consuming Approvals
- Multiple approvals often pass through email chains or physical signatures.
- This slows down procurement, delays urgent purchases, and disrupts operations.
- Finance teams spend hours following up on approvals instead of focusing on analysis and control.
2. Limited Visibility and Tracking
- No central dashboard to view request status or approval progress.
- Requesters remain unaware of where their requisitions stand.
- Finance leaders lack real-time data on pending and approved expenses, affecting budget tracking.
3. Error-Prone and Inconsistent Data
- Manual data entry increases the risk of incorrect cost codes, vendor names, or amounts.
- Errors create reconciliation issues and complicate VAT reporting.
- In the UAE, inaccurate records may trigger red flags during Federal Tax Authority (FTA) audits.
4. Compliance and Audit Risks
- Missing approvals or incomplete documentation are common.
- Manual records make it difficult to prove adherence to internal policies or audit requirements.
- Audit readiness becomes reactive rather than continuous.
5. Communication Gaps
- Requesters, approvers, and finance teams work in silos.
- Delays and confusion occur when stakeholders must repeatedly follow up for status updates.
- Disconnected communication leads to duplicate requests or missed vendor opportunities.
Manual systems reduce visibility, slow down approvals, and increase compliance risk. While they may seem manageable at first, these inefficiencies can grow costly as the business scales.
To understand how automation can transform procurement end-to-end, explore our guide on automation in procurement processes and workflows.
Still managing purchase approvals over emails or spreadsheets?
At Alaan, we help finance teams automate requisitions, speed up approvals, and maintain real-time visibility across every department.
See how Alaan automates purchase approvals
Automating the Purchase Requisition Process
Automating purchase requisitions helps organisations replace manual paperwork and email approvals with a faster, more transparent workflow. Requests move digitally through predefined approval paths, reducing turnaround time and minimising human error.
Automation brings five key advantages:
- Speed and Accuracy: Requests reach approvers instantly, and data validation prevents missing or incorrect details.
- Visibility and Control: A central dashboard provides real-time insights into requests, approvals, and spending across departments.
- Compliance and Audit Readiness: Every requisition is recorded with digital audit trails and VAT-compliant documentation, supporting UAE Federal Tax Authority requirements.
- Cost Optimisation: Automation eliminates duplicate purchases and helps finance teams identify spending trends for better budgeting.
- Integration: Seamless connectivity with systems such as Xero, QuickBooks, Oracle NetSuite, and Microsoft Dynamics ensures accurate, up-to-date records.
At Alaan, we help organisations automate approvals, link corporate card expenses to requisitions, and integrate transactions with accounting software.
This enables finance leaders to maintain full visibility and control over every purchase, from request to reconciliation.
Automating requisitions is only one part of a larger digital transformation in procurement. To see how technology can optimise every step, read our insights on procurement automation software solutions.
Building an Automated Requisition System That Scales with You
Adopting automation is not just about replacing paper forms with software; it’s about designing a process that aligns people, policies, and technology. The following best practices can help organisations in the UAE implement automated purchase requisitions effectively:
1. Establish Clear Approval Hierarchies
Define approval levels and spending thresholds before automation begins. Clear hierarchies prevent bottlenecks and ensure accountability at every level.
2. Standardise Templates and Data Fields
Use uniform requisition templates with mandatory fields for item descriptions, cost codes, and justifications. This ensures consistency and improves data accuracy across departments.
3. Integrate with Financial and ERP Systems
Automation delivers the most value when connected to accounting tools such as Xero, QuickBooks, Oracle NetSuite, or Microsoft Dynamics. Integration enables real-time updates and simplifies reconciliation.
4. Implement Role-Based Access Controls
Limit system access based on job function. This enhances security and ensures that only authorised users can approve or modify requisitions.
5. Train Employees and Monitor Adoption
Provide structured training for teams raising and approving requisitions. Track adoption rates and continuously optimise the workflow based on feedback.
At Alaan, we enable organisations to build approval hierarchies, automate policy checks, and integrate directly with their accounting platforms, helping finance teams achieve control and speed without complexity.
Simplify your purchase requisition workflow with Alaan.
Our platform connects corporate card spending, AI-driven approvals, and accounting integrations, giving finance leaders instant control and accuracy.
Explore Alaan’s AI-powered expense management
Purchase Requisition vs Purchase Order: What’s the Difference?
Although they are often used interchangeably, a purchase requisition and a purchase order serve very different purposes within the procurement cycle. Understanding the difference helps finance and procurement teams maintain clear financial controls and avoid approval confusion.
Aspect
Purchase Requisition
Purchase Order
Purpose
Internal request to buy goods or services
Formal confirmation of purchase sent to the vendor
Created by
Employee or department identifying a need
Procurement or finance team after approval
Nature
Internal, non-binding document
External, legally binding document
Approval Stage
Before procurement approval
After internal approval and vendor selection
Function
Seeks internal authorisation
Confirms the purchase with the supplier
Example
“Requesting laptops for new hires.”
“Authorising the purchase of 10 laptops from Vendor A.”
When to use each:
- Purchase Requisition: At the beginning of the process, to justify and seek approval for a purchase.
- Purchase Order: After approval, to formally confirmed the transaction with a vendor.
Together, both documents establish a complete audit trail, ensuring transparency, control, and accountability across the entire procure-to-pay (P2P) workflow.
Understanding when to move from requisition to purchase order ensures control and accountability at every stage of procurement.
Learn how to automate this next step effectively in our guide on implementing automated purchase orders.
Purchase Requisitions and VAT Compliance in the UAE
In the UAE, every business registered under the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) must maintain proper documentation for taxable purchases to support input VAT claims.
A structured purchase requisition process plays a key role in ensuring these records are accurate, compliant, and audit-ready.
1. Importance of Proper Documentation
VAT recovery in the UAE depends on having complete, verifiable documentation for every purchase. When requisitions are linked to supporting invoices and approvals, businesses can easily demonstrate the legitimacy of expenses during audits.
2. VAT-Compliant Information Capture
A requisition record should include:
- Vendor’s Tax Registration Number (TRN)
- Invoice amount and applicable VAT rate
- Description of goods or services
- Approval references and supporting documents
This ensures that every purchase request aligns with FTA-compliant tax records.
3. Automation for Accuracy
At Alaan, we automate VAT validation by cross-checking receipt data against transaction details. Our platform’s AI extracts VAT fields, verifies TRNs, and flags non-compliant invoices.
This helps finance teams capture every eligible VAT claim while avoiding common reporting errors.
4. Best Practices for UAE Businesses
- Centralise requisition and invoice records in a single system.
- Automate VAT validation to reduce manual verification.
- Regularly reconcile approved requisitions with accounting entries.
Automating VAT compliance through requisitions ensures audit readiness, reduces the risk of penalties, and improves overall financial accuracy, giving finance leaders confidence in their reporting.
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Final Insight
Efficient procurement starts long before a purchase order is sent to a vendor. It begins with a disciplined purchase requisition process, one that provides visibility, accountability, and financial control across every department.
For organisations in the UAE, where compliance and audit readiness are integral to operations, automating this process is no longer a choice but a competitive advantage.
At Alaan, we help finance teams modernise their purchase workflows. Our AI-powered expense management platform enables companies to raise, approve, and track requisitions instantly while ensuring VAT compliance and accurate accounting integration. The result is faster decisions, error-free documentation, and complete visibility over every dirham spent.
If your organisation is ready to simplify procurement, reduce manual effort, and strengthen compliance, explore how we can help you digitise your entire spend management process.
FAQs
1. What is the difference between a purchase request and a purchase requisition?
A purchase request is an informal request to buy something. In contrast, a purchase requisition is a formal document used for approval before purchase, ensuring control, budget alignment, and compliance within the organisation.
2. Who approves a purchase requisition?
Purchase requisitions are usually approved by department heads, finance managers, or procurement leaders. The number of approvals often depends on the purchase amount and the organisation’s internal approval policy.
3. How can small businesses start using purchase requisitions?
Small businesses can start with simple digital templates to capture purchase details and approvals. As they grow, using an automated platform helps manage requests, control spending, and maintain compliance efficiently.
4. What are common mistakes in purchase requisitions?
Common errors include missing approvals, incomplete forms, and mismatched vendor details. These mistakes can delay procurement and cause compliance issues, especially under UAE’s VAT documentation requirements.
5. How does automation help with purchase requisition audits?
Automation keeps a complete digital trail of all requisitions and approvals. This makes audits faster, ensures accurate records, and helps companies meet UAE Federal Tax Authority (FTA) compliance standards.
