Purchasing · Reference

End-to-end workflows

How work moves through Purchasing from start to finish, who does each step and what the system does in response.

On this page (13)

Requisition to received goods Revise and cancel a purchase order Partial receipt, backorder and over-receipt Tender to purchase order Reverse auction to purchase order Supplier bill: match, hold, release, retention, pay Framework agreement, call-offs and rebate Early payment discount Supplier onboarding with maker-checker: public application to first order Portal ASN to goods receipt to invoice Matching policy two-person change and its effect on a bill Approval tiers, authority change and a high-value order Tolerances at receipt: over, under and the supplier's allowance

Requisition to received goods

Who: Requester R, Approver A, Buyer B, Approver C, Storekeeper S

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	R: New requisition, 2 lines with products, needed in 10 days; Save; Submit	Waiting for approval; Budget 'Within'
2	R: try Approve on own requisition (if R holds the right)	Refused 'Somebody other than the requester must approve this requisition.'
3	A: open it; Approve	Approved; commitment recorded where budgets are active; dashboard 'PR pending' drops by 1
4	B: Requisitions to order; tick both lines; supplier Test Supplier LLC; Create RFQ	Draft RFQ opens with the lines at the estimated prices; requisition shows Ordered
5	B: adjust price, add VAT 5%; Print > Request for quotation	RFQ PDF downloads
6	B: Approve order (tier needs 1 approval)	Refused 'needs 1 approval ... it has 0 for this version.'
7	C: Procurement > Approve this version; B: Approve order	Confirmed; draft receipt raised; requisition commitment released
8	S: open the receipt from Receipts; receive all; Validate	Stock in at order cost; dashboard 'To bill' counts the order

Revise and cancel a purchase order

Who: Buyer B, Approver C

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	B: confirmed order (approved by C), nothing received	Approvals 1 of 1, version 1
2	B: Procurement > Amend with reason 'Quantity change'	Back to draft as version 2; receipt cancelled; version 1 kept
3	B: change quantity; Save; Approve order	Refused: approval of version 1 no longer counts
4	C: Approve this version; B: Approve order	Confirmed as version 2; new receipt raised
5	B: Cancel the order	Cancelled; check that the open receipt is cancelled too

Partial receipt, backorder and over-receipt

Who: Buyer B, Storekeeper S, Receipt approver E

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	Configuration: receipt tolerance for Test Supplier LLC 5% over, 2% under	Saved
2	B: order 100 units; Approve order	Confirmed with a receipt for 100
3	S: receive 60; Validate	60 in stock; backorder of 40 created; order still Confirmed
4	S: on the backorder receive 46 (6 over the remaining 40)	Refused with the over-tolerance message
5	S (without the right): tick Approve over receipt	Refused 'Approving an over receipt needs the receipt exception right.'
6	E: approve the over receipt with a reason; Validate	46 taken; an over-receipt exception recorded; nothing left open

Tender to purchase order

Who: Buyer B (manage), Approver C (manage and award), suppliers A and B2 (or their portal logins)

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	B: New call for tenders, 100 units, Sealed, closing in 2 days; invite A and B2; Save; Issue	Open for quotes; both quote records drafted
2	B: Enter quote A: carton of 12 at 1,200.00; Save and submit. Enter quote B2: unit 110.00; Save and submit	Quotes in 2 / 2; no prices shown to anyone yet
3	B: try to open the comparison before the closing time	Refused: sealed until the closing time
4	B: Close for quotes	Closed; Comparison appears: A 100.00 per base unit cheapest, B2 110.00
5	B: try Award	Refused 'Somebody other than whoever raised this call for tenders must award it.'
6	C: Award 100 to A	Tender Awarded; draft PO for A at 100.00 with 5% VAT = 10,500.00 total; B2's quote Not awarded
7	C: open the PO from the Purchase orders smart button; Approve order	PO confirmed; receipt raised; normal receiving and billing follow

Reverse auction to purchase order

Who: Buyer B (manage), Approver C (manage and award), bidders A and B2

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	B: on an issued tender create an auction, opening price 2,500.00, drop 0.5%, extend 2 minutes; Save; Publish	Published; Scheduled until start
2	A: bid line totals 2,000.00; B2: bid 2,100.00	Ranking A first, B2 second; bidders see their own rank
3	A: bid 1,995.00, then 1,990.00	1,995.00 refused with the minimum-drop message; 1,990.00 accepted
4	A or B2: bid in the last 2 minutes	End time moves out 2 minutes; bid flagged extended
5	After the end, B: Award	Refused: whoever raised the auction cannot award it
6	C: Award to B2 with no reason, then with a reason	First refused 'Give the reason for not awarding the lowest bid.'; then awarded
7	C: open the PO link; Approve order	Draft PO at B2's bid prices confirmed; tender shows Awarded

Supplier bill: match, hold, release, retention, pay

Who: Buyer B, Accounts clerk W, Releaser R (match release), Retention releaser R2, Payer P

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	B: PO of 10 units at 100.00, retention 10% due 30 days; approve; storekeeper receives 8	Receipt of 8 done
2	W: Vendor bills > New from the PO: bill 10 units, vendor number INV-77; Post	Refused 'This bill is held by matching.'; hold 'Billed more than ... 2 held'
3	W: try to release the hold	Refused (raised the bill)
4	R: Bills on hold > Release with a reason	Hold Released; bill status released
5	W: Post the bill	Posted: net 1,000.00 + VAT 50.00; retention 100.00 held; payable now 950.00
6	P: pay 950.00; try 1,050.00	950.00 paid; the larger amount refused while retention is held
7	R2: Retentions held > Release with a certificate reference; P: pay the last 100.00	Retention Released; bill fully paid

Framework agreement, call-offs and rebate

Who: Writer W, Approver P (policy approve and configure), Buyer B

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	W: New agreement with the supplier, ceiling 100,000.00, product at 45.00 ceiling 500; Save draft	Draft
2	W: try Put in force	Refused (writer cannot approve their own)
3	P: Put in force	In force
4	B: PO naming the agreement with 100 units at 45.00 net 4,500.00; Approve	Confirmed; agreement shows Called off 4,500.00
5	B: PO that would pass the ceiling	Refused with the ceiling message
6	W: New rebate 3% from 50,000.00; P: Put in force	In force
7	After bills of 60,000.00 net post: Accrue; then Settle	Due 1,800.00 accrued; Settle posts a 1,800.00 debit note and the rebate is Settled

Early payment discount

Who: Payer P (payment prepare), Supplier portal user S

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	P: Offer early payment on a posted bill of 10,500.00 due 30 Nov; pay on 10 Nov; 12%	Offer with discount 69.04; to pay 10,430.96
2	S (supplier portal): Accept	Accepted - to pay
3	P: Settle immediately	Refused: pay 10,430.96 first
4	P: pay 10,430.96 against the bill dated 9 Nov	Payment recorded
5	P: Settle	Debit note 69.04 posted and set against the bill; bill closed; offer Paid early

Supplier onboarding with maker-checker: public application to first order

Who: Prospective supplier, buyer (purchase.portal.manage + partner.manage), finance reviewer (partner.bank.reveal), qualification writer and approver

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	Buyer opens Purchase settings, ticks 'Accept supplier registrations' and saves	A secret registration link appears
2	Supplier opens the link (no sign-in) and sends an application with trade licence, VAT, contact and e-mail	Application APP number received; waiting in Supplier applications
3	Buyer opens Supplier applications > Waiting, checks the details, enters a portal username and temporary password and approves	Supplier contact created, portal login made, application shows Approved with the supplier code
4	Buyer writes an Approved suppliers row (everything, valid one year, evidence 'Trade licence DED-123456') and tries to approve it	Refused: somebody other than the writer must approve
5	A second user with the policy approval right approves the qualification	Status Approved; with 'Commit only to approved suppliers' on, the supplier can now be awarded and ordered from
6	Supplier signs in, changes the temporary password, opens My details and sends a new bank account	Request waits for review; bank shown masked to the supplier
7	Buyer (no bank right) tries to approve; finance user with partner.bank.reveal approves	Buyer refused; finance approves and the account is added as Pending, to be verified by call-back before any payment

Portal ASN to goods receipt to invoice

Who: Supplier portal user, warehouse user (purchase.asn.manage + inventory.operate), accounts payable clerk

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	Buyer confirms a PO of 100 pieces for the supplier	PO confirmed; receipt waiting in inventory; supplier sees it in the portal
2	Supplier acknowledges the order with its own reference	Portal shows Acknowledged; buyer sees the acknowledgement
3	Supplier announces 60 pieces with lot and carrier details	Notice In transit; shows in Inbound shipments; 40 left to announce
4	Warehouse opens the notice on arrival and clicks Receive	Receipt validated for 60 with lot and expiry; notice Received; the PO shows 60 received
5	Supplier sends an invoice for 60 pieces with total and PDF	Draft bill created and linked to the order line; status Received - being checked
6	Accounts clerk checks the match (three-way) and posts the bill	Bill posts; supplier sees Accepted and the bill with outstanding amount in Bills and payments
7	Run Received not invoiced and Open purchase orders	The 60 pieces are no longer received-not-billed; the PO still shows 40 open

Matching policy two-person change and its effect on a bill

Who: Procurement configurer (purchase.configure), policy approver (purchase.policy.approve), accounts clerk

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	Configurer drafts MP-STD (three-way, price 2% and AED 3.00, quantity 10%)	Draft saved
2	Configurer tries Put in force on their own draft	Refused: somebody other than the author must activate
3	Approver puts it in force	Status Active; Approved by shows the approver
4	Clerk bills 8.9 against 8 received, then a price of 103.01 on a unit price of 100	Both bills are held by matching (quantity beyond 8.8, price beyond 3.00)
5	Configurer makes a new version with quantity tolerance 15% and the approver puts it in force	v2 Active, v1 Superseded; the held quantity bill is re-checked when matching runs again

Approval tiers, authority change and a high-value order

Who: Procurement manager (purchase.policy.approve), buyer, two approvers

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	Manager saves tiers 0 -> 1, 10,000 -> 2, 50,000 -> 3 and turns on 'A buyer may not approve their own purchase order'	Saved with audit entries
2	Buyer raises a PO of AED 60,000 (with tax) and sends it for approval	Order needs 3 approvals
3	Buyer tries to approve and confirm their own order	Refused
4	Three other users approve in turn	Approvals counted per version; the third lets the order confirm
5	Buyer amends the order price (new version)	Earlier approvals no longer count for the new version; approvals are asked again
6	Manager checks Supplier spend and Open purchase orders after receipt and billing	Spend shows the billed net; the order leaves Open purchase orders when fully received

Tolerances at receipt: over, under and the supplier's allowance

Who: Purchase configurer, warehouse user, supplier portal user

#	What the person does	What the system does
1	Configurer creates a receipt tolerance for the supplier: 5% over, 2% under	Row Active
2	Supplier announces 105 on a 100-piece line	Accepted (100 + 5%); 106 would be refused
3	Warehouse receives 105	Accepted within tolerance with no over-receipt approval
4	A second order of 100: warehouse receives 98 and validates	The 2 missing close short; no backorder
5	Third order: 97 received	Backorder of 3 stays open
6	Run Supplier performance for the period	In full % counts the 98 and 97 receipts as not full

Updated 3 October 2026