ANTE User ManualPurchase Requests
A Purchase Request captures the items you need to buy and runs them through a procurement workflow — from materials approval and canvassing all the way to a Purchase Order. Purchase Requests live on the Purchasing page under the Assets module.
Overview
To find Purchase Requests, open Assets → Purchasing in the sidebar. The Purchasing page combines Purchase Requests and Purchase Orders into one screen, with counter cards and a procurement pipeline at the top and a set of tabs below.
If you only need to file and track your own requests — not manage the whole procurement pipeline — use the Dashboard's Request Panel widget instead (switch its Filings / Requests toggle to Requests). See Dashboard → Request Panel.
Each new request starts a procurement workflow: you pick a workflow template, the first step ("Submit Purchase Request") lands on you immediately, you fill in the request details, and then the request moves through the remaining workflow steps.
Page Layout
At the top of the Purchasing page:
- + New Request button — starts a new procurement workflow (header action, available on every tab except Orders)
- Start Process button — starts any Purchasing process from the full template picker
- Counter cards — Active Requests, Completed, Active Templates, and Pipeline Value
- Procurement Pipeline — a strip showing how many requests sit in each stage (Supplier Outsourcing, Materials Approval, Canvassing, Supplier Selection, Purchase Order)
Tabs
| Tab | Shows |
|---|---|
| Purchase Requests | The list of purchase requests |
| Purchase Orders | Purchase orders |
| Documents | Item receipt documents for purchase orders and requests |
| Templates | Procurement workflow templates (Purchase Request Templates and Purchase Order Templates) |
Purchase Requests Table
The Purchase Requests tab lists requests with these columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| PR Code | Unique request reference code |
| Status | Current workflow stage |
| Total Amount | Estimated total cost |
| Items | Number of item lines |
| Suppliers | Number of suppliers attached (from canvassing) |
| Delivery Date | Requested delivery date |
| Created | Date the request was created |
You can search by PR Code and filter by Status. The list defaults to newest-first.
Request Status
A request's Status follows the procurement pipeline. The available statuses are:
- Supplier Outsourcing
- Materials Approval
- Canvassing
- Supplier Selection
- Purchase Order
- Delivery
Common Tasks
Creating a Purchase Request
- Open Assets → Purchasing.
- Click + New Request (top right).
- In the New Purchase Request dialog, choose a Workflow template from the dropdown (templates are grouped into Pre-built and Custom Templates). Procurement SOP — the company's end-to-end SOP, ending with a Payment Request that's automatically routed through Finance's approval and release — is preselected by default; pick Standard Procurement or another template instead if you need a different flow.
- Click Start Request. Step 1 ("Submit Purchase Request") is assigned to you and its form opens immediately.
- Fill in the request form (see below).
- When the details are complete, click Mark as Done on the task to finalize the request and advance the workflow.
Filling in the Request Form
The Submit Purchase Request form has a toolbar, an items table, and a notes/totals footer.
Toolbar:
- Tax type (required) — Value Added Tax (VAT 12%) or Non Taxable
- Destination warehouse (required) — where the items should be delivered. ANTE fills this in for you automatically (your company's main warehouse, or the first warehouse if none is marked main); if your company has no warehouse at all yet, one is created automatically and a notice tells you so. You can still change it before submitting.
- Delivery date — when the items are needed
Items table — for each line:
- Item — search the item catalog or create a new item
- Qty — quantity needed (minimum 1)
- Description — line description (pre-filled from the catalog when you pick an item)
- Unit price — expected cost per unit (pre-filled from the catalog rate; refined later during canvassing)
- Total — calculated automatically (Qty × Unit price)
Use Add item to add another line. A blank line is added automatically once you pick an item on the last row.
Footer:
- Notes — justification, urgency, or special handling for the approver
- Totals — Subtotal, VAT (12%) when the tax type is VAT, and Grand total
The form saves automatically as you work; a save indicator shows the last-saved time.
Tracking a Request
- On the Purchase Requests tab, click a request row.
- A tracking view opens showing the workflow timeline and the task buttons for each step, so you can see where the request is and act on the current step.
Once at least one step's form has been submitted, an Exportable toggle appears next to Timeline at the top right of the timeline section. Switching to it lists each completed step's document (Canvass Sheet, Supplier Selection, Purchase Order, and so on) with an Export <Name> button that downloads a PDF copy.
Checking Request Status
- Open the Purchase Requests tab.
- Read the Status column, or use the Status filter to narrow the list.
- Click a request to open its workflow timeline for full detail.
Procurement Workflow
ANTE ships two ready-to-use procurement workflow templates in the New Purchase Request dialog (you can also build your own on the Templates tab):
| Template | Stages | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Procurement SOP (default) | Submit Purchase Request → Supplier Sourcing → Comparative Analysis & Supplier Approval → Purchase Order Generation → Payment Request Processing | The company's full SOP — goes straight into supplier sourcing (no separate manager-approval stage) and, once goods are received, ends with a Payment Request step that automatically carries the Purchase Order's payment through approval and release. |
| Standard Procurement | Submit Purchase Request → Materials Approval → Canvass Suppliers → Supplier Selection → Issue Purchase Order | Adds a manager-approval stage before canvassing; stops once the Purchase Order is issued. |
Whichever template you use, opening a step's Task from your request's tracking timeline shows that step's form:
Canvass Suppliers / Supplier Sourcing
Adds suppliers and records their quoted price for each requested item.
- The requested items are shown immediately — even before any supplier has been added — so the canvasser knows what to source.
- Add Supplier to pick an existing supplier or create a new one on the spot.
- You need at least the company's configured minimum number of suppliers in the comparison before you can submit — up to 5 can be compared at once. This minimum defaults to 2 and can be changed (1–5) by an administrator — see Minimum Canvass Suppliers.
Supplier Selection / Comparative Analysis & Supplier Approval
Compares suppliers and awards each item to a winner.
- Every supplier that quoted is shown side by side with their total quoted cost across all the canvassed items — not just the items they won — so you're comparing suppliers as a whole. The cheapest supplier is tagged lowest.
- For each requested item, pick the winning supplier from the dropdown. You must award every item before you can submit.
- Add a justification in Notes (e.g. lowest bid, preferred vendor, faster delivery).
Purchase Order Generation / Issue Purchase Order
Issues the Purchase Order to the awarded supplier(s) — see Purchase Order. Issuing the PO automatically starts tracking its fulfillment (acknowledgement, delivery, and receiving/QC).
Payment Request Processing (Procurement SOP only)
The Procurement SOP's final stage. Every Purchase Order automatically gets its own Request for Payment, so once the goods are received, this step just shows that request read-only — there's nothing to fill in — alongside a status chip:
| Chip | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Awaiting approval & release | The request is moving through its Payment Approval and Payment Release steps. |
| Payment released | The payment was released — this step is done. |
| Rejected | The payment request was turned down. |
This step finishes on its own once the payment is released or rejected — there's no Mark as Done button to click.
Approving and releasing happen as their own steps, spawned automatically alongside this one — not here. See Request for Payment for how the approval and release steps work.
Tips
- Be specific — use the item description and Notes fields so approvers and canvassers have what they need.
- Estimate the unit price — it seeds the canvassing step; actual prices come from supplier quotes.
- Set the delivery date — it drives planning and shows on the request list.
- Reuse templates — the Templates tab lets you start from a pre-built procurement workflow or a custom one.
Related Pages
- Purchase Order — orders issued from approved requests
- Suppliers — supplier directory used during canvassing
- Dashboard → Request Panel — file and track just your own requests from the Dashboard's Requests source
- Request for Payment — how the Payment Request Processing step's approval and release actually work
💡 Note: Purchase Requests are workflow-driven. Creating one starts a procurement process, and the request advances stage by stage until a Purchase Order is issued.