Purchase indents with approval and requests for quotation
A shop or godown asks for what it needs on an indent. A manager approves it, or rejects it with a reason, through your approval chain. The approved indent makes requests for quotation, one for each supplier, delivered to the place that asked.
PLANSFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- Each shop buys on its own, and the same item is bought twice in one week.
- Purchases are made without anyone senior agreeing to them.
- Suppliers are called one by one, and the rate comparison sits in someone's notebook.
- Nobody can tell which purchase order came from which shop's request.
How it works
- Open Trade > Purchase > Buying > Indents > New. Pick the shop or godown it is for, the date it is needed by, and the items and quantities. Each line shows the stock that place already has.
- Press Send for Approval. The indent waits in the approval chain Indent: the Trade Managers decide to start with, or the levels you set.
- An approver presses Approve, or Reject with a reason, on the indent, in Approvals > To Approve or from their to-do.
- On an approved indent, press Make RFQs. One request for quotation is made for each supplier. That is the supplier on the line, else the item's usual supplier, else the one you choose for items without one.
- Each RFQ is delivered to the indent's shop or godown and carries the indent's number. The indent becomes Ordered.
- Compare suppliers' quotes with the RFQ's alternatives, and confirm the best one as a purchase order.
Everything it does
The indent
- Numbered by itself: IND/2026/00001 and on
- For Shop / Godown, Asked By (who made it), Date, Needed By and notes
- Lines: item (items you buy), quantity, unit (the purchase unit), supplier if known, In Stock (at that place) and a note
- Estimated Amount: quantities at the items' cost
- States: Draft, To Approve, Approved, Ordered, Rejected
- An indent without items cannot be sent
- An RFQs button opens the RFQs made from it
Approval
- Chain Indent, one per Entity: Trade Managers to start with
- Add levels in order, or conditions on the amount, in Approvals
- A reason is needed to reject, and it shows on the indent as Why Rejected
- Requester May Approve is on for every chain the system makes. A manager who raised an indent may decide it at a level they approve; switch it off on the chain to need a second person
- An Approval Levels tab on the indent shows each level, approver, status and date
Requests for quotation
- Make RFQs works on one or several approved indents at once
- One RFQ per supplier; lines grouped by supplier
- Supplier for Items Without One: chosen in the same window
- Each RFQ is delivered to the indent's place and dated for its Needed By date
- Compare suppliers with alternatives on the RFQ, then confirm a purchase order
- A purchase order over the Entity's limit is held for approval (see purchase orders)
Who uses it
StorekeeperRaises indents for the shop or godown they look after.
Purchase OfficerRaises indents, makes RFQs from approved ones and compares quotes.
Trade ManagerApproves or rejects indents with a reason.
Trade AdministratorSets the levels of the Indent chain in Approvals.
Where you use it
- Web: Trade > Purchase > Buying > Indents and Requests for Quotation
- Web: Approvals > To Approve for approvers
- Not in the app: indents are made and decided on the web
What you control
Settings
- Approval chain Indent: Trade Managers to start with; add levels, conditions on the amount or Approved at Once
- Usual supplier on each item: used when the indent line has none
Approvals
- Indent: every indent sent; Trade Managers to start with, or the levels you set
Notifications
- Request Waits for Your Approval: to the approvers of the next level, in the app and by email. It comes as a phone notification once app push is switched on
- A to-do "Indent for" the place, for each approver
- No message to the person who asked when an indent is decided: they see it on the indent
Questions
Can a storekeeper raise an indent?
The Storekeeper role may make indents. As built, the Indents menu sits under Purchase, which shows only to Purchase Officers and above. So give storekeepers who raise indents the Purchase Officer role too, or ask us to adjust it.Can one indent go to several suppliers?
Yes. Make RFQs makes one request per supplier, by the line's supplier or the item's usual one.Can we approve by amount?
Yes. The Indent chain can have conditions on the amount and more levels, for example a second level above an amount you set.Is the person who asked told when it is approved?
Not by message as built. The indent shows Approved or Rejected with the reason, and its history records who decided.Do several shops' indents combine into one order?
Select several approved indents and make RFQs together. Each indent's RFQs are delivered to its own place.Related features
ORDERS, PURCHASE AND CREDITPurchase orders, goods receipts and supplier billsOrder from a supplier, count what arrives against the order with the supplier's bill number and any damage, and book the supplier's bill. A purchase order over your limit waits for a manager's approval first.ORDERS, PURCHASE AND CREDITReorder from what is shortGive each item a minimum and a maximum per shop or godown. The Reorder list shows what has fallen below its minimum and how much to buy. A purchase order pulls in a supplier's short items in one step.ACROSS SMARTMY TRADEApproval chainsHeld sales, big purchase orders, write-offs and indents go to the right people in order before they go through. With no set-up the Trade Managers approve; you add levels, such as the owner for credit above an amount, without code.CUSTOMERS, BROKERS AND REPORTSRevisions of quotations, orders and POs, comparedChange a sent quotation, a confirmed sales order or a purchase order and keep every earlier version. The order keeps its number with Rev 1, Rev 2. Any version can be compared with the order as it is now, line by line.BILLING AND STOCKAsk another shop for stockWhile billing, each line shows how much of the item your other shops and godowns have, and a substitute when this shop has none. Ask another shop for it, and a transfer is made ready for that shop's person in charge to send.
See your shop on it.
Tell us what you sell, how many shops and godowns you run and how you bill today. We will set up your items and parties with you and print your first bill.