Create a Purchase Request
A purchase request in Zoho Expense is a formal request initiated by the employee of an organization to procure goods or services. The purpose of a purchase request is to ensure that all acquisitions are necessary, budgeted, and authorized, thereby maintaining financial control and accountability.
Scenario : Patricia is a developer at Zylker. She needs an Android smartphone to test the changes she made to Zylker’s Android app. Employees of Zylker need to create purchase requests and get them approved by their manager if they want to buy items for company use. Patricia uses the Purchase Requests module in Zoho Expense to create a purchase request for the smartphone.
After an admin enables the Purchase Requests module for your organization, you can start creating purchase requests. Here’s how:
- Go to My View on the left sidebar.
- Click Purchase Requests on the left sidebar.
- Click + New Purchase Request in the top right corner of the page.
- Provide the Expected Date for the purchase request.
- Select the Delivery Address. You can also choose to change or remove the delivery address by clicking Change or Remove.
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- Provide a Reason, Notes to Approver, and Reference#.
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- Enter the Item Name or choose the item from the Item Name dropdown.
- Select the Category for the purchase request.
- Provide a Description for the purchase request.
- Select a Preferred Vendor if required.
- Enter the Quantity required.
- Provide an Estimated Rate for the item.
- Give a Discount percentage if required.
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- Click + Add Another Line to include another item and enter the details for the same.
- You can also delete any line item by clicking the Trash icon next to it.
- Click Save.
The Purchase Request will be saved in draft status.
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Create Purchase Request Using Amazon Business Integration
Amazon Business Punchout and Punchin integrations are tools that connect your expense management system (Zoho Expense) directly with Amazon Business. You get access to a vast network of suppliers with quantity discounts, tax-exempt purchases, and other features tailored to suit all types of business purchases in the Amazon Business marketplace. You can place orders on Amazon Business and create purchase requests in Zoho Expense using the Punchout or Punchin integrations, after they have been enabled by the admin of your organization.
Note: The Amazon Business integration is available only for the US edition of Zoho Expense.
To create a purchase request using Amazon Punchout integration:
- Log in to your Zoho Expense account.
- Navigate to My View.
- Click Purchase Request from the sidebar.
- Click Create Using Amazon Punchout.
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- In the pop-up, select the group that you want to associate with the purchase request.
- Click Proceed. You will be redirected to Amazon Business.
- You can search for the items you want to buy and add them to the cart.
- Once done, click the cart icon at the right corner.
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- Next, verify the items you’ve added and click Proceed to checkout the items.
- Verify the Group Name.
- Your shipping address will be automatically populate with your organization’s address. If you want to update the existing address, click Change next to the existing address. Once you select the select the new address, click Use this address.
- Next, verify the payment method configured by your admin. If you want to change the existing payment method, click Change and select any one of the payment methods configured. Once done, click use this payment method.
- Click Submit order for approval. You will be redirected to the purchase request creation page in Zoho Expense.
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Note: The tax from your Amazon cart will be automatically imported into Zoho Expense as a line item in your purchase request.
- Select the Expected date of your purchase and the category of the items you ordered, and click Save. Your purchase request will be created.
- Click Submit to submit your purchase request for approval. Once your purchase request is approved, your order will be placed on Amazon Business.
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Note: When your order is shipped, an expense will be automatically created in Zoho Expense if transaction data sync is enabled for the group. The expense will be created under the name of the user who submitted the purchase request.
To create a purchase request using Amazon Punchin integration:
Log in to your Amazon account. Add items to your cart, select your group, and enter the shipping address and payment method. Once you submit your order for approval, you will be redirected to Zoho Expense, where you will have to create a purchase request. This request will be sent for approval. After your purchase request is approved, your order will be finalized and placed on Amazon Business.
- Log in to your Amazon Business account.
- Search for the items you want to buy and add them to the cart.
- Once done, click the cart icon at the right corner to checkout your items.
- Next, verify the items you’ve added and click Proceed to checkout the items.
- Verify the Group Name. Make sure the group name matches the one that you’d already selected in Zoho Expense.
- Verify the shipping address. If you want to update the existing address, click Change next to the existing address. Once you select the select the new address, click Use this address.
- Next, verify the payment method configured by your admin. If you want to change the existing payment method, click Change and select any one of the payment methods configured. Once done, click use this payment method.
- Click Submit order for approval. You will be redirected to the purchase request creation page in Zoho Expense.
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Note: The tax from your Amazon cart will be automatically imported into Zoho Expense as a line item in your purchase request.
- Select the expected date of your purchase and the category of the items you ordered, and click Save. Your purchase request will be created.
- Click Submit to submit your purchase request for approval. Once your purchase request is approved, your order will be placed on Amazon Business.
Note: When your order is shipped, an expense will be automatically created in Zoho Expense if transaction data sync is enabled for the group. The expense will be created under the name of the user who submitted the purchase request.
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Attach Documents to a Purchase Request
If you want to include any documents to the purchase request before submitting it to the approver:
- Go to My View on the left sidebar.
- Click Purchase Requests on the left sidebar.
- Open the purchase request to which you want to attach documents.
Note: You can upload a maximum of 5 files, 10MB each.
- Click + next to Documents in the right side of the page.
- Select the format of the document.
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The file will be attached to your purchase request. You can click the attached file to preview it.
- To delete any attached file, hover over the file and click the x icon.
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- Confirm your action by clicking Delete in the Delete Attachment pop-up.