Purchase Approval Workflows That Actually Work

The Approval Chaos

"I asked finance last week." "I thought you approved it." "The vendor needs the PO today." Sound familiar? Informal purchase approvals create bottlenecks, duplicate orders, and nasty surprises at month-end.

The Four-Step Flow

• 1. Request. Agent raises a purchase request with item, vendor, estimated cost, and business justification. Structured fields, not free-text emails.
• 2. Review. IT head checks technical fit and vendor history. Finance checks budget availability.
• 3. Decide. Owner or designated approver gets a clean queue — approve, reject, or request more info. One click, one decision.
• 4. Record. Approved requests become purchase orders. Rejected ones stay in the log with reason. Nothing disappears.

Built-In Controls

Approval thresholds prevent micro-management. Requests under ₹5,000 auto-approve. Over ₹50,000 need CFO sign-off. The system enforces the policy, not a person reminding everyone of the rules.

GST Integration

Each request carries the vendor's GSTIN and the item's HSN code. Approved purchases flow straight into your inventory registry and your accountant's GST reconciliations. No manual re-entry.