Material requests
Raise an indent from site, get it approved, and follow every line as it is ordered, received and issued — without anyone buying the same material twice.
A material request (indent) is what the site needs. How it gets met — from the store, from a purchase, or both — is decided when it is approved, and each line then keeps its own running account until the material reaches site.
📷 Screenshot spot — the Procurement tab of a project with one approved material request open, showing its Line ledger with From stock, To buy and To order filled in
Save as static/img/screenshots/procurement-material-requests.png and replace this box with 
Raise a material request
- Open the project and go to the Procurement tab.
- In the Material requests panel, click New material request.
- Enter a Title — for example "Cement and steel for level 3 slab".
- Set Required by (the date site needs it) and Priority (low, normal, high or urgent). Add Notes if useful.
- Type in Search materials, pick the material in Add a material, and click Add line. Repeat for each material.
- Enter the Quantity for each line, and Remarks if needed.
- Click Save as draft.
- Open the request from the list and click Submit for approval.
Requests are numbered per project, for example PRJ-07/MR/012.
Only stockable materials can be indented. Labour, plant and subcontract work are engaged, not drawn from a store, so they do not appear in the search.
A saved draft cannot be edited in the app yet. If a line is wrong, cancel the draft and raise a new one.
Approve or reject a request
Who can approve: the Project Manager, the Company Admin, or any project team member whose Indents box is ticked on the project's Team page. That box lets you delegate approval on one project — say, to a trusted site agent on a remote job — without changing their role. See Project team.
- Open the submitted request.
- Click Approve.
- In the dialog, each line shows what was Requested. Change the Approve quantity if you are allowing less — cutting 100 bags to 60 is normal, and zero is allowed. You cannot approve more than was requested; that is a new request.
- Add a Note (optional) and click Approve.
To refuse it instead, click Reject and give a reason. The reason is required, because the person who raised it has to know what to change. It shows on the request as the Decision note.
What approval decides: from stock or to buy
On approval, the app checks how much of each material this project's own site stores hold, and splits the line:
- From stock — what the site store can cover.
- To buy — the shortfall, which goes to procurement.
For example, 100 bags approved with 40 in the site store gives 40 from stock and 60 to buy.
The split is fixed at the moment of approval and does not change afterwards, even if the store is drawn down later — it was a decision made against the stock that existed then. Only the project's own site stores count; a central store may be holding the same material for another job. Approving does not set the stock aside, so issue the "from stock" part promptly.
Read the line ledger
Open any request to see its Line ledger — one row per material, tracking it to site.
| Column | Means |
|---|---|
| Requested | What site asked for |
| Approved | What was allowed |
| From stock / To buy | The split made at approval |
| Ordered | Total on purchase orders issued to vendors |
| Received | Total on posted goods receipts |
| Issued | Total handed over to site |
| To order | To buy − Ordered. This is all a purchase order can be raised for |
| To receive | Ordered − Received |
| To issue | From stock + Received − Issued |
Ordered moves when a purchase order is issued to the vendor, not when it is drafted. Received moves when a goods receipt is posted. Issued moves when the store issues material against this line.
The last column, Line, shows each line's own status: Pending, Approved, Partially ordered, Ordered, Partially received, Received, Issued or Cancelled. You never set these — they follow the numbers.
How a request moves
| Status | What it means | Who moves it on |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Saved, not yet sent | Site Engineer or Project Manager submits it |
| Submitted | Waiting for a decision | Approver approves or rejects |
| Approved | Lines can now be ordered and issued | Moves on by itself |
| Partially fulfilled | Some material has been issued to site | Moves on by itself |
| Fulfilled | Everything promised has been issued to site | — |
| Rejected | Refused, with a reason | — |
| Cancelled | Withdrawn | — |
Fulfilment is measured on what has been issued to site, not on what has arrived in the store — material sitting in the store has not yet met the site's need.
Cancel a request
Whoever can raise requests can click Cancel request while it is a draft, submitted, approved or partially fulfilled. A reason is optional.
Cancelling is refused once any line has been ordered: "line(s) have already been ordered. Cancel the purchase orders first — cancelling this would leave material arriving against a request that no longer exists." Cancel the orders, then the request. Nothing can be issued against a cancelled or rejected request.
Tips
- A Required by date shows in red once it has passed and the request is still not approved.
- The Lines awaiting an order figure at the top of the Procurement tab counts approved lines with quantity still to order.
- The Share button on an open request gives a link that opens it directly.
Related
- Purchase orders — how the "to buy" quantity gets ordered.
- Stock movements — issuing material to site against a request line.
- Project team — delegate approval with the Indents box.
- Procurement Agent — drafts orders for approved lines.