Creating a Purchase Requisition via Self-Service Process

Employees can use the self-service process to request the materials or services they need.

The employee creates a purchase requisition, which is then converted into a purchase order. Finally, when the employee receives the requested material, he or she must confirm receipt.

This unit focuses on the two steps of creating a self-service requisition and confirming receipt.

The following video introduces the self-service requisition process.

In SAP S/4HANA, employees are supported with a dedicated app to request materials and services. This self-service requisitioning is the first step in the self-service procurement process. 

The self-service process consists of the following steps: 

1. The employee creates a purchase requisition for goods or services to be procured for direct consumption or for stock.
2. Depending on the system configuration, employees may need to have their requisitions approved by a manager (or someone else). The person responsible for approval can be notified of the requisition to be approved using workflow. This second step of the self-service process is optional.
3. The requisition is converted into a purchase order. Before this can happen, it may be necessary to determine a source of supply. If a source is assigned to the requisition item, it may be automatically converted to a purchase order.
4. The employee confirms receipt of the goods or services.
5. The invoice for the delivered goods or services is entered.

With the My Purchase Requisitions app, you can create a purchase requisition item in the following ways:

• Select a material or a service from a web-based catalog

• Enter the number of a material master record

• Describe the required product or service

If cross-content search is implemented in the system, you can easily search for material master records and catalog products in one search.

Before you "order" the items you have added to your shopping cart, you can open the item details to review or change data. You can also "order" items without reviewing the details. When you "order" the items in your shopping cart, you create a purchase requisition in the system. 

Before you enter requisition items, you can maintain default values for your user.

There are several ways to define default settings for your user.

One option is to edit the following defaults in the My User Defaults section on the start page of the My Purchase Requisitions app: 

• Plant

• Company code

• Purchasing organization

• Purchasing group

• Purchasing document type

As a second option, you can navigate to the Default Settings for User app from within the My Purchase Requisitions app. To do this, choose the profile icon in the upper-right corner of the My Purchase Requisitions app and select Default Settings for User from the dropdown menu. This option provides more default values than the first option, such as the account assignment category, cost center, and delivery date.

The defaults can also be maintained by an administrator for many users. To do this, an administrator uses the Default Settings for Users app. In the User ID field, the administrator can select multiple users from the value help.

It is also possible to have the defaults determined from the organizational structure in Human Resources. For this to happen, the employee must be assigned in the organizational structure and the attributes for the self-service procurement scenario must be maintained.

In addition to creating requisitions, the My Purchase Requisitions app allows you to check the status and details of your purchase requisitions.

The most recent requisition is displayed as the first entry.

You can browse and filter the list to view specific requisitions you have created. In the list, you can see the approval status of a requisition. For an individual item, you can view the status and the follow-on documents that have been created.

If necessary, you can also delete a purchase requisition (depending on its processing status).  

In the following demo, you will learn how to quickly and easily request materials using the My Purchase Requisitions app.