Purchase Request Form Template (Free Excel Download)

The most time-consuming stage of purchasing is often neither the quote nor the delivery — it's getting the request itself written down properly. An email that starts with "3-4 boxes of A4 and some toner" is still going back and forth three replies later over paper weight, brand and delivery date. A standard purchase request form ends that traffic in one pass: the requester states exactly what's needed, the approver sees exactly what's approved, and the supplier prices it right the first time.

Download the template — Excel, free, no sign-up

What fields belong on a good request form?

We built the template around the gaps we see in hundreds of customer requests. It has two parts:

1. Request header

• Request number and date for tracking and archive — a simple scheme like PR-2026-014 works.
• Requester and department/branch — in multi-site organisations this also fixes the delivery destination.
• Cost centre / budget code so accounting posts the invoice correctly from day one.
• Need-by date: a concrete date instead of "urgent" — your supplier plans lead times around it.
• Delivery address and time constraints: business hours only? loading dock? weekend access?

2. Line-item table

• Item name and specification: not "gloves" but "nitrile work gloves, size 9, EN 388". Sharper specs mean sharper quotes.
• Brand preference and equivalents policy: mark whether a brand is a requirement or a preference — lines open to equivalents are where savings appear.
• Quantity and unit: pieces, boxes, packs, kg... Unit confusion is the most frequent ordering error; note units per box too.
• Estimated unit budget (optional) to speed up internal approval before the request ever reaches a supplier.
• Notes column for line-level details: colour, size, delivery priority.

Approval block

The form closes with three signature fields — requester, department manager, purchasing. If your flow differs (single approval, value-tiered approval), adjust the blocks.

How to use it (4 steps)

1. Download and adapt: logo, cost centres and approval tiers take ten minutes on first use.
2. Share with requesters and make the rule known: purchasing requests arrive on this form.
3. Run approvals on the form itself so a single document tells the whole story at audit time.
4. Send the approved form to your supplier. A well-completed request form is a document a supplier can price the same day. Send it to AKSCO here and we'll return a written line-by-line quote.

The five most common mistakes

• Quantities without units: "50 gloves" — 50 pairs or 50 packs? Make the unit mandatory on every line.
• Undated "urgent": urgency without a date gets planned last. Write the actual need-by date.
• Many items in one line: "cleaning supplies (assorted)" cannot be quoted. One item per row.
• Unclear equivalents policy: needless brand locks inflate budgets; no policy at all invites quality surprises.
• Missing delivery details: address, floor, time window, receiving person — four lines that prevent days of delay.

Beyond the template

With a regular supply partner you eventually outgrow the form: an approved product list, agreed prices, a known delivery rhythm. Most organisations working with AKSCO reach that maturity within a few requests — here's how the model works.

Frequently Asked Questions