Purchasing in a growing plant usually runs on email: a request in one thread, three supplier quotes in three more, a PO from a template, and an invoice nobody can match. The procurement block runs that trail in the order buyers actually work — requisition, RFQ, purchase order, receipt, inspection and payment — and shows what each delivery really cost once freight and duty land.
Urgent orders go straight to a favourite supplier — no comparison, no approval.
Three PDFs in three formats, and the cheapest isn't the cheapest once freight is added.
The supplier billed for 1,000 units; the dock received 960.
Duty and freight never reach the item cost, so margins look better than they are.
A team raises a purchase requisition.
RFQ to several suppliers, answers side by side.
Purchase order with a delivery schedule, approved.
Goods receipt against the PO; shortages noted at the dock.
Held for quality if the item needs it.
Three-way: PO, receipt and supplier invoice.
Payable released; freight and duty spread as landed cost.
Teams ask for what they need; buyers approve and consolidate.
Suppliers, terms, lead times and the items each one can supply.
Send one request to several suppliers and compare answers side by side.
POs with delivery schedules, partial receipts and amendments.
Receive against the PO, record shortages and send stock to inspection.
Send material out for processing and track it until it comes back.
On-time, in-full and quality performance for every supplier.
Spread freight, duty and handling across the goods they relate to.
Match supplier invoices to POs and receipts before they are paid.
Illustrative, in any currency; duty rates depend on the product and the importing country.
| Goods: 1,000 units at 10.00 | 10,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Freight | 600.00 |
| Insurance | 50.00 |
| Import duty (7.5% of goods) | 750.00 |
| Handling | 100.00 |
| Landed cost | 11,500.00 → 11.50 per unit, 15% above the purchase price |
Sends one RFQ to several suppliers and compares the answers side by side.
Receives against the PO and flags shortages on the spot.
Pays only invoices that match both the PO and the receipt.
Duty, input-tax credit and invoice matching rules differ by region — GST in India and Singapore, VAT in Europe and the UAE, sales tax in the US.
Three-way matching checks a supplier invoice against the purchase order and the goods receipt before payment. If quantities or prices do not match, the invoice is held for review.
Landed cost is the purchase price plus freight, insurance, duty and handling, spread across the items they relate to — by value, weight or quantity. It is the real cost of getting goods into your warehouse.
A goods received note (GRN) records what actually arrived against a purchase order — quantities, shortages and damage — and is the trigger for inspection, stock update and invoice matching.
Accounting software records a supplier invoice once it arrives. Procurement controls everything before that: who approved the purchase, which supplier won and why, and whether what arrived matches what was ordered.