Guide · updated 29 September 2026
How to move purchase approvals off paper.
A practical guide for Malaysian companies still approving purchase requisitions on printed forms, email and signatures.
Moving purchase approvals off paper takes six steps: map who signs today, agree on your request types, build a parts list with the last price you paid, set a yearly budget per department, decide your alert and deadline rules, and then switch one department at a time to an online approval system that records every decision.
Why paper approvals cost more than paper
A printed purchase requisition form does its job when everyone is in the office and prices never change. In practice:
- Nobody can see where a request is. It sits in a tray, and the requester chases by phone.
- The last price is hard to find. It is in an old PO file or a spreadsheet, so a supplier increase is easy to sign without noticing.
- Budgets are checked late. Finance finds the overspend after the purchase is made.
- A signature records very little. It doesn't show which items were questioned or what changed after the first approver signed.
Step 1: Map who signs today
Write down the real route a request takes, including the informal ones. Most companies end up with three questions answered by three people: is it needed (department head), is the supplier and price right (purchasing head), and should we spend it (senior management). Then the purchasing team buys.
Step 2: Agree on your request types
Not every purchase looks the same. Separate everyday purchase requests from supplier quotation approvals, and from exceptional purchases that need a written justification or an urgent route.
Step 3: Build a parts list with last prices
Price control needs a part number for each item and the last price you paid for it. Start with the items you buy most often. From then on, record the final purchase price every time a purchase is completed, not the quoted price.
Step 4: Set a yearly budget per department
Approvers make better decisions when they see what the department has already committed and what this request adds.
Step 5: Decide your rules
More detail in how to set purchase approval limits.
| Rule | Example |
|---|---|
| Price alert limit | Alert the purchasing head and COO when a price is more than 10% above the last purchase |
| Approval deadline | Highlight a request that has waited more than a set number of days at one stage |
| Changed requests | If an item changes after approval started, every approver sees it again |
| Who sees what | Department heads see only their own department's requests |
Step 6: Switch one department at a time
Start with the department that raises the most requests. Train requesters on raising and tracking requests, and approvers on approving from their phone. When the route works, add the next department.
What to look for in a purchase approval system
- A visible approval route, with rules such as senior approval only above a set amount
- Approval of individual line items, not only whole requests
- Return for revision, with changed requests re-approved from the start
- Last purchase price and % difference on every line, with alerts when a purchase costs more
- Department budgets shown at the moment of approval
- Days waiting per stage and a report of time taken at each stage
- Quote comparison, with a reason required when the cheapest quote is not chosen (see the three-quote rule)
- Out-of-office delegation so approvals don't stop when someone is on leave
- PO numbering when purchasing starts the order
- Role-based access and a full audit log
- Approval from a phone
The Avantix Procurement Portal covers each point on this list: see the approval workflow and supplier price monitoring.