e-Requisitions - Buyer

e-Requisitions

Buyer

User Guide

How to turn assigned line items into Purchase Orders

Version 2.6   •   May 2026

Construction Procurement and Supply Chain Software

Welcome to eReqs

eReqs is your requisitioning platform. As a Buyer, you receive line items that have been assigned to you by a Processor, and you turn them into Purchase Orders raised through your normal procurement system. eReqs captures the PO information so the Requisitioner and the audit trail stay in step with reality.

Who this guide is for

This guide is written for the Buyer role — the procurement professional who takes assigned line items and turns them into Purchase Orders. It assumes you know your way around your normal procurement system and the fundamentals of raising a PO. Separate guides cover the Requisitioner, Approver, and Processor roles.

What's in this guide

• Where Buyer work appears in your inbox
• Reviewing a requisition with assigned lines
• Handling SME Approval — if your business uses it
• Creating a Purchase Order — the three-step wizard
• Recording what was sent and when
• Email notifications you'll receive (new in V2.1)

A note on screenshots

Screenshots in this guide show eReqs with example branding. Your version may look slightly different — your organisation's logo will appear in the top-left, and some menus or options may vary depending on how eReqs is configured for your business. The core flows shown here apply to everyone.

Quick reference

If you only have five minutes, jump to Chapter 4 — Creating a Purchase Order. That's the heart of the role.

Contents

1.  What the Buyer Does

     Where you fit in the workflow

     Where eReqs ends and your other tools begin

2.  Finding and Picking Up Work

     2.1  Where Buyer items appear

     2.2  Opening a requisition

     2.3  How assignments arrive — email notifications

3.  SME Approval

     3.1  When you'll see an SME flag

     3.2  Sending a line for SME Approval

     3.3  What happens while you wait

     3.4  If the SME approves

     3.5  If the SME rejects

4.  Creating a Purchase Order

     4.1  Step 1 — Select Items

     4.2  Step 2 — Order Details

     4.3  Step 3 — Review & Submit

Appendix A:  Quick Reference

Appendix B:  Email Notifications Reference 

1. What the Buyer Does

Before getting into screens and buttons, a few words about where the Buyer role sits within the wider eReqs workflow — and what eReqs does (and doesn't do) for you.

Where you fit in the workflow

Every requisition in eReqs follows a journey from creation to ordering. A colleague raises it, one or more Approvers sign it off, a Processor in your Buying Team routes each line to a Buyer, and then it arrives with you. That's where the ordering side of things begins.

As a Buyer, your job is to take the line items assigned to you and turn them into Purchase Orders with the right suppliers. You'll see the whole requisition for context, but you only action the lines that have been assigned to you.

Where eReqs ends and your other tools begin

An important point worth being clear about up front: eReqs does not generate the Purchase Order itself. The PO is raised in your normal procurement system — Access Coins or similar — exactly as you'd raise it today.

What eReqs does is capture the PO information after the fact, so the requisition record stays in sync. When you complete the Create Order wizard in eReqs, you're telling the system: this is the PO number I raised, this is the supplier, these are the unit prices, this is what I've sent out. That keeps the original Requisitioner informed and maintains a clean audit trail from request through to order.

Quick mental model

Raise the PO in Access Coins as you normally would. Then come back to eReqs and record what you did. eReqs is the system of record for the requisition lifecycle; Access Coins is where the actual PO lives.

2. Finding and Picking Up Work

Like every other role in eReqs, Buyers start in the Inbox — also called My Work. It's the same page everyone else uses; you just see different items in it depending on what's waiting for you.

2.1 Where Buyer items appear

Two filters help you find your work:

• My inbox shows requisitions where one or more lines have been assigned to you personally by a Processor.
• Your team's inbox shows everything sitting with your Buying Team — including lines assigned to teammates.

Most of your day-to-day work will come through My inbox. Use Your team's inbox if you need to see what else is in progress around you — for example, to pick up a teammate's work if they're out, or to coordinate orders across the team.

Figure 2.1 — The Buyer's My inbox view

2.2 Opening a requisition

Click anywhere on a requisition's row in the list on the left, and the full details appear in the right-hand pane. The status bar at the top tells you the current state of the requisition, the role you're acting in, and who it's assigned to.

You'll see the entire requisition — every line item, the delivery address, the contact information, any instructions and attached documents. Only the lines assigned to you are actionable from your view, but the full context is there so you can place sensible orders.

You see everything; you action what's yours

Even on a long requisition with lines spread across several Buyers, you'll see all of it. The lines you can actually order are the ones flagged as assigned to you — those are the rows you'll select when you click Create Order. The rest is context

2.3 How assignments arrive — email notifications

You don't pick up Buyer work yourself — the Processor in your team assigns lines to you based on their judgement about who's the right person to action them. You'll know you've got new work when a requisition appears in your My inbox view with a count of items to action — and you'll receive an email at the same time.

Action Required by Email

When a Processor routes line items to you, you'll receive an email with the subject "[n] Items Have Been Assigned to You" (where n is the number of items in your group).

The email shows the parent requisition, who routed the items to you, and a "Your Items" panel listing only the lines you need to action — along with their subtotal. Click the Review & Action Items button — or use the direct link at the foot of the email — to open the items in eReqs.

If the Processor left you a note, it'll appear in a "Reason" panel near the top of the email. Read this before opening the items — it often contains routing instructions or context you'll need (e.g. "please confirm supplier before proceeding").

If you think a line has been assigned to the wrong person, the simplest thing is a quick word with the Processor. They can reassign it. There's no Buyer-to-Buyer reassignment from your end.

3. SME Approval

Some lines need specialist sign-off before they can be ordered. When that's the case, eReqs adds an extra approval step between you and your Create Order action: SME Approval.

This chapter only applies if your business uses SME Approval. If yours doesn't, the line items assigned to you will be ready to order straight away — skip ahead to Chapter 4.

3.1 When you'll see an SME flag

If the Requisitioner has flagged a line for SME Approval at the point of raising the requisition, that flag travels with the line all the way through to you. When you open a requisition where one or more of your lines needs SME review, the action buttons above the line items table will be Requires SME Approval and No SME Required — not the usual Create Order button.

You'll need to deal with the SME question for each flagged line before you can move on to creating an order. For lines that don't need SME review (or where the flag is no longer relevant), No SME Required clears it and the line becomes orderable as normal.

Figure 3.1 — A requisition with lines flagged for SME Approval

3.2 Sending a line for SME Approval

To trigger SME Approval, tick the line (or lines) that need it and click Requires SME Approval. A confirmation panel opens where you choose who the request goes to.

Figure 3.2 — The Requires SME Approval panel

In the panel:

• Sending to — choose the SME Approver from the dropdown. The Requisitioner may have suggested a name when they raised the requisition; if so, you'll see it pre-filled here. You can keep it, or pick someone different if you think another person is better placed.
• Note — optional. A short note giving the SME context can help them turn the review around faster — for example, what the line is for, why it needs their eye, or any deadline pressure.

Click Confirm Requires SME Approval and the line goes off to the SME Approver. The requisition leaves your inbox while it's with them.

The suggested approver is just that — a suggestion

The Requisitioner's suggested SME Approver is a starting point, not a binding choice. You're the one with the procurement context, so use your judgement. If a different specialist is more appropriate — or if the suggested person isn't available — pick the right person and move on.

3.3 What happens while you wait

While an SME Approval is in flight, the requisition sits in the SME Approver's inbox. You won't see it in My inbox until they respond. There's no time limit enforced by the system — if it's been sitting too long, follow up with the approver directly.

3.4 If the SME approves

When the SME approves the line, the requisition comes back to your My inbox view. The SME's approval is final for that line — you can now proceed to Create Order as normal. See Chapter 4.

3.5 If the SME rejects

If the SME rejects the line, the requisition returns to your inbox with a red "RETURNED BY APPROVER" tag — the same visual signal eReqs uses for any returned item.

Figure 3.3 — A requisition returned by an SME Approver

To find out why it was rejected, scroll to the History section at the bottom of the requisition. The SME's note explains what they want changed.

Once you've read the note, you have two things to do:

• Edit the line — the line item table is editable from this state. Adjust whatever the SME flagged: quantity, description, unit, supplier, or whatever else they raised.
• Resubmit to SME — click the Resubmit to SME button to send the updated line back to the same approver. They'll see the change and either approve or reject again.

Resubmit sends it back to the same person

Resubmit to SME goes back to the SME Approver who rejected it — not to a different person. The assumption is they raised a specific concern and you've addressed it. If the situation has changed (the original SME is unavailable, or the line genuinely needs a different specialist), have a conversation with your team rather than trying to route it elsewhere through the system.

The loop continues until the SME approves, at which point the line is yours to order.

4. Creating a Purchase Order

This is the main job. Once the lines assigned to you are clear of any SME review they need, Create Order is the action that captures your PO information in eReqs.

Create Order is a three-step wizard:

• Select Items — choose which lines from the requisition belong on this PO.
• Order Details — enter the PO header (number, date, supplier, contact, notes) and the unit prices for each line.
• Review & Submit — a final check, then either send it on its way or save it as a draft.

One PO per supplier

If your assigned lines need to go to more than one supplier, run the wizard once per supplier. eReqs creates one PO per pass — there's no automatic grouping. Select the lines for Supplier A first, complete the wizard, then come back to the requisition and run it again for Supplier B.

4.1 Step 1 — Select Items

On the open requisition, find the line items assigned to you and tick the checkbox for each line you want on this PO. You'll see a Create Order action button appear above the table once at least one line is ticked, with a count of selected lines.

Figure 4.1 — Selecting line items for a Purchase Order

Click Create Order to start the wizard. You'll be taken to Step 2: Order Details.

4.2 Step 2 — Order Details

Step 2 has two parts: the order header (information about the PO as a whole) and the order lines (information about each individual line).

Figure 4.2 — The Order Details step

Order header

• Order Number — the PO number you raised in Access Coins. eReqs doesn't generate this; you transcribe it from your procurement system.
• Order Date — the date the PO was raised. Defaults to today.
• Supplier Name — free text. Type the supplier as it should appear on the order record.
• Contact Name, Email, Number — optional supplier contact details. Useful for the audit trail and for anyone who needs to follow up later.
• Order Notes — optional free text for any context worth recording with the order.

The Order Number comes from Access Coins

eReqs does not issue a PO number. The number you enter here is the one already generated by your procurement system when you raised the PO there. If you haven't raised it yet, do that first — then come back and complete this step. Save as Draft is available if you need to pause mid-wizard.

Order lines

Below the header, the Order Lines table lists the line items you selected at Step 1. For each line you need to enter the Unit Price — the cost per unit you've agreed with the supplier. Total cost is calculated automatically from Quantity × Unit Price.

Figure 4.3 — Entering unit prices on the order lines

Lines that came from the original requisition are tagged REQ (in blue). If you need to add something the Requisitioner didn't ask for — for example, a delivery charge, a small consumable, or a handling fee — click + Add Line at the top right of the Order Lines table. Newly added lines are tagged NEW (in green) so it's clear they weren't part of the original request.

NEW lines are visible to the Requisitioner

Any line you add with + Add Line will appear on the order record the Requisitioner can see. This is intentional: the Requisitioner should know if anything extra was added to the PO they asked for. Use NEW lines for genuinely needed additions (delivery, sundries) rather than as a back door — and consider adding a brief note in Order Notes if context might help.

4.3 Step 3 — Review & Submit

Step 3 is a one-page summary of the order you've built. Use it as a final check before sending.

Figure 4.4 — The Review & Submit step

At the bottom of the page you have two main options:

• Create & Mark as Sent — records the PO in eReqs and marks the lines as sent to the supplier. Use this when you've already issued the PO from Access Coins and you're closing the loop in eReqs. The Requisitioner will see the lines move to an ordered state.
• Save as Draft — saves the order in its current state without sending. Use this if you need to pause mid-flow — for example, if you're waiting for a price confirmation, or you've been interrupted.

If your business uses DELAPS, you'll see a different button

In businesses configured for DELAPS (Delegated Authorities) approval, the primary button on the Review & Submit step is Create & Submit for Approval instead of Create & Mark as Sent. Clicking it submits the Order to the first approver on the DELAPS ladder rather than marking it as sent directly. You'll be able to see the Order's progress as it walks the approval chain, but you won't be able to action it again until it's either approved or returned to you. See the DELAPS Approver User Guide for the approver's side of this flow.

Only mark as Sent once the PO is actually out

Create & Mark as Sent tells eReqs that the supplier has the PO — typically because you've already sent it from Access Coins. If you click this prematurely, the Requisitioner will think their request is fulfilled when it isn't. The simple rule: raise the PO in Access Coins first, then come into eReqs and mark it as sent. Use Save as Draft if you're not yet at that point.

After you click Create & Mark as Sent, the requisition lines update to show the PO reference, the Requisitioner can see what's happened to their request, and the history of the Order is preserved in the eReqs audit trail. Your job on those lines is done.

Once the PO is created, the raiser (and any On Behalf Of recipient) is automatically kept informed by email as the Order progresses through its remaining steps — Finance approval, sent to supplier, and so on. You don't need to update them manually.

Appendix A: Quick Reference

A condensed view of the key information from this guide.

Statuses you'll see

Status	What it means for you
Buyer Assigned (on a line)	A line has been routed to you (or your team) by a Processor. Ready to action.
Awaiting SME Approval	You've sent the line for SME review. Wait for it to come back.
Returned by Approver (red tag)	The SME has rejected the line. Read the History, edit, then Resubmit to SME.
Ordered	Create & Mark as Sent has been clicked. PO is recorded in eReqs.

The Buyer actions

Action	What it does	When to use
Requires SME Approval	Sends selected line(s) to an SME Approver for review.	When a line is flagged for SME and you haven't yet routed it.
No SME Required	Clears the SME flag on selected line(s).	When the SME flag is no longer relevant for those lines.
Resubmit to SME	Sends a returned line back to the same SME Approver after editing.	After an SME rejection, once you've addressed their concern.
Create Order	Starts the three-step wizard to capture PO information.	When you're ready to record a PO against selected lines.

Common tasks

To do this…	Do this…
Find your assigned work	Open My Work, look at My inbox. You'll also have an email notification.
See the full requisition for one of your lines	Click the requisition row in the inbox list — full detail opens on the right.
Send a line for SME review	Tick the line, click Requires SME Approval, choose the approver, Confirm.
Handle an SME rejection	Read the History note, edit the line, click Resubmit to SME.
Record a PO in eReqs	Tick the line(s), click Create Order, complete the three-step wizard, click Create & Mark as Sent.
Add a charge not on the original requisition	Inside the Order Details step, click + Add Line in the Order Lines table. The new line is tagged NEW.
Pause an order mid-wizard	On the Review & Submit step, click Save as Draft.
Order from more than one supplier	Run the Create Order wizard once per supplier — one PO per supplier.

Getting help

If you get stuck, the Support link in the top-right corner of every eReqs page will take you to the help centre. The Help widget in the bottom-right of the screen lets you search articles or raise a support ticket directly.

Appendix B: Email Notifications Reference

A consolidated reference of every email you may receive as a Buyer. Sections in the main body of this guide describe each email at the moment in the workflow when it's relevant; this appendix groups them all in one place for quick lookup.

Email subject	When it arrives	What action is needed
[n] Items Have Been Assigned to You	When a Processor routes line items to you	Click Review & Action Items — open and progress (SME Approval or Create Order)
Your Order Has Progressed (raiser-facing)	When the PO changes state after you Create & Mark as Sent	FYI — the raiser is auto-notified; you don't need to update them manually

Email visibility

Whether you receive every email shown above depends on your business's notification settings and your personal preferences. If you're not seeing notifications you expect, contact your eReqs administrator.