Lapasar
Purchasing & Procure-to-Pay

Free-Text Requisition

A free-text requisition is a purchase request typed in manually because the item is not available in an existing catalogue.

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When a buyer needs something that no catalogue lists, they describe it in free text — capturing the description, quantity, estimated price and preferred supplier by hand. This flexibility is useful for one-off or unusual requirements, but it introduces risk: descriptions can be vague, pricing may not be validated, and the data is harder to categorise for reporting.

High volumes of free-text requisitions often signal catalogue gaps or off-contract buying. Procurement teams monitor them to find items worth adding to a catalogue or a contract, converting ad-hoc requests into structured, repeatable purchases. Good approval controls matter most here, because free-text lines bypass the guardrails that catalogue ordering provides.

Key points

  • Used when the required item is not in any catalogue.
  • Flexible for one-off needs but harder to validate and categorise.
  • High volumes flag catalogue gaps and potential off-contract spend.

Frequently asked questions

What is a free-text requisition?
A free-text requisition is a purchase request typed in manually — with a description, quantity and estimated price — because the item is not available in an existing catalogue.
Why do teams try to reduce free-text requisitions?
Free-text lines are harder to validate, price and categorise, and they often indicate catalogue gaps or off-contract buying, so teams convert repeat needs into catalogue or contract items.

Go deeper

Purchase requisition template

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