SOP-007  ·  Rev 1.0
[PURCHASING SOP]

Uncontrolled purchasing shows up as surprise spend and untraceable invoices: two people order the same thing, or one person orders something no one approved. This template puts an approval step exactly where the money leaves, and a record that ties every invoice to a request. It is written for small teams where one person wears the finance hat. The worked example follows the purchase of a replacement laptop from request to payment. The rule that keeps it honest is simple: no approval, no purchase — and the record is the thing that lets you check.

1.  PURPOSE
    > Note — One sentence on why this procedure exists.
    [PURPOSE]

2.  SCOPE
    > Note — What this covers and what is out of scope.
    [SCOPE]

3.  REQUEST
    > Note — How a need becomes a request.
    [REQUEST]

4.  APPROVAL
    > Note — The step where money is authorised.
    [APPROVER]

5.  ORDER AND RECEIPT
    > Note — Placing the order and checking what arrives.
    [ORDER]
    [RECEIPT]

6.  INVOICE AND PAYMENT
    > Note — Tying the invoice to the request and paying it.
    [INVOICE]

7.  RECORDS
    > Note — Where the purchase record lives.
    [RECORDS]

Free to use in your own documents, including commercially.

Worked example

1

Purpose

Note — One sentence on why this procedure exists.

Change bar — replace this

To make sure every purchase is requested, approved and recorded before money leaves, so no invoice is untraceable and no spend is unauthorised.

2

Scope

Note — What this covers and what is out of scope.

Change bar — replace this

All purchases above fifty dollars, and any purchase on company account. Petty cash under fifty dollars follows the cash log instead.

3

Request

Note — How a need becomes a request.

Change bar — replace this

A written request states what is needed, why, the rough cost, and the date it is needed by. A verbal request is not a request.

4

Approval

Note — The step where money is authorised.

Change bar — replace this

The owner approves any purchase over fifty dollars; the requestor cannot approve their own purchase.

5

Order and receipt

Note — Placing the order and checking what arrives.

Change bar — replace this

Only an approved request is ordered, by the person named on it, from the supplier named on it.

Change bar — replace this

On arrival, the goods are checked against the order — correct item, quantity and condition — before the invoice is accepted.

6

Invoice and payment

Note — Tying the invoice to the request and paying it.

Change bar — replace this

The invoice is matched to its approved request and receipt before payment, then paid on the next scheduled payment run.

7

Records

Note — Where the purchase record lives.

Change bar — replace this

Purchase records — request, approval, order, receipt and invoice — are filed together and kept for the current tax year.

A

The Document Control Kit

Turn a folder of documents into something a team can actually find and follow

Every template on this site is free and stays free. The kit is what turns a folder of documents into a system you can actually run: a register with numbers, owners and review dates; who reviews what and how often; a numbering scheme that still works at fifty documents; and the thirty-day sequence for getting a team to use any of it, which is where most of these projects die.

What the kit holds

Register Column headings — number, title, owner, revision, approval date, review-due date

Review cadence Who reviews what, how often, and what triggers an off-cycle revision

Rollout plan The thirty-day sequence for getting a team to actually use the documents

Numbering scheme How to number documents so the system survives its first fifty

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