Navigate the purchase-to-pay cycle from requisition to payment while keeping the required audit trail intact.
Warehousing & Procurement
Procurement Essentials for Budget Holders and Non-Procurement Managers
Equips budget holders and non-procurement managers to raise compliant requisitions, compare quotes on total cost, negotiate within delegated authority and manage suppliers correctly.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Most spend inside an organisation is committed not by the procurement team but by budget holders, project managers and department heads who raise requisitions, choose suppliers for smaller-value work and sign off invoices without ever being trained to do so. The result is inconsistent specifications, quotes compared on price alone, purchase orders raised after a supplier has already started work, and audit findings on segregation of duties and maverick spend. This course gives non-procurement managers the working knowledge that procurement teams assume they already have: how the purchase-to-pay cycle actually operates, what a specification or statement of work must contain to get comparable quotes, when a purchase order is required, and how to read a quotation for total cost rather than the headline price. Delegates work through real requisition, quotation and contract documents, build a quote-comparison matrix and rehearse a short negotiation on price, lead time and payment terms within their own delegated authority. The course closes on purchase order compliance, three-way matching and escalation, so budget holders leave able to requisition correctly, defend their decisions at audit and work with the procurement function rather than around it.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Write specifications and statements of work that produce comparable, like-for-like supplier quotations.
Build a quotation comparison matrix that scores total cost, not just headline price.
Apply delegated authority thresholds and segregation-of-duties rules correctly to everyday purchases.
Negotiate payment terms and basic contract conditions within a budget holder's own authority.
Perform three-way matching and resolve invoice discrepancies before approving payment.
Monitor supplier performance and escalate underperformance using procurement's own evidence process.
Who Should Attend
Budget holders and department heads who approve spend without formal procurement training.
Project managers who raise purchase requisitions and manage supplier delivery on their own projects.
Office and facilities managers who buy services and equipment under a delegated spend limit.
Finance business partners who review purchase orders and invoices raised by operational teams.
Newly appointed managers taking on budget responsibility for the first time.
Team leaders who select small suppliers and contractors without a dedicated procurement resource.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Understanding the Purchase-to-Pay Cycle and Your Authority
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1The Purchase-to-Pay Cycle from Requisition to Payment
- Trace the purchase-to-pay cycle from requisition and approval through purchase order issue, receipt confirmation, invoice matching and payment release.
- Distinguish a purchase requisition from a purchase order and explain why work started before the order is issued removes the organisation's ability to check budget and terms.
- List the records a budget holder must keep for audit, including the approved requisition, the purchase order, the receipt or completion sign-off and the supplier invoice.
- Map where procurement, finance and the budget holder each hold responsibility in the cycle, and where handoffs commonly cause delay or duplicate payment.
Session 2Delegated Authority, Policy Thresholds and Segregation of Duties
- Read a delegation of authority schedule to establish spend limits, approval levels and the point at which procurement sign-off becomes mandatory.
- Explain why the same person should not raise a requisition, approve the purchase order and approve the invoice for the same transaction.
- Identify the conflict-of-interest declarations required before selecting or approving a supplier known personally to the budget holder.
- Apply the organisation's procurement policy thresholds to decide when a quotation, a mini-competition or a full tender is required.
02Writing Requirements That Produce Comparable Quotes
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Specifications and Statements of Work
- Draft a specification for goods that states performance requirements and acceptance criteria rather than a single named brand or model.
- Write a statement of work for services that defines deliverables, milestones, acceptance criteria and the standard of resource required.
- Identify the scope gaps in a supplied statement of work that would allow a supplier to bill for work the budget holder assumed was included.
- Convert a vague request such as 'office refurbishment' into a requirement a supplier can quote against without repeated clarification questions.
Session 2Getting and Comparing Quotations
- Set the minimum number of quotations required by policy for a given spend band and identify when a sole-source justification is needed instead.
- Build a quotation comparison matrix that scores price, lead time, payment terms, warranty and after-sales support on a common basis.
- Recalculate a 'cheapest' quotation once delivery charges, installation, consumables and warranty exclusions are added back in.
- Challenge a quotation that bundles optional extras with the core requirement, and request a like-for-like breakdown before comparing bids.
03Choosing Suppliers and Contract Terms Within Your Authority
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Supplier Selection and Basic Due Diligence
- Check a prospective supplier's registration, insurance certificates and references before including them in a quotation exercise.
- Weigh price against delivery reliability, financial stability and quality history when the lowest bidder is not the safest choice.
- Recognise the warning signs of single-source dependency and raise them with the procurement team before a contract is renewed automatically.
- Decide when a framework agreement already negotiated by procurement should be used instead of running a new quotation exercise.
Session 2Contract Types, Payment Terms and Basic Negotiation
- Compare fixed-price, time-and-materials and call-off contract structures and identify which transfers cost risk to the supplier.
- Negotiate payment terms, retention and staged payments against project milestones rather than accepting the supplier's standard terms.
- Prepare a short negotiation plan that sets a target and a walk-away position on price, lead time and service levels before the call.
- Identify clauses a non-specialist should escalate to procurement or legal before signing, such as liability caps and automatic renewal.
04Purchase Order Compliance and Ongoing Supplier Management
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Purchase Order Compliance and Avoiding Maverick Spend
- Explain why buying outside an agreed contract or without a purchase order counts as maverick spend and how it is tracked by finance.
- Perform a three-way match between the purchase order, the delivery note and the invoice before approving payment.
- Resolve a price or quantity discrepancy found during three-way matching without simply approving the invoice to avoid delay.
- Set up a simple approval workflow for urgent purchases that keeps spend visible without bypassing purchase order controls.
Session 2Monitoring Supplier Performance and Escalating Issues
- Track supplier delivery, quality and responsiveness against the original quotation using a short scorecard reviewed each quarter.
- Raise a formal service issue with a supplier using the evidence log expected by procurement rather than an informal phone call.
- Decide when underperformance justifies re-tendering a contract instead of renewing it for administrative convenience.
- Feed budget holder experience of a supplier back into the organisation's approved supplier list and category strategy.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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