Convert a request
Turn an approved request into an Expense, a Bill, or a draft Purchase Order that Purchases then carries forward.
Converting hands an approved request over to Purchases. Instead of recording a payment, it creates the purchase document the request should have been all along, and the normal purchases path takes over from there.
Convert sits on the request page, on approved requests, and is available to administrators. Advances are never converted — they are retired.
What converts into what
| From | Becomes | Vendor required? | Why you would |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payment Request | Expense | No | A cost with no vendor bill behind it — record the expense and be done. |
| Payment Request | Bill | Yes | A vendor invoice that should sit in payables and be paid on terms. |
| Requisition | Purchase order | Yes | The requisition has been sourced and is ready to be ordered. |
A requisition offers only the purchase order; a payment request offers only Expense and Bill. The dialog shows you what applies to the request you are on.
Converting to an Expense
Choose Expense, then map each line to the account the cost belongs on. The dialog lists every line with its amount and an account picker beside it.
The Expense document is created in Purchases with one line per request line — the purpose becomes the line name, and the requested amount becomes the line amount.
Converting to a Bill
Choose Bill, then name the vendor. This is required: a bill is a debt to somebody, and Trabalance will not create one that is owed to nobody.
Each request line becomes a bill line — purpose as the description, requested amount as the amount. The bill then behaves like any other bill: it sits in payables, appears on the vendor's balance, and is settled through the normal purchases flow.
Converting a requisition to a Purchase Order
Required. Procurement has to know who is being ordered from.
Every requisition line gets a Quantity (from the requisition), a Unit price, and a Tax amount. The requested line carries no price of its own, so unit price starts from the line's amount and tax starts at zero — both are yours to set.
The purchase order is created as a draft so procurement can check pricing, terms and tax before it goes out to the vendor.
| Requisition line | Becomes on the purchase order |
|---|---|
| Description | The line description. |
| Quantity | The order quantity — editable in the dialog. |
| (added at conversion) | Unit price and tax. |
The quantity × unit price + tax figure shown as you type is an echo of what you have entered. The document's real totals are computed when the purchase order is created.
After converting
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Converted | Every line on the request moves to Converted. The request is closed as a request — it is not posted afterwards. |
A Converted to card appears on the request's rail showing what was created — the document type, its number, when it happened, and who did it. If a request has been converted more than once, every conversion is listed, so the trail from request to document is never guesswork.
Converting and posting are two different endings for the same approved request. Posting records that money left. Converting hands the obligation to Purchases, which then records the money leaving in its own time. Pick the one that matches what actually happened.
Related
- Post a payment — the other ending
- Raise a requisition — where a purchase order starts
- The request page — where Convert lives
- Approve a request — nothing converts until it is approved