Employee Purchasing Portal
in Procurement
User-friendly interface for employees to submit purchase requests without navigating complex systems.
Stampli’s easy-to-use purchasing portal
Stampli’s employee purchasing portal simplifies purchase requests by providing a user-friendly interface designed for non-financial users. Any employee can easily initiate purchase, travel, or service requests without training, and without navigating the complexities of ERP procurement modules. The portal streamlines the entire process from submission to approval, ensuring compliance with company policies while providing full visibility into request status.
The old way: Confusion and non-compliance
Finance and procurement teams often rely on disconnected, manual processes to manage purchase requests, using basic web forms that lack structured workflows for approvals and compliance. Without a streamlined system, approvals are managed through scattered email threads, leading to delays and inconsistencies. Additionally, some employees bypass the approval process altogether, resulting in inefficiencies, compliance risks, and difficulties enforcing budgetary guidelines.
Stampli’s approach
Only Stampli offers an employee purchasing portal so intuitive that employees can start using it instantly with no training required. Our solution transforms the purchase request experience with natural language submissions that eliminate the need for employees to understand GL coding or navigate complex item lists. By combining user-friendly design with powerful automation, the portal drives organization-wide adoption while ensuring compliance with purchasing policies. This approach accelerates approvals, provides real-time visibility for all stakeholders, and gives finance teams complete control over spending—all through an interface that employees actually want to use.
Key features
User-friendly design
Customizable request types guide employees to the right purchasing path, ensuring they provide only the necessary information while eliminating the need for GL coding or rigid item lists.
Free text submissions
Users can write their requests in natural language instead of being forced to use predefined fields. Stampli’s AI, Billy the Bot, will convert their request into the structured data finance needs.
Support for attachments and links
Allows employees to attach relevant documents or links for more detailed requests, providing all necessary context for faster approvals.
Preferred items
Procurement teams can publish and automate “preferred items” to align requests with vendor agreements and ensure consistency across the organization.
Purchasing policies
Displays company-specific policies for each request type, reducing rejections and increasing compliance—so employees don’t have to go hunting for them.
Manager approval requirements
Automatically routes requests to a direct manager for oversight, ensuring policy compliance from the start of the procurement process.
Request tracking
Provides transparency with real-time status updates via email and the request portal, eliminating the need for manual follow-ups.
Mobile app
Enables employees to submit, track, and approve requests on the go, supporting remote and flexible work environments.
FAQ
How difficult is it to implement the employee purchasing portal across our organization?
The portal requires minimal configuration, primarily focusing on your specific request types and approval workflows. Since the interface is designed to be intuitive for non-financial users, there’s no need for extensive employee training—most users can begin submitting requests immediately after a brief introduction. Stampli provides templates for common purchase request types that you can customize to fit your organization’s needs, further accelerating the implementation process. Our customer success team guides you through the entire setup, ensuring a smooth transition from your current process.
Will this solution work for different departments with varying purchase needs?
Absolutely. The employee purchasing portal is designed to accommodate diverse purchasing needs across your organization. You can configure different request types for various departments, each with their own fields, approval workflows, and policy guidelines. For example, IT purchases might require different information than marketing services or travel requests. The beauty of our solution is that each department gets a tailored experience while finance maintains centralized control and visibility. The natural language submission feature is particularly valuable here, as it allows employees to describe exactly what they need without forcing them to navigate department-specific terminology or coding schemes.
How does the employee purchasing portal integrate with our approval workflows?
The portal seamlessly integrates with your existing or desired approval workflows, offering complete flexibility. You can configure multi-level approval chains based on factors like department, purchase amount, expense category, or vendor. Approvals can be sequential (moving up a chain) or parallel (sent simultaneously to multiple stakeholders). The system automatically notifies approvers when action is required and provides all the context needed to make informed decisions. Approvers can even take action through the Stampli mobile app, accelerating the process regardless of where they’re working. The portal also supports conditional approvals and delegation of approval authority when key personnel are unavailable.
Can we enforce different purchasing policies for different types of requests?
Yes, this is one of the portal’s key strengths. You can establish specific policies for different request types, departments, or spending thresholds. These policies are displayed directly within the request form, ensuring employees see relevant guidelines before submission. For example, you might have different policies for travel expenses versus software purchases. The system can enforce these policies through required fields, spending limits, preferred vendor requirements, or mandatory approvals. This targeted approach to policy enforcement dramatically reduces non-compliant requests while educating employees about proper procurement practices in context, exactly when they need the information.