Item Requests Form

Use the Item Requests form to order both inventory and non-inventory items. If you use the Item Requests form for this purpose, your company can block the Purchasing > Purchase Requisitions menu option and send users to Inventory > Item Requests.

You also use this form to send an item request for approval or to create a new purchase requisition that is based on an approved item request. You may want to do this if the inventory item is not in stock, or to request a non-inventory item.

Display the Item Requests Form

You display the Item Requests form in Inventory.

To display the form, complete the following steps:

1. From the Vision Navigation menu, select Inventory > Item Requests.
2. To enable the fields, click and select an item request on the lookup or click New on the toolbar.

Toolbar of Item Requests

Use the toolbar to create and modify item request records.

Contents

Field	Description
Save	Click this option to save your changes. When you save changes, Vision gives the new item request the number displayed in the Next Number/Item Request Number field on the Inventory tab of Configuration > Purchasing & Inventory > Company Settings. This option is not available in List View.
New	After you click this option, select one of the following: Select New Requests to create a new item request record. Select Copy Current Requests to create a copy of the current item request record. Select Select Requests to Copy to display a list of all item requests records and select one to copy.
Delete	Click this option to delete the current item request. This option is not available in List View.
Submit	Any user who has access to the Item Requests application can create and submit item requests. The Submit option is enabled after you save an item request. Click this option to submit the item request and start the approval process that is based on the approval workflow for item requests that you configure in Configuration > Purchasing & Inventory > Company Settings. If you are an approver for item requests, after an item request is submitted, the Approvals option displays on the toolbar of the Item Requests form so that approvers and/or the workflow approval administrator can approve, reject, or reassign the approval step. When you submit an item request, the status in the Status field on the General tab changes to Submitted.
Approvals	This option displays after an item request is submitted if you are an approver for the current step of the approval process. If you reassign the current approval step and select the Move Assignment option on the Change Assignment dialog box, the Approvals option is removed from the toolbar for the employee whom you entered in the From field on the dialog box, who is no longer is assigned to the approval step. If the employee who is removed from the assignment is the approval administrator for the approval workflow, then the Approvals option remains on the toolbar. Click this option, and then select one of the following items from the drop-down list: Approve — Select this option to approve the item request. On the Approve dialog box, enter a comment as needed, and click OK. The approval process continues to the next step based on the configured approval workflow for item requests. This option is not available if you made changes to the item request. This option is not available in the List View. Reject — This option is available only in List View. Select this option to reject the item request. On the Reject dialog box, enter a required comment and click OK. Based on the configured approval workflow for item requests, the item request could be sent back to the employee who submitted it, or it could be canceled. The Reject option is not available if you make changes to an item request. It is also not available when None is selected in the Reject Action field on the Workflow tab in Approval Workflows Configuration for an approval workflow step. While in List View, you can reject one or multiple item requests on the grid. The Reject dialog box also opens when you reject an approval request in List View. In this case, you are required to enter a comment, which is saved for all the selected item requests that you are rejecting. Review — This option applies if an approval workflow step has been configured to allow you to edit an item request during the approval process. If you edit an item request, the Review option replaces the Approve and Reject options. Select Review after you make edits. Based on the configured approval workflow for item requests, the item request is sent to the next approval step or is sent back to the first approval step to restart the approval process. This option is not available in the List View. Reassign — This option is available if the approval workflow for item requests allows approvers to reassign the approval step (the Allow Approvers to Reassign check box is selected on the General tab in Approval Workflows Configuration for the approval workflow). The option is also available if you are the approval administrator for the approval workflow. Select this option to open the Change Assignment dialog box and assign an additional employee to the current approval step for the item request or move the approval assignment from one approver to another employee. Do Required Action — This option is available only in the List View. Select this option to send one or more item requests to the next step based on the configured approval workflow for item requests. The Approve dialog box opens if one or more item requests requires your approval. Entering a comment on the Approval dialog box is optional. Any comment that you enter is applied to all the selected item request s that you are approving.
Close	Click this option to close an item request. If the item request's status was Approved, the Quantity Reserved decreases by the amount remaining.
Print	After you click this option, select one of the following: Print Current Request — Select this option to generate a preview of the item request. You can select to print it. Print Active Group — Select this option to generate a preview of the item request for each item in the group that is currently open. Use the page navigation buttons to view each item request report. You can select to print the requests. Select Request to Print — Select this option to open the Item Requests lookup. Select one or more item requests for which to generate a preview. You can select to print the requests. Print Summary Report — Select this option to generate the Item Request Status report.
Detail View /List View	Either the Detail View or the List View option, but not both are available on the toolbar. Detail View — This option is available while you are on the List View of the form. Click this option to change to the Detail View and display the information on tabs. This is the default view that displays when you open the form. The Detail View is the view that is described in help topics. List View — This option is available while you are on the Detail View of the form. Click this option to change from the Detail View to the List View and display the information as a grid on the form. The fields for each record are displayed in columns in a grid rather than on separate tabs. In the grid, you can display one or more records at a time. You can add, remove, or change the order of the columns in the grid by clicking the Select Fields option on the grid toolbar. On the grid toolbar, you also have the access to grid options on the grip drop-down: To print grid data, click Print. When the Print Preview form displays, click File > Print to send the grid data to your default printer. To export grid data to an Excel spreadsheet, click Export to Excel. When Microsoft Excel opens, use its features to modify, print, or email the data, or to save the spreadsheet file locally. To turn on grouping for a grid, click Enable Grouping. When a field displays with the instruction: "Drag a column header here to group by that column," drag and drop column headers into this field, in the sequence that you want them to display.
Help	Click this option to open the Vision online help.

General Tab of Item Requests

Use the General tab to enter and edit the information that identifies an item request.

Contents

Field	Description
Request Number	This field displays the item request's number. When you save, Vision gives the new item request the number displayed in the Next Number/Item Request Number field on the Inventory tab of Configuration > Purchasing & Inventory > Company Settings.
Date	This field displays today's date. You can enter a new date or click and select the date.
Requested By	This field displays the employee name of the Vision login user who made this item request. Click to select a different employee from the lookup list.
Status	This field displays the item request's current status. The possible statuses are: Status Description In Progress The status is In Progress after you save an item request and before you submit it. When an item request is in progress, the next step is to submit it. While the status is In Progress, you can delete, submit, or print the item request. Submitted The status is Submitted: After you click Submit on the Item Requests form. While each of the steps in the approval process is waiting to be approved. After each step is approved except the last step. Submitting an item request starts the approval process. When the status is Submitted, you can perform any of the approval actions on the toolbar or print the item request. Approved The status changes to Approved when all the steps of the approval process have been approved for an item request. You click Approvals > Approve on the Item Requests toolbar to approve each step. When an item request has an Approved status, it: Can be printed and closed. Cannot be edited or deleted. Rejected The status changes to Rejected when you click Approvals > Reject on the Item Requests form for any step in the approval process. Based on the configured approval workflow for the Item Requests application, a rejected item request could be automatically: Canceled. The status remains Rejected and the State changes to Cancelled. Sent back to the employee who submitted it. The status is changed to In Progress.
Closed	This check box is selected when the item request's status is Closed.
State	This field displays the current state of the approval process for an item request, based on the configured approval workflow for item requests in Approval Workflows Configuration. The possible states are: Start In Approval In Review Completed
Step	This field displays the current step (1, 2, 3, and so on) of the approval process for an item request, based on the steps that are set up for the approval workflow for item requests in Approval Workflows Configuration. Step 0 is logged with a new item request is created but not yet submitted.

Items Grid Toolbar

Field	Description
View Detail	Click this option to open the Item Requests Line Detail dialog box.
Insert	Click this option to add a row to the grid.
Copy	Click the row to copy, then click this option to copy it.
Delete	Click the row to delete, then click this option to delete it.

Items Grid

Use the Items grid to identify and track the inventory items that you request to be reserved, the non-inventory items that you request to be purchased, and the project, phase, or task for which you make this request.

Field	Description
Item	Enter an item number or click and select an item from the Items Lookup list.
Description	Enter or edit the description of the item.
Category	If you selected the item from the Items lookup, this field displays the item's category. If you entered the item, select a category from the drop-down list in this field. You can change the category if the Modify Default Item Category option is selected on the General tab of Configuration Purchasing & Inventory Company Settings.
Qty	Enter the item's quantity, using the unit of measure that is specified in the U/M field.
U/M	Select the item's Purchasing unit of measure from the drop-down list.
Unit Price	Enter or edit the item's price per unit of measure. This field displays the item's average actual cost, if the item is an inventory item.
Total	This field displays the result of the calculation Qty * Unit Price.
Need Date	This field display the result of the calculation Today's date + Need Days. Need Days data is from the Inventory tab of Configuration Purchasing & Inventory Company Settings.
Project	Enter a project number or click and select the project for which this inventory item is requested to be reserved. Use this field to specify the item's cost distribution project. If the item is an inventory item, specify the project for which to reserve inventory. The Restrict Charge Companies option, on the Accounting tab of the project's Project Info Center record, controls the content of the Project lookup list here.
Phase	This field is active if the project has phases. Click and select the phase for which this inventory item is requested to be reserved. Use this field to specify the item's cost distribution phase. If the item is an inventory item, specify the project for which to reserve inventory.
Task	This field is active if the phase has tasks. Click and select the task for which this inventory item is requested to be reserved. Use this field to specify the item's cost distribution task. If the item is an inventory item, specify the task for which to reserve inventory.
Inv	This check box is selected if the item is an inventory item.

Progress Tab of Item Requests

This tab is displayed when an approval workflow is used for approving an item request. Use this tab to view the approvals and history of approval assignments associated with the item request.

Contents

Field	Description
History	Click this button to open the Approval History dialog box.

Approval Grid

Field	Description
Responsibility	This column displays the organization role of the assigned employee for the steps of the approval workflow.
Approver	This column displays the name of the employee that was assigned to the organization role displayed in the Responsibility column.
Date	This column displays the date when the approval was made.

Assignments Grid Toolbar

Field	Description
Show/Hide Past Assignments	Click this button to display or hide your previous assignments associated with the approval.

Assignments Grid

Field	Description
Step	This column displays the step number of the assignment based on the configured workflow.
Description	This column displays the description of the assignment.
Responsibility	This column displays the organization role that the step is assigned to, based on the configured workflow.
Name	This column displays the name of the employee that is assigned to the step.
Delegate	This column displays a check box, which is selected if the employee was delegated to perform the task for the assignment.
Due Date	This column displays the date when the assignment is due.
Step Start Date	This column displays the date when the assignment was started.
Action Taken Date	This column displays the date when the employee performed an action for the assignment.
Action Taken	This column displays the action that was performed by the assigned employee.
Comment	This column displays the comment for the assignment.