Procurement glossary
Purchasing and procurement terms, each with a short definition, a worked example with figures and how Atta handles it.
- What is a bill of materials?A bill of materials lists every part and quantity needed to build one unit of a product. Definition with a costed example and how Atta uses it.
- What is a budget reservation?A budget reservation holds money for an order before it is paid. Committed means held, spent means paid. Definition and a worked example.
- What is a punchout catalog?A punchout catalog lets a buyer browse a supplier's own website from inside their procurement system and return the cart for approval. With an example.
- What is a purchase approval workflow?A purchase approval workflow is the set of steps a purchase request goes through before money is spent. Definition and a worked example.
- What is a purchase order?A purchase order is a document a buyer sends a supplier listing what is being bought, the quantity and the agreed price. Definition and example.
- What is a purchase requisition?A purchase requisition is an internal request to buy something, sent for approval before an order is placed. Definition and a worked example.
- What is a reorder point?A reorder point is the stock level that triggers a new order. The formula is daily demand times lead time, plus safety stock. With a worked example.
- What is a single-use virtual card?A single-use virtual card is a card number created for one purchase with a spending cap, then closed. Definition with a worked example.
- What is a stock ledger?A stock ledger records every movement of inventory as a signed entry, so on-hand is the sum of the entries. Definition with a worked example.
- What is a three-way match?Three-way match checks that the purchase order, the goods receipt and the supplier invoice agree before payment. Definition with a worked example.
- What is an approval chain?An approval chain is the ordered list of people who must approve a purchase before it goes ahead. Definition with a worked example and how Atta runs it.
- What is an approval matrix?An approval matrix is a table that maps spend amounts and categories to the people allowed to approve them. Definition and a worked example.
- What is EN 16931?EN 16931 is the European standard for the data model of an electronic invoice. Definition, what it contains and a worked example.
- What is lead time?Lead time is the wait between placing an order and receiving it. Definition, how it feeds reorder points, and a worked example with figures.
- What is maverick spend?Maverick spend is buying outside the approved process or suppliers. Definition, why it happens, and a worked example with figures.
- What is Peppol?Peppol is an international network for sending structured e-invoices between companies. Definition, how addressing works and a worked example.
- What is PO matching?PO matching links a supplier invoice to the purchase order it belongs to and checks price and quantity agree. Definition with a worked example.
- What is procure to pay?Procure to pay covers every step from requesting an item to paying the supplier: request, approval, order, receipt, invoice and payment.
- What is safety stock?Safety stock is the extra inventory held to cover demand spikes or late deliveries. Definition, a simple formula and a worked example.
- What is source to pay?Source to pay is procure to pay plus the work before it: finding suppliers, running bids and signing contracts. Definition with an example.
- What is spend under management?Spend under management is the share of total spend that flows through a managed process with contracts, approvals and visibility. With an example.
- What is tail spend?Tail spend is the many small, infrequent purchases that add up to a fifth of spend but get no procurement attention. Definition with a worked example.
- What is the Model Context Protocol (MCP)?The Model Context Protocol is an open standard for connecting AI assistants to tools and data. Definition with a worked example of buying through it.
- What is the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)?The Universal Commerce Protocol lets software agents search a store and build a cart through one standard interface. Definition and a worked example.