Patent Publication Number: US-2013254073-A1

Title: System and method for returning individual lines of a purchase requisition for correction and approval

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to methods and systems for processing purchase requisitions and purchase orders in a procurement system and more particularly to returning single or individual requisition lines back to the requester without affecting other associated requisition lines under the same requisition. 
     Purchase requisitions are formal requests created by internal organizations and sent to the purchasing department to procure goods or services. A requisition consists of one or more requisition lines. Typically a requisition line contains details such as a description, quantity of the goods or services to be purchased, preferred make, a desired delivery date, cost center and the amount of money that the purchasing department is authorized to spend for the goods or services. In current procurement systems, a purchase requisition is comprised of multiple requisition lines, each representing a line of request. Such requisitions, typically created by requesters or requisition preparers can have incorrect or outdated data and may need corrections, even though they have been approved by the requesting organization. For example, the purchase price may exceed the requisition price, or the buyer may know that the requested item is no longer being purchased. 
     Professional buyers in the purchasing department are responsible for reviewing the requisitions and identifying inaccuracies before they can process them into a legally binding obligation known as a purchase order. These purchase orders are contractually binding documents between the buying organization and a selling organization. In the conventional business process, buyers handle such inaccuracies by “returning” the requisitions back to the requester so that appropriate corrections can be made. However, returning a requisition based on a single requisition line results in returning all other requisition lines under the same purchase requisition which are not currently on a purchase order. As a consequence, the buyer has to wait until the specific line is corrected by the requester and the purchase requisition is subsequently reapproved. 
     Also, the interested organizations might have a financial impact if they have incorporated budgetary control and encumbrance accounting into their business process. This is typically true for federal, public sector and quasi-public sector organizations. In such organizations, the amount on the requisition is treated as a commitment or pre-encumbrance, and funds are adequately reserved for them. When a single requisition line is returned, the commitment is liquidated. Subsequently, if a problem with a single line results in the return of all other lines under the same requisition, that commitment associated with the other lines will also be liquidated. Although it is acceptable to liquidate the funds on the problematic requisition line, it is not acceptable to liquidate funds on the other correct requisition lines. In an encumbrance and budgetary control environment where funds are limited, losing funds which were already reserved has consequences. By the time the requisition line is corrected, other transactions can use up the funds, and the requisition might not be able to pass budgetary control any more. Hence, there is a need for improved methods and systems for processing returned requisition lines. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for processing purchase requisitions and purchase orders in a procurement system and more particularly allowing returning of single or individual requisition lines without impacting the other requisition lines for the same requisition. According to one embodiment, a method of processing a purchase requisition in a procurement system can comprise receiving from a requestor a first requisition comprising a plurality of requisition lines. The first requisition can be submitted for approval and funds of a budget can be reserved for each of the plurality of requisition lines of the first requisition. During approval, a determination can be made to return at least one line of the plurality of lines of the first requisition prior to approval of the first requisition. For example, determining to return the at least one line of the plurality of lines of the first requisition can further comprise identifying one or more lines of the first requisition related to the returned at least one line. The reserved funds for the returned at least one line of the first requisition can be liquidated without affecting the reserved funds for the plurality of requisition lines other than the returned at least one line. 
     The returned at least one line of the first requisition and any lines related to the returned at least one line of the first requisition can be presented to the requestor. In some cases, the related lines, if any, can be presented in a read-only mode. An update of the returned at least one line of the first requisition can be received and funds of the budget for the returned at least one line of the first requisition can be reserved based on the update of the returned at least one line of the first requisition. The update of the returned at least one line of the first requisition can then be re-submitted for approval. 
     According to another embodiment, a system can comprise a processor and a memory coupled with and readable by the processor. The memory can have stored therein a sequence of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to process a purchase requisition by receiving from a requestor a first requisition comprising a plurality of requisition lines. The first requisition can be submitted for approval and funds of a budget can be reserved for each of the plurality of requisition lines of the first requisition. After initial approval, a determination can be made to return at least one line of the plurality of lines of the first requisition. For example, determining to return the at least one line of the plurality of lines of the first requisition can further comprise identifying one or more lines of the first requisition related to the returned at least one line. The reserved funds for the returned at least one line of the first requisition can be liquidated without affecting the reserved funds for the plurality of requisition lines other than the returned at least one line. The returned at least one line of the first requisition and any lines related to the returned at least one line of the first requisition can be presented to the requestor. In some cases, the related lines, if any, can be presented in a read-only mode. An update of the returned at least one line of the first requisition can be received and funds of the budget for the returned at least one line of the first requisition can be reserved based on the update of the returned at least one line of the first requisition. The update of the returned at least one line of the first requisition can then be re-submitted for approval. 
     According to yet another embodiment, a computer-readable memory can have stored thereon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to process a purchase requisition by receiving from a requestor a first requisition comprising a plurality of requisition lines. The first requisition can be submitted for approval and funds of a budget can be reserved for each of the plurality of requisition lines of the first requisition. After initial approval, a determination can be made to return at least one line of the plurality of lines of the first requisition. For example, determining to return the at least one line of the plurality of lines of the first requisition can further comprise identifying one or more lines of the first requisition related to the returned at least one line. The reserved funds for the returned at least one line of the first requisition can be liquidated without affecting the reserved funds for the plurality of requisition lines other than the returned at least one line. The returned at least one line of the first requisition and any lines related to the returned at least one line of the first requisition can be presented to the requestor. In some cases, the related lines, if any, can be presented in a read-only mode. An update of the returned at least one line of the first requisition can be received and funds of the budget for the returned at least one line of the first requisition can be reserved based on the update of the returned at least one line of the first requisition. The update of the returned at least one line of the first requisition can then be re-submitted for approval. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary operating environment in which various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary computer system in which embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating, at a high-level, functional components of a system for processing individually returned requisition lines of a purchase requisition according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating a process for processing individually returned requisition lines of a purchase requisition according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating additional details of a process for processing individually returned requisition lines of a purchase requisition according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating a method for processing individually returned requisition lines of a purchase requisition according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form. 
     The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. 
     Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments. 
     Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed, but could have additional steps not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function. 
     The term “machine-readable medium” includes, but is not limited to portable or fixed storage devices, optical storage devices, wireless channels and various other mediums capable of storing, containing or carrying instruction(s) and/or data. A code segment or machine-executable instructions may represent a procedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine, a module, a software package, a class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passing and/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc. 
     Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware or microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in a machine readable medium. A processor(s) may perform the necessary tasks. 
     Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to methods and systems for processing purchase requisitions and purchase orders in a procurement system and more particularly systems and methods for returning single or individual requisition lines back to the requester without affecting other associated requisition lines under the same requisition. Generally speaking, embodiments described herein allow professional buyers and/or other users of a procurement system to return “individual” requisition lines instead of being forced to return all the requisition lines belonging to the same purchase requisition. In some cases, there are businesses with policies that require all or some subset of all lines of a requisition be processed together when possible. Hence, according to some embodiments, if there are more than one requisition lines, the buyer can be presented with a choice whether he or she would like to return the individual line or whether he would like to return all or some subset of all of the lines allowing a buyer to make a more informed decision. 
     The requester can then edit and correct the returned, inaccurate requisition lines. Additionally, according to one embodiment, requester can be given a view-only access to other requisition lines, i.e., all of the other requisition lines or some subset of all of the other requisition lines. This view can provide additional and possibly related information to the requester for correcting the returned requisition line while preventing any edits or modifications to the other requisition lines which have not been returned. The requester can then submit the changes, and the requisition can go through a re-approval mechanism such that the approvers and the managers of the requesting organization have visibility to the changes. 
     For organizations operating under budgetary control and/or encumbrance accounting compliance procedures, the funds on the requisition line actually being returned can be liquidated. The funds reserved for the other requisition lines under the same requisition header can continue to stay reserved as a commitment. Various additional details of embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the figures. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary operating environment in which various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. The system  100  can include one or more user computers  105 ,  110 , which may be used to operate a client, whether a dedicate application, web browser, etc. The user computers  105 ,  110  can be general purpose personal computers (including, merely by way of example, personal computers and/or laptop computers running various versions of Microsoft Corp.&#39;s Windows and/or Apple Corp.&#39;s Macintosh operating systems) and/or workstation computers running any of a variety of commercially-available UNIX or UNIX-like operating systems (including without limitation, the variety of GNU/Linux operating systems). These user computers  105 ,  110  may also have any of a variety of applications, including one or more development systems, database client and/or server applications, and web browser applications. Alternatively, the user computers  105 ,  110  may be any other electronic device, such as a thin-client computer, Internet-enabled mobile telephone, and/or personal digital assistant, capable of communicating via a network (e.g., the network  115  described below) and/or displaying and navigating web pages or other types of electronic documents. Although the exemplary system  100  is shown with two user computers, any number of user computers may be supported. 
     In some embodiments, the system  100  may also include a network  115 . The network can be any type of network familiar to those skilled in the art that can support data communications using any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, including without limitation TCP/IP, SNA, IPX, AppleTalk, and the like. Merely by way of example, the network  115  maybe a local area network (“LAN”), such as an Ethernet network, a Token-Ring network and/or the like; a wide-area network; a virtual network, including without limitation a virtual private network (“VPN”); the Internet; an intranet; an extranet; a public switched telephone network (“PSTN”); an infra-red network; a wireless network (e.g., a network operating under any of the IEEE 802.11 suite of protocols, the Bluetooth protocol known in the art, and/or any other wireless protocol); and/or any combination of these and/or other networks such as GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, 3G, 2.5 G, CDMA, CDMA2000, WCDMA, EVDO etc. 
     The system may also include one or more server computers  120 ,  125 ,  130  which can be general purpose computers and/or specialized server computers (including, merely by way of example, PC servers, UNIX servers, mid-range servers, mainframe computers rack-mounted servers, etc.). One or more of the servers (e.g.,  130 ) may be dedicated to running applications, such as a business application, a web server, application server, etc. Such servers may be used to process requests from user computers  105 ,  110 . The applications can also include any number of applications for controlling access to resources of the servers  120 ,  125 ,  130 . 
     The web server can be running an operating system including any of those discussed above, as well as any commercially-available server operating systems. The web server can also run any of a variety of server applications and/or mid-tier applications, including HTTP servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, database servers, Java servers, business applications, and the like. The server(s) also may be one or more computers which can be capable of executing programs or scripts in response to the user computers  105 ,  110 . As one example, a server may execute one or more web applications. The web application may be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any programming language, such as Java™, C, C# or C++, and/or any scripting language, such as Perl, Python, or TCL, as well as combinations of any programming/scripting languages. The server(s) may also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle®, Microsoft®, Sybase®, IBM® and the like, which can process requests from database clients running on a user computer  105 ,  110 . 
     In some embodiments, an application server may create web pages dynamically for displaying on an end-user (client) system. The web pages created by the web application server may be forwarded to a user computer  105  via a web server. Similarly, the web server can receive web page requests and/or input data from a user computer and can forward the web page requests and/or input data to an application and/or a database server. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the functions described with respect to various types of servers may be performed by a single server and/or a plurality of specialized servers, depending on implementation-specific needs and parameters. 
     The system  100  may also include one or more databases  135 . The database(s)  135  may reside in a variety of locations. By way of example, a database  135  may reside on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) one or more of the computers  105 ,  110 ,  115 ,  125 ,  130 . Alternatively, it may be remote from any or all of the computers  105 ,  110 ,  115 ,  125 ,  130 , and/or in communication (e.g., via the network  120 ) with one or more of these. In a particular set of embodiments, the database  135  may reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art. Similarly, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers  105 ,  110 ,  115 ,  125 ,  130  may be stored locally on the respective computer and/or remotely, as appropriate. In one set of embodiments, the database  135  may be a relational database, such as Oracle 10g, that is adapted to store, update, and retrieve data in response to SQL-formatted commands. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an exemplary computer system  200 , in which various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. The system  200  may be used to implement any of the computer systems described above. The computer system  200  is shown comprising hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus  255 . The hardware elements may include one or more central processing units (CPUs)  205 , one or more input devices  210  (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, etc.), and one or more output devices  215  (e.g., a display device, a printer, etc.). The computer system  200  may also include one or more storage device  220 . By way of example, storage device(s)  220  may be disk drives, optical storage devices, solid-state storage device such as a random access memory (“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable, flash-updateable and/or the like. 
     The computer system  200  may additionally include a computer-readable storage media reader  225   a , a communications system  230  (e.g., a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device, etc.), and working memory  240 , which may include RAM and ROM devices as described above. In some embodiments, the computer system  200  may also include a processing acceleration unit  235 , which can include a DSP, a special-purpose processor and/or the like. 
     The computer-readable storage media reader  225   a  can further be connected to a computer-readable storage medium  225   b , together (and, optionally, in combination with storage device(s)  220 ) comprehensively representing remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing computer-readable information. The communications system  230  may permit data to be exchanged with the network  220  and/or any other computer described above with respect to the system  200 . 
     The computer system  200  may also comprise software elements, shown as being currently located within a working memory  240 , including an operating system  245  and/or other code  250 , such as an application program (which may be a client application, web browser, mid-tier application, RDBMS, etc.). It should be appreciated that alternate embodiments of a computer system  200  may have numerous variations from that described above. For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets), or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed. Software of computer system  200  may include code  250  for implementing embodiments of the present invention as described herein. 
     As noted above, embodiments of the present invention relate generally to methods and systems for processing purchase requisitions and purchase orders in a procurement system and more particularly to returning individual requisition lines without affecting other associated requisitions. Generally speaking, embodiments described herein allow professional buyers and/or other users of a procurement system to return “individual” requisition lines instead of being forced to return all the requisition lines belonging to the same purchase requisition. In some cases, there are businesses with policies that require all or some subset of all lines of a requisition be processed together when possible. Hence, according to some embodiments, if there are more than one requisition lines, the buyer can be presented with a choice whether he or she would like to return the individual line or whether he would like to return all or some subset of all of the lines allowing a buyer to make a more informed decision. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating, at a high-level, functional components of a system for processing individually returned requisition lines of a purchase requisition according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the system  300  includes a procurement system  305 , a budget control system  340 , and/or a sub-ledger system  345  which can comprise any one or more of the computer systems described above executing procurement and accounting applications. The procurement system  305  can include a requisition generation and revision module  310 . The requisition generation and revision module  310  can provide an interface  315  through which a requisition can be generated and submitted by a requestor. 
     As is common, the procurement system  305  can also include a requisition approval module  320 , a budget control and encumbrance accounting interface module  335 , and a purchase order generation module  325 . Generally speaking, the budget control and encumbrance accounting interface module  335  can communicate and interact with the budget control system  340  and/or the sub-ledger system  345  to provide for accounting of budget amounts by the budget control system  340  and/or the sub-ledger system  345  based on requisitions submitted through the requisition creation user interface  315  and requisition generation and revision module  310  and approved by the requisition approval module  320 . For example, the budget control and encumbrance accounting interface module  335  can request the budget control system  340  and/or sub-ledger system  345  to reserve funds for the requisition. Additionally, purchase orders can be generated by the purchase order generation module  325  based on the submitted requisitions approved through the requisition approval module  320 . For example, the purchase order generation module  325  can generate and provide a requisition processing interface  330  through which a buyer can view and generate purchase orders from requisitions or return requisitions. 
     According to one embodiment, purchase order generation module  325  can present, through the requisition processing user interface  330 , a choice to the buyer when a requisition is presented by the requisition approval module  325 . The choice can allow the buyer to return the whole requisition, a single line of the requisition, or some subset of all of the requisition. Additionally, the requisition creation/revision user interface  315  can allow the requesters to identify other lines of the requisition which, while not necessarily being returned, are related or relevant to the line(s) being returned. Additionally or alternatively, such related or relevant lines can be identified by the requisition approval module  320 , for example based on metadata, rules, and/or other information defining relationships and/or dependencies for individual requisition lines. For example, in some cases there may be approval rules at the requisition header level. For instance, such a rule may indicate that the total requisition amount should stay under $ 1000 . In that case, the requisition approval module  320  can summarize the requisition line amount across other requisition lines to determine any additional approvers. 
     Once one or more returned lines have been identified, the budgetary control and encumbrance accounting interface module  335  of the procurement system  305  can request the budget control system  340  and/or the sub-ledger system  345  to liquidate funds on the specific returned requisition line(s). Additionally, the requisition generation and revision module  310  can update the requisition creation and revision user interface  315  to present the returned lines and any related or relevant other lines to the requestor for corrections or adjustments. According to one embodiment, the requisition creation and revision user interface  315  can allow edits to the returned requisition lines while presenting a view-only interface for the other, related or relevant requisition lines. After the buyer makes adjustments or corrections to the returned lines, those requisition lines can be resubmitted to the requisition approval module  320  for re-approval. 
     According to one embodiment, the procurement system  305  can also be adapted to manage complications due to subsequent return of requisition lines when there are already requisition lines returned and the latter are in the approval queue of the requesting organization or are being edited by the requester. For instance, assume a requisition has  5  requisition lines of which one has been returned back to the requester. The requester can correct it through the requisition creation and revision user interface  315  and resubmit it through the requisition generation and revision module  310  for re-approval by the requisition approval module  320 . While in an approval queue of the requisition approval module  320 , the system can keep track of it and prevent any of the other 4 requisition lines from being returned. Otherwise, a complex situation may arise where two requisition lines belonging to the same requisition will be in parallel approval queues. 
     Therefore, embodiments of the present invention provide for the preservation of funds reserved for the compliant requisition lines when the otherwise non-compliant requisition line is returned back to the requester by the buyer. This can be particularly important for budgetary controlled and encumbrance accounted organizations. Various embodiments also allow the compliant requisition lines to be sourced into purchase orders without any delay and thereby improve organizational and operational efficiency by saving valuable time. In addition, for requesters, where it is important to group requisition lines into the same purchase order, embodiments provide a “choice” of being able to return only the inaccurate line or all of the requisition lines. In addition, this allows the requester to decide whether it is still appropriate to order the rest of the requisition as is. If an individual requisition line had been returned, and the same requisition line is being edited by the requester or being routed through re-approval, subsequent return of requisition lines is prevented. Thus, various embodiments simplify or reduce possible complications in the business process where different parts of the document are at different stages of the requisition lifecycle. 
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating a process for processing individually returned requisition lines of a purchase requisition according to one embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in this example, the process can begin with a requestor  402  generating and submitting a requisition  406  having a plurality of lines  408  and  410 . The requisition can be used by a budgetary control module or application to reserve funds  412  and update a status  414  for those funds. The requisition  406  can then be presented to a buyer  418  for generation  416  of a purchase order. However, the buyer  418  may determine  420  that one or more of the lines, e.g., line 1  408 , of the requisition are incorrect and should be returned for correction. In this case, a further determination  422  can be made as to whether the entire requisition or only some portion/lines thereof should be returned. In response to determining  422  to return the entire requisition, processing can continue as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . 
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating additional details of a process for processing individually returned requisition lines of a purchase requisition according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, when returning an entire requisition, the funds previously reserved  412  for that requisition can be liquidated  502  and the status of those funds can be updated  504 . The returned requisition  512  can then be presented to the requester  506  for correction. It should be noted that in this case, the entire returned requisition  512 , including all lines  514  and  516  are presented to the requestor  402  and made available for editing. Once the returned requisition  512  has been updated or corrected by the requestor  402 , the funds can again be reserved  518 , the status of those funds can be updated  520 , and the requisition can be resubmitted for approval. 
     Returning to  FIG. 4 , if a determination  422  is made to return less than all of the requisition, the determination  422  can also include determining which line or set of lines to return as well as possibly identifying additional related or relevant lines. These additional lines can be provided for information purposes but are not the subject of the return. Once the returned lines are identified, the funds for those lines can be liquidated  424  and a status of those funds can be updated  426 . Note that the other requisition lines continue to be reserved and processed into purchase orders if necessary. The returned lines and any additional related lines of the requisition  432  can be presented to the requestor  402 . For example, line 1  434  may be the subject of the return and can be made available to the requestor for editing. However, line 2  436  may be related or contain some information relevant to line 1  434 . In this case, line 2  436  can also be presented but in a read-only mode. Once the returned requisition  432  has been updated or corrected by the requestor  402 , the funds can again be reserved  438 , the status of those funds can be updated  440 , and the requisition can be resubmitted for approval. 
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating a method for processing individually returned requisition lines of a purchase requisition according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this example, processing a purchase requisition in a procurement system can begin with receiving  605  from a requestor a requisition comprising a plurality of requisition lines. The requisition can be submitted  610  for approval and, upon approval, funds of a budget can be reserved  615  for each of the plurality of requisition lines of the requisition. A determination  620  can be made as to whether to return at least one line of the plurality of lines of the requisition prior to approval of the requisition. Determining  620  to return at least one line of the plurality of lines of the requisition can further comprise determining  625  whether to return all or less than all of the lines of the requisition. 
     In response to determining to return at least one but less than all of the lines of the requisition, the returned lines can be identified  630 . One or more lines of the requisition related to the returned lines can also be identified  630 . The reserved funds for the returned at least one line of the requisition can be liquidated  635  and the returned at least one line can be presented  640  to the requestor. Presenting  640  the returned at least one line of the requisition to the requestor can further comprise presenting the one or more lines of the requisition related to the returned at least one line. These related lines may be presented in a read-only mode. An update of the returned lines can be received  645 . Funds of the budget can be reserved  610  for the returned at least one line based on the update of the returned lines and the update can be re-submitted  615  for approval. 
     Alternatively, in response to determining  625  to return all of the lines of the requisition prior to approval, the reserved funds for the entire requisition can be liquidated  650 , possibly excluding those funds already on a purchase order, and all of the lines of the requisition can be presented  655  to the requestor. An update of the requisition can be received  645  from the user and funds of the budget can be reserved  610  for the requisition based on the update of the requisition. The entire updated requisition can then be re-submitted  615  for approval. 
     In the foregoing description, for the purposes of illustration, methods were described in a particular order. It should be appreciated that in alternate embodiments, the methods may be performed in a different order than that described. It should also be appreciated that the methods described above may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in sequences of machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a machine, such as a general-purpose or special-purpose processor or logic circuits programmed with the instructions to perform the methods. These machine-executable instructions may be stored on one or more machine readable mediums, such as CD-ROMs or other type of optical disks, floppy diskettes, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other types of machine-readable mediums suitable for storing electronic instructions. Alternatively, the methods may be performed by a combination of hardware and software. 
     While illustrative and presently preferred embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts may be otherwise variously embodied and employed, and that the appended claims are intended to be construed to include such variations, except as limited by the prior art.