ME51N in SAP: How to Create Purchase Requisition (PR)
Olivia Turner
⚡ Smart Summary
Create a Purchase Requisition in SAP using transaction ME51N. The document records an internal need for material, carries a document type and quantity, and converts into a purchase order once released.
What is a Purchase Requisition in SAP?
A purchase requisition is an internal document that asks the purchasing department to procure a defined quantity of a material or service by a given date. It commits nothing to a supplier. It simply records a demand and routes it for approval.
Requisitions reach the system by two routes. Planning runs such as MRP or consumption based planning create them automatically as procurement proposals, and users create them manually in ME51N when a need falls outside the planning cycle. Both routes produce the same document type and follow the same release path.
Three attributes decide how the document behaves:
- Document type: NB is the delivered standard. Others exist for subcontracting and stock transfer, each with its own number range and field selection.
- Account assignment category: Blank for stock material. Categories such as cost center or asset are used when the item is consumed directly rather than put into inventory.
- Release strategy: Determined from value, plant, and material group. A requisition subject to a strategy cannot be converted until every release code is set.
The background configuration behind these fields is covered in the purchasing and purchase requisition overview. This page focuses on the creation transaction itself.
Create a Purchase Requisition in SAP
Purchase requisition creation can be done in t-code ME51N (or the older version ME51 – not recommended) and is a straight forward process.
- Execute ME51N transaction.
- Purchase requisition document type: NB – standard.
- Source determination: ON or OFF.
- Header note.
- Material: material number.
- Quantity and UoM.
- Storage location: in which the material is stored.
- Vendor: automatically determined by using source determination – field number 3.
- Tracking number: covered in previous topics, a desired value can be entered manually.
- Valuation price: copied from material master data if maintained there, if not must be entered manually (if this field is not set as optional).
The screen above shows the numbered fields in the item overview. After entering the desired information in the fields, we can save transaction data.
The status bar confirms the requisition number assigned from the number range of the chosen document type.
💡 Tip: Press the Check button before saving. It validates account assignment, delivery date, and source of supply in one pass, which is faster than discovering a missing entry after the document number has already been assigned.
Key Fields on the ME51N Screen
The ME51N screen is divided into a header, an item overview, and item detail tabs. The table below explains the entries that most often cause an error message.
| Field | Area | Purpose | Mandatory? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Document type | Header | Selects number range, field selection, and release strategy | Yes |
| Source determination | Header | Lets SAP propose a vendor from source list, contract, or info record | No |
| Material | Item | Links the item to master data and defaults description and unit | No, if short text and material group are given |
| Quantity and unit | Item | Demand quantity; the unit defaults from the material master | Yes |
| Delivery date | Item | Date the material is required; drives scheduling backwards | Yes |
| Plant | Item | Receiving location; controls which master data applies | Yes |
| Storage location | Item | Where the material will be stored on receipt | No |
| Valuation price | Item detail | Estimated value used for release strategy determination | Yes, unless configured optional |
| Requirement tracking number | Item detail | Free text key that links related documents for reporting | No |
| Account assignment category | Item | Blank for stock; K, F, or A for direct consumption | Conditional |
Where a material has no master record, leave the material field empty and supply a short text plus a material group. This is the standard route for services and one off consumable purchases.
Purchase Requisition Transaction Codes and Next Steps
Creation is one transaction in a longer chain. The codes below cover the requisition from entry through to conversion.
| Transaction Code | Purpose |
|---|---|
| ME51N | Create a purchase requisition |
| ME52N | Change a requisition; a change to a strategy relevant field resets the release |
| ME53N | Display a requisition in read only mode |
| ME54N | Individual release of a requisition |
| ME55 | Collective release of several requisitions |
| ME5A | List display of requisitions by material, plant, or requisitioner |
| ME57 | Assign a source and process the requisition interactively |
| ME58 | Create purchase orders for requisitions that already carry a source |
| ME59N | Automatic purchase order creation as a background job |
Once released, the requisition is ready for the next stage. Continue with converting the requisition into a purchase order, or maintain a source list first if source determination returned nothing. Broader context is available across the SAP MM tutorial series.
