Procurement Cycle Overview

For a beginner level understanding of the flow of process in the Procurement cycle, there are a total of 7 Stages:
1. Material Request 2. Request For Quotation 3. Supplier Quotation 4. Purchase Order 5. Purchase Receipt 6. Purchase Invoice 7. Payment Entry

To begin with, considering the standard flow of the Purchase cycle, let's say you raise a Material request in ERPNext depending upon the item to be Purchased.
Once a Material request is raised, there can be multiple cases like Multiple Suppliers bidding or selling same item, in this case a Request for Quotation[RFQ] is opened up.
Once an RFQ is raised, suppliers post their rates against the required quantity against it. The rates from the different Suppliers can be sent by the users within ERPNext or even using the Web portal. Also, once quotations are received, they can be compared using Supplier Quotation. After comparing the best quote, a Purchase Order is raised against it. After a PO is raised, an Invoice can be generated or a Purchase Receipt depending upon the flow of process in the organisation, subsequently Payment Entry is made.