When material is needed to begin a job, a material requisition form is prepared so that the material can be released from the warehouse and sent to the production area. This source document indicates the types and quantities of materials to be placed into production or used to perform a service job. Such documents are usually prenumbered and come in multiple-copy sets so that completed copies can be maintained in the warehouse, in the department, and with each job.
Completed material requisition forms are important for a company’s audit trail because they provide the ability to trace responsibility for material cost and to verify the flow of material from the warehouse to the department for the job receiving the material. These forms release warehouse personnel from further responsibility for issued materials and assign responsibility to the requisitioning department. Although hardcopy material requisition forms may still be used, it is increasingly common for this document to exist only electronically.