---
title: "Creating request types for Administrators - Payhawk Help Center"
slug: "creating-request-types-and-their-fields"
description: "Create request types in Payhawk, choose their payment methods and visibility, and set up built-in, custom, and categorization fields to collect what you need."
updated: 2026-10-20T07:20:57Z
published: 2026-10-20T07:20:57Z
canonical: "payhawk.com/creating-request-types-and-their-fields"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://payhawk.com/help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Creating request types

Creating and configuring request types allows you to customize how requests are submitted, reviewed, and approved based on your company's requirements.

By configuring specific request types, fields, and workflows, you can collect standardized information, tailor approval workflows, and gain greater visibility and control over company spending.

## Creating request types

You can create a new request type from the Payhawk Web Portal:

1. Go to **Settings** > **Requests**.
2. Click on **+ New**.
3. In the panel that opens, fill in its details such as the name, description, and a hint if needed. The **Name** and the **Payment methods** fields are mandatory for the creation of the request type.
4. In the **Payment methods** section, add the payment method that will be accepted by the system for the request type.
  1. **Card** will allow employees to select a card already issued in their name or select that a single-use card be issued in their name upon the request approval, or either.
    1. If employees select an existing card, it will be topped up automatically with the requested amount upon approval of the request. In such cases, they’ll be able to link that request to card expenses only.
    2. If an employee has no active Payhawk card, Payhawk will issue them a new virtual card for the specific request.
    3. When a request covers more than one person, each person will pay with their own default Payhawk card. If someone has no active card, Payhawk will issue them a new virtual card for the request and close the card when the request ends.
  2. **Bill** will allow employees to select bank transfers as a means of payment for requests of that type. In such cases, they’ll be able to link that request to bill expenses only.
  3. **No payment needed** will allow employees to select this option as a payment method for requests when the requested goods are already purchased or available on premise.
  4. If you have selected two or more payment methods, the field indicating the default payment method will be loaded. By default, the payment method for requests is set to **Card**. However, you can set it to any of the other defined payment methods or to **None**.
5. In the **Visibility** section, select the roles that can submit requests of this type. By default, Payhawk Administrators and Payhawk Accountants are included and cannot be changed.
6. In the **Amount** section, turn on the toggle if you want requests of that request type to display the full items’s breakdown fields by default. This means that requesters will view the item mode of the request and will need to provide detailed information for each request’s items, including quantity, price, and total. This setting is applied automatically if the **Receive** step in the request type workflow is turned on.

Note that the toggle in the **Amount** section also forces the request type to always have items.
7. Click on **Add type**.

![New request type panel with name, description, payment methods, visibility and amount settings.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/Adm%3ARequests/new_request_type_panel_20261015_ai.png)

## Configuring the built-in request fields

The default fields of a request type provide a different level of customization for you depending on their function. For example, the description of the request is the only mandatory field for all requesters to fill in in order to create a request, and therefore, it’s not modifiable:

- **Description** - Requesters will have to provide a reason or description for the request. As the system relies on the description to create the request, this field is mandatory for requesters and cannot be modified. If there are roles that will not be able to view the request field, they’ll also be listed for you to see.
- **Document** - You can set whether the upload of a document related to the request will be required for submission or review. The other fields, such as the **Enable**/**Disable** toggle and **Visibility** settings, are not modifiable.
- **Recurrence**, **Supplier**, and **Special instructions**
  - You can enable and disable the options for employees to define whether what they require will occur periodically or is one-time, to fill in the supplier for the request, and to enter any instructions for the supplier, such as delivery details or packaging requirements as special instructions.
  - You can edit the visibility settings of the request fields and define which roles can see each; Payhawk Accountants and Payhawk Administrators at your company are included by default and will always have visibility over these fields. If there are roles that will not be able to view the request field, they’ll also be listed for you to see.
  - You can also define whether the data in these fields will be required for submission (the requester will need to enter the data in the field) or for review (the reviewer will be required to enter the data in the field).
  - **Recurrence** cannot be set as required.
- **Payment method**
  - Here you can view which spend types are allowed for your employees to select when creating a request of that type, such as bill, card, or no payment, as well as whether they’ll be allowed to request a single-use card specifically for the request or they’ll need to use the cards already assigned to them. However, these settings can be modified from **Settings** > **Workflows**. If desired, click on **Go to workflow**.
  - You can enable the option for employees to see this field when creating requests of this type.
  - You can edit the visibility settings of the request field and define which roles can see it; Payhawk Accountants and Payhawk Administrators at your company are included by default and will always have visibility over the field. If there are roles that will not be able to view the request field, they’ll also be listed for you to see.
  - You can also define whether the data in this field will be required for submission (the requester will need to enter the data in the field) or for review (the reviewer will be required to enter the data in the field).

![Request details form with fields for description, document, supplier, and payment method.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/requests-Dec15/built-in%20request%20fields.jpg)
- **Delivery address**
  - Delivery address allows request owners to specify where an order has to be delivered. The field is available on request types that have the purchase order (**Create PO**) step included in their workflow, and is turned off by default (**Settings** > **Requests** > **[Request type]** > **Workflow** tab).

When you enable it, you can add multiple delivery addresses for your company to a request type, and they will apply to all requests under that type. You'll need to define the field's visibility settings (which roles will be able to view it) and set whether the field is required for request submission. Besides adding the company addresses as predefined values, you can also let request owners fill in their own values by switching on the **Allow other values** toggle.

![Delivery address field settings panel showing enable, role visibility, required for submission, and predefined address values.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/Adm%3ARequests/delivery_address_field_settings_20260902.png)

To set up any of the default request type fields:

1. Navigate to the request type from **Settings** > **Requests** > **Types**.
2. Select the desired field of that request type.
3. Modify the desired options.
4. Click on **Save**.

## Configuring the custom request fields

To define the fields that will collect any additional information about the request:

1. Navigate to the request type.
2. Go to **Fields** > **Additional information** and click on **Add field**.
3. Choose the way you want the requester to provide the data by selecting the form in which employees will provide the required data.![Options for adding new fields in a form, including dropdowns and text inputs.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/requests-Dec15/add%20additional%20information%20for%20request%20types.jpg)

For example, to allow requesters to choose from a pre-defined set of values, select **Dropdown**.

![Dropdown field settings with options for visibility and required submission features.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/requests-Dec15/drop-down%20for%20additional%20information%20fields.png)

In the dialog that opens, provide the name and a short description of the field, define its visibility and other required options, and click on **Save** when ready.

To disable any of the custom request fields, click on its three-dot menu and select **Disable**. To enable it back, do the same and click on **Enable**. To delete a custom request field, click on its three-dot menu and select **Delete**.

## Associating categorization expense fields with requests

You can associate any of the custom expense fields defined for your company with the request type from the **Categorization** section of the request type settings:

1. Navigate to the request type.
2. In **Categorization**, click on the **Add field** button.
3. In the dialog that opens, select the custom field from the library. If you want to define a new one, you can click on **Go to Fields Library**. ![Interface for adding fields in accounting categorization with various dropdown options.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/requests-Dec15/add%20item%20categorization%20for%20request%20types.jpg)

If you no longer need a field to be associated with that request type, remove it by clicking on its three-dot menu and selecting **Remove field**.

> [!WARNING]
> Any updates made to system-defined custom field settings within a specific request type will apply only to requests of that type. These local changes will not impact the global settings of the custom field across the system.

## Enabling, disabling, and deleting request types

> [!TIP]
> You can’t enable, disable or delete request types inherited from a group. These request types are managed at the group level and can’t be modified directly within the entity.

Once created, request types are disabled by default.

- To enable a request type, go to **Settings** > **Requests** > **Types** > **DISABLED**, hover over the desired request type, click on its three-dot menu, and select **Enable**. To disable the request type, select the **Disable** option from its three-dot menu.
- To delete a request type, click on its three-dot menu and select the **Delete** option. In the dialog that opens, confirm the action. In this way, you can delete any request type regardless if it’s enabled or disabled.

![Request types list in Settings with the Disable and Delete options for a type.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/Adm%3ARequests/request_type_disable_delete_20261015_ai.png)

Request types are marked with a badge indicating their statuses, for example, if the request type is enabled (active) as shown in the following image.![Navigation path showing Requests and Software sections with active status highlighted.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/requests-Dec15/tags%20requests.jpg)