The acquisition plan is a document that describes the major milestones in the procurement process and their expected dates. These are often established in collaboration with key stakeholders, such as the Requestor and/or technical experts.

The staff member conducting procurement is responsible for gathering information about the supply market and selecting the appropriate procurement method (see section 6.3 Solicitation methods and thresholds).

The level of detail of the acquisition plan would depend on the complexity of the particular requirements, ranging from low risk/low spend to high risk/high spend.

Low risk/low spend requirements usually entail simple planning: an overview of the necessary steps of the process and associated timelines (e.g. supply of readily available office equipment and supplies, or contracting a consultant for a short-term, non-core assignment).

Managing the procurement of an extremely high risk/high spend requirement becomes project management and entails a thorough and comprehensive planning process (e.g. development of a risk management strategy, or the supply, installation and integration of a computer network).