Purchase order

The purchase order is part of the purchasing process, as illustrated in Purchasing overview. You can create direct purchase orders, or create purchase orders from purchase requisitions lines. Purchase orders can also be created directly from a sales order.

On this page you can find the description of the purchase order workflow. You can also find more detailed information about the following topics:

• How to create a purchase order
• How to create purchase order lines
• How to add notes
• How to assign dimensions
• How to manage dimensions
• How to allocate landed costs
• What actions are available from the item lines
• How to display and manage assigned orders
• How to confirm or submit the purchase order for approval
• How to print the purchase order
• How to send the purchase order to the supplier
• How to create the associated purchase receipt
• How to view the purchase receipt progress
• How to edit a purchase order
• How to close a purchase order
• How to delete a purchase order

Purchase order workflow

This is an overview of the purchase order workflow.

Let's describe this flow in more detail.

• Create the purchase order

  When you create a purchase order, its status is Draft. After entering the header data and adding at least one line, you save the purchase order. The purchase order status stays as Draft and the purchase order lines status is Draft.

• Approve or confirm the purchase order

  When the purchasing workflow approval process is required for the site, you send the purchase order for approval. Its status changes to Pending approval.

• When the purchase order is approved, its status changes to Approved and the status for the lines changes to Pending.

• If the purchase order is not approved, its status changes to Rejected and the status for the lines changes to Closed.

  When the purchasing workflow approval process is not required for the site, you confirm the purchase order. Its status changes to Confirmed and the status for the lines changes to Pending.

  A tax calculation automatically runs. If there is an error, the status changes to Tax calculation failed.

  When you correct the tax details, the purchase order changes back to Draft, Approved or Rejected.

• Create the receipt

  When you create a purchase receipt, the purchase order status remains as Approved or Confirmed. The line status changes from Pending to In progress. When the purchase receipt is posted, the purchase order status changes to Received or Partially received. The received line status changes to Closed.

Create a purchase order

• Enter information related to the header such as the Purchasing site, the Supplier and the Order date.
• Create the lines for the items: You can create direct purchase order lines. You can also create purchase order lines by selecting purchase requisition lines.

In the header

1. Enter or select the purchasing site. In the Information tab, you can check and update the primary address of the site.
2. Enter or select the supplier. In the Information tab, you can check and update the primary address of the supplier.
3. If you have defined sequence numbers in the Sequence number page, leave the purchase order Number field blank. The number is generated automatically when you create the purchase order. Otherwise, enter the purchase order number manually.
4. The Order date field defaults to today's date. You can change the date but only to an earlier date.
5. In the Information tab, you can check and update any general information such as the Currency, the Delivery mode, the Default buyer and the Payment term.

Create purchase order lines

On this page, you can create direct purchase order lines. You can also create order lines from the purchase requisition lines.

Create a direct purchase order line

There are 2 ways to create a direct purchase order line.

Perform a quick entry

1. Select Add line.
2. Enter the Item name, the Quantity in purchase unit, Gross price and check the Expected receipt date.
3. Tab to validate the information. The main details of the purchase order line displays in the grid.

4. Save.

   To enter and update any detailed information about the line such as the details about the quantities, pricing and the receiving site address, open the line panel.

Add a line with all the detailed information

1. Select Add line in panel. The Add new line panel opens.
2. Enter or select the Item name.
3. Check the default Expected receipt date is correct.
4. Enter the Purchase unit and Quantity in purchase unit.

5. On the Price tab:

   1. Check that the Gross price populated from the supplier is correct. You can update it.
   2. You can enter a discount percentage and a charge percentage.
   3. You can check the tax details. Refer to View and manage tax details.
6. On the Address tab, the Receiving site address field displays the purchasing site address.
7. On the Notes tab, you can add internal notes or notes to be printed on the document sent to the supplier. See Add notes.
8. To validate your entry and display the line in the purchase order list of items, select Apply, or if you want to also add another line, select Apply and add new.
9. Save.

The purchase order status and the purchase order line status are Draft.

Create a purchase order from purchase requisition lines

1. Select Add lines from requisitions.
2. Select the lines. You can update the quantity to perform a partial order.
3. Select Add. The selected lines display in the list of items
4. Save. The purchase order number is generated automatically. The purchase order status is Draft.

To check the situation of the purchase order line related to the purchase requisition line, open the line panel. The Origin tab displays the following information:

• The purchase requisition number with a link to display the Purchase requisition page
• The requested quantity
• The remaining quantity available to order

Add notes

You can add internal notes and supplier notes to an entire purchase order or to purchase order lines.

• Internal notes are only for internal purposes. Notes for the entire purchase order default to the notes entered on the Supplier page. You can update and delete them.
• If Add notes to the supplier document is switched on, you can enter notes that are included on the purchase order sent to the supplier.

To add notes:

1. From the Notes tab, in the Internal notes text box, enter the notes you want to share with your colleagues.
2. To make the supplier note editor available, switch Add notes to the supplier document on.
3. Enter the notes you want to share with the supplier. If you keep the Add notes to the supplier document switch on, these notes print on the supplier purchase order. If you do not want the notes to display on the documents sent to the supplier, switch Add notes to the supplier document off.
4. If you switch on Repeat the document notes on new documents then the notes will repeat on purchase receipts created from the order.
5. If you Repeat all the line notes on new documents then the notes will repeat on purchase receipt lines created from the order lines.
6. Save.

Assign dimensions

You can assign dimensions to lines that have a Draft or Pending Status.

You have two options to open the Dimensions window and set dimensions: You can assign dimensions to a line or assign dimensions to several lines.

Manage dimensions

Purchase order lines can inherit dimensions and attributes from the site, supplier, item or from all 3. For this, dimensions and attributes need to be set on the site, supplier or item record, and default dimension rules need to be set on the company record, on the Dimensions tab. When you create a purchase order, the dimensions default on the lines from those defined for the site, supplier, item, or all 3.

If default dimension rules are not set for the company, you can add dimensions directly on the order lines. You can add and change dimensions on each line individually. Or you can add or change the dimensions for all lines.

To manage dimensions for individual lines:

1. From the More actions icon on the line, select Dimensions.
2. Select the dimensions you want for the line.
3. Save.

To manage dimensions for all lines:

1. From the More actions menu at record level, select Set dimensions.
2. Select the necessary dimensions.
3. Select Apply to all lines to apply the dimensions to all the existing and future lines or Apply to new lines only to apply the dimensions to future lines only.

Manage dimensions when you create a purchase order from a sales order

When you create a purchase order from a sales order line, dimensions and attributes on the purchase order default to those on the sale order line, or on the site, according to your default dimension rules on the company.

On the Company page, on the Dimensions tab, in the Default dimension rules grid, for Purchasing order-to-order:

• If Source document is selected for dimensions and attributes, the purchase order inherits the dimensions from the sales order line.
• If Site is selected for dimensions and attributes, the purchase order inherits the dimensions from the site.
• If Supplier is selected for dimensions and attributes, the purchase order inherits the dimensions from the supplier.
• If Item is selected for dimensions and attributes, the purchase order inherits the dimensions from the item.

Allocate landed costs

You can allocate landed costs from purchase invoices to purchase orders. This can happen when you receive a purchase invoice before you receive the goods.

When you post a purchase invoice, the landed cost allocation is distributed on the corresponding purchase order and purchase order lines.

Select Landed costs on the More actions icon on the corresponding line, where you can view the details of the landed costs associated with the corresponding purchase invoices and the total landed cost amount in company currency.

The total landed cost amount for the line is displayed on the Price tab of the Line panel. The total landed cost amount for the order is displayed on the Landed costs tab on the order with individual breakdowns of the different landed cost types.

More actions from the item lines grid

From the More actions icon, you can perform the following actions:

View the totals

Use the Totals tab to display all the tax related information.

In the first block, you can find the total excluding VAT, the total VAT, and the total including VAT amounts for the purchase order. In case you place an order with a supplier from a different European country, the total VAT amount is not updated with the tax amount of the line that identifies a Reverse charge.

The Summary by tax block displays the total taxable bases and amounts grouped per tax and tax rate.

The Amounts in company currency block displays the excluding and including VAT amounts in the company currency.

Display and manage assigned orders

When the purchase order is created from the sales order, an icon displays in the Assigned to column on the Lines grid.

To display the assigned sales order number and the linked quantity between the sales order and the purchase order line, select Assign order from the More actions icon on the line. In the window that opens, you can see all the information related to the linked quantities between the sales order and the purchase order line.

• In the General block, the Required quantity displays the quantity required on the sales order. The Assigned quantity and the Remaining quantity are displayed. They are automatically updated when you update the assigned quantity.

• In the Assigned orders block, the following information is displayed:

  • The sales order number with a link to this sales order.
  • The Quantity on order. It displays the required quantity on the linked sales order.
  • The Assigned quantity. It displays the purchase order line quantity assigned to the linked sales order.
  • The Quantity not assigned. It displays the sales order quantity that is not assigned to any purchase order line.

Update the assigned quantity

You can update the assigned quantity when the purchase order line status is Draft, Pending or In progress. The updated quantity cannot be greater than purchase order quantity or greater that the Quantity on order.
You can also update the purchase order line quantity:

• If you decrease the purchase order line quantity, the original assigned quantity is also decreased.
• If you increase the purchase order line quantity, the original assigned quantity is not updated.

Delete the link between the purchase order line and the sales order

To delete the link, select the Delete icon. Only the link between the purchase order line and the sales order is removed. The purchase order line and the sales order are not deleted.

Confirm or submit the purchase order for approval

When the purchase order is ready, you need to confirm it, or send it for approval when the purchasing workflow approval process is required for the purchasing site.

The workflow approval process is not required for purchase orders.

Select Confirm. The purchase order status changes from Draft to Confirmed. The purchase order line status changes from Draft to Pending.
When the purchase order is confirmed, you can still update or delete the lines, and add new lines. The Pending status is automatically assigned to the new lines.

The workflow approval process is required for purchase orders.

1. Select Submit for approval.
2. In the Approval request window, the email address for the default approver indicated in the Site page is displayed. You can change it.

3. Select Send.
   

   The approver receives the approval request by email. They can approve or reject the request from the Purchase order page or directly from the email that includes a link to the purchase order.
   The purchase order status changes automatically from Draft to Pending approval. The purchase order line status remains to Draft.

   The approval status is global for all the purchase order lines.
   1. When the purchase order is approved, the purchase order status changes from Pending approval to Approved and the purchase order line status changes from Draft to Pending.
   2. When the purchase order is rejected, the purchase order status and the purchase order line status change to Closed.
   You cannot approve a purchase order that includes an inactive item.

Print the purchase order

1. Select Print.

2. You can print or download the PDF document.

   The print status changes to Printed. It is displayed in the Information tab.

Send the purchase order to the supplier

To send the purchase order by email to the supplier in a PDF format, select Send from the More actions icon. This action is available only when the purchase order status is Approved or Confirmed.

By default, the contact is populated with the primary contact for the supplier primary address. You can select a different supplier contact linked to that address or enter the contact and email address.

The email sent to the supplier displays the purchase order number and the order date. The purchase order details are included in a PDF file attached to the email. The PDF file also includes the supplier notes when the Add notes to the supplier document is switched on.

When the purchase order is sent, the Sent status for the purchase order changes from Not sent to Sent.

After you send the purchase order to the supplier, you can still edit the order lines or add new lines. You need to validate the warning message. The Sent status for the purchase order remains to Sent. It is displayed in the Information tab.

Create a purchase receipt

The purchase order can be converted into a purchase receipt when its status is Approved, Confirmed or Partially received.

The purchase receipt is created for all the lines at Pending status

To create the purchase receipt, select Create receipt.

• The purchase order status remains as Confirmed or Approved.
• The purchase order line status changes to In progress

When the purchase receipt is created for the purchase order, you can no longer update the purchase order.

When the purchase receipt is posted, the purchase order status changes to Received or Partially received, and the purchase order line status to Closed.

View the purchase receipt progress

After you create the purchase receipt, you can check the situation of the purchase receipt line related to the purchase order line.

Open the line panel. The Progress tab displays the receipt main information:

• The purchase order line receipt status
• The purchase receipt number
• The received quantity in purchase unit
• The purchase receipt line status

Edit a purchase order

You can edit a purchase order when the Status is Draft. It can also be updated when the status is Confirmed or Approved, but only on the pending lines, meaning that a purchase receipt has not yet been created for these lines.

Close a purchase order

You can close a purchase order when its Status is different from Draft or Pending approval.

Select Close. The Status for the purchase order changes to Closed.

Delete a purchase order

You can delete a purchase order only when the Status is Draft. Select the More actions icon and Delete.

Working with purchase orders

Can I create a partial receipt from a purchase order?

Can I resend a purchase order that has already been sent?

Can I customise the content of the email sent for approval?

Can I progress a purchase order if it includes an inactive item?

Can I create a partial receipt from a purchase order?

No, you can only create a purchase receipt for all the purchase order lines.

To create a partial receipt, go to the Purchase receipt page. Use the Add lines from orders action and select the purchase order lines. On the selected lines, you can change the quantity to be received for a quantity less than the ordered quantity.

Can I resend a purchase order that has already been sent?

Yes, you can. This possibility can be useful in case of a connection failure, for example.

Can I customise the content of the email sent for approval?

The content is standardised but you can add notes for the supplier.

Can I progress a purchase order if it includes an inactive item?

No. If you add an inactive item to your purchase order, you cannot save, duplicate, send for approval, approve or create a receipt. If you try to edit a purchase order and an item on the order that was active is now inactive, you cannot perform the same actions. You need to remove the inactive item from the order to be able to progress the purchase order.