Purchase orders

A purchase order is a cost commitment, not a spend. It doesn't count towards what a job has actually spent until you match it to a supplier bill. Each order runs through a clear workflow: built as a draft, approved, sent to the supplier through a private link, accepted by the supplier online, and finally completed once it's matched against their bills.

How to create and send a purchase order

1. Start the order. Go to Purchase orders and select New PO. Choose the job it's for, and optionally a supplier, then select Create draft to open the order with its own number.
2. Add your lines. Select Add line for each item, entering a description, quantity, optional unit and unit cost. The line amount and the order's net total work themselves out as you type.
3. Fill in the details. Add the supplier, job, delivery date and any notes for the supplier on the right-hand side of the order.
4. Submit for approval. Select Submit for approval. Orders below your approval threshold are approved automatically; orders at or above it move to Pending approval until someone authorised to approve purchase orders signs it off.
5. Send it to the supplier. Once approved, select Send to supplier. This creates a private supplier link (and emails the supplier if you hold an email address for them) and locks the terms shown to them.
6. Wait for supplier acceptance. The supplier opens the link and sees the order and your terms, but not the PO number. Once they tick to accept the terms and confirm, the order becomes Accepted, the PO number is revealed to them, and their name, the date and their IP address are recorded for your files. You can copy the same link yourself from the order's Supplier link panel.
7. Log bills as they arrive. As the supplier's invoices come in, use Log a bill in the Bills & matching panel to record each one against the order. Once the billed total reaches the order total, you'll be prompted to mark the order as completed.

Good to know

• Purchase orders are numbered automatically (PO-001, PO-002 and so on) - you don't set this yourself.
• An order moves through seven stages: Draft, Pending approval, Approved, Sent, Accepted, Completed and Cancelled. The list page lets you filter by stage and shows a running count for each.
• You set your approval threshold (a pound value) in your settings - the default is £150. Orders below the threshold are approved automatically when submitted; orders at or above it need sign-off from someone authorised to approve them. Every approval is stamped with who approved it and when.
• An order can only be edited while it's a Draft. As soon as it's submitted, the lines, supplier, job, delivery date and notes lock. Reopening a Completed or Cancelled order puts it back to Draft for editing, clearing the approval and acceptance trail.
• The supplier never sees the PO number until they accept the terms - it isn't even present on the page beforehand.
• The net total is calculated for you from your lines (quantity x unit cost) - you never type a total directly.
• Each order is tied to one job, so the commitment always shows against the right project.
• The Bills & matching panel shows every bill logged against the order, the billed total against the order total, and whether it's Not billed, Part-billed, Matched or Over-billed. Marking an order as completed is always something you confirm yourself, even once it's fully billed.
• The purchase orders list shows a running "Committed" total across every order except cancelled ones, and you can search by order number, supplier or job.
• You can also raise a purchase order automatically from an awarded request for quotes, pre-filling the winning supplier, the job, and a line for each item at the price they quoted, ready for you to review.
• If an order is no longer needed, you can cancel it, or delete it entirely.