Purchase Orders

Owned by Daniel Akers
Last updated: Oct 22, 2024 by Bao TRINH
5 min read

Overview

Purchase orders (POs) are used for several purposes in Workbench. Primarily, they serve to facilitate the control and tracking of purchases from suppliers by lodging a unique PO number in the system. They also give the ability to differentiate between the data entry, purchaser, and approver, all of whom can be different users. The document itself can be sent from Workbench via email, expediting the process of purchasing goods and services. Once the items are delivered, they can be received via Inwards Goods, followed by the AP Invoice where you can reconcile the deliveries with the orders. Different users can be given differing approval levels, allowing for appropriate delegation of authority for your company, as well as giving read-only access or no access at all to the module via Roles.

Purchase orders are used by a large majority of Workbench clients, and are one of the core aspects of the purchasing module. Many companies decide that POs are required for all purchases, automatically rejecting invoices received without quoting a PO number. If the purchase involves a subcontractor, especially where retentions or payment claims are concerned, the Subcontracts module is preferred for more appropriate tracking of claims and payments.

 

 

Screen Guide

The Purchase Order landing screen is accessed from the main menu in Workbench under the Purchasing folder, and gives you a visual overview of Purchase Orders that have been entered. Here, you can modify the filters in the top-right-hand corner and then apply the filters to view the desired Purchase Orders.

To view an existing Purchase Order, simply click on the blue PO Number.

Shown are various fields based on the filtered search:

  • PO Number - automatically assigned based on settings in the Setup Wizard. They can be based globally, or by Financial Company, Location, or Profit Centre. Clicking on this hyperlink will take you to the PO Document.

  • Date - Date entered as the PO date when creating a new PO.

  • PO Reference - Manual text entered in the "Other" section while creating a PO. This can be utilised in any manner the company wishes, and is commonly used as a place for supplier quotes or other identification.

  • Supplier - Supplier assigned when creating a new PO.

  • Purchaser - Person assigned as the purchaser - defaults to logged-in user.

  • Approved - Tick box representing if the PO has been approved by an authorised user. Approval limits can be adjusted by system administrators in Administration → Users.

  • Completed - Tick box representing if the PO has been completed, either from AP Invoice Enquiry being applied and extinguishing the outstanding value or manually completing.

  • Original Value - The original purchase value of all lines of the PO.

  • Outstanding Value - Total remaining value of PO after applying AP invoicing against PO lines.

  • Currency - Country Currency applied to this PO.

  • Line Code - Look up by the catalog line.

  • PO Description - the description.

  • PO Reference - Filter by list by compare the text here and in the reference.

Note: Columns can be added or removed from this screen by the System Administrator using Grid Management.

Bulk Purchase Order Completion

A new feature is available on the existing PO List screen for users with the 'Complete Purchase Orders' permission:

     A.  When a Job is finalised in Job Details, it is recommended that all remaining unused Purchase Orders are completed. You can filter POs by the finalised Job.
     B.  If you have the 'Complete Purchase Orders' permission, you can double click the Completed column (one click to edit the line, one click to tick Complete) to mark the PO for completion.
     C.  Once you've 'Completed' all desired POs, click Save.

The 'Complete' action sets all outstanding values to zero and activates the Complete indicator for the PO and all of its lines.

The following Permissions affect Purchase Orders:

Permission Name

Details

Permission Name

Details

Approve Over Budget Purchase Orders

This permission grants the user the right to approve Purchase Orders that will be / are over budget.

Approve Own Purchase Orders

This permission grants the user the right to approve purchase orders created by themselves.

Approve Purchase Orders

This permission grants the user the right to approve purchase orders.

Approve Purchase Orders On Behalf Of Others

This permission grants the user the right to approve purchase orders for others by specifying an approver with a valid limit. The logged in user does not need to have the approval limit.

Complete Purchase Orders

Allows completion of Purchase Orders.

Edit coding on approved PO

Allows editing of Job, Activity, Work Centre, and Line Details on Purchase Order Lines of incomplete approved Purchase Orders.

Edit Purchase Orders

Allows editing of Purchase Orders.

PO Approved by Me

Allows POs approved by the user to be viewed on the PO List screen

PO Approved by Others

Allows POs approved by other users to be viewed on the PO List screen

PO Entered by Me

Allows POs entered by the user to be viewed on the PO List screen

PO Entered by Others

Allows POs entered by other users to be viewed on the PO List screen

PO Other Locations

Allows POs with other locations than the users to be viewed on the PO List screen

PO Own Location

Allows POs given the same location as the user to be viewed on the PO List screen

PO Purchased by Me

Allows POs purchased by the user to be viewed on the PO List screen

PO Purchased by Others

Allows POs purchased by other users to be viewed on the PO List screen

Procurement uses PO

Allows Job Procurement Lists to be purchased as POs

Purchase Order Admin Review/Approval

Allows editing, review and approval of Purchase Orders by the Administrator.





History

To view the history of a Purchase Order, go to the Purchase Order details screen, click the arrow on the "More" button, and select "View History."

 

Next Steps





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