Purchase Order

Overall

A Purchase Order is a formal document issued by a buyer to a seller, indicating the types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services. Within Workbench, Purchase Orders can be created directly or serve as the landing place for incoming purchase requests from the Procurement list or Purchase Requisition. They are the formal documents sent to suppliers for ordering purposes, whereas the Procurement list and Purchase Requisition are utilised internally or for obtaining quotations. Each Purchase Order is given a unique identifier code, enabling accurate tracking of purchases and associated duties, from the initial data entry to order fulfillment and final approval.

User Documentation: Purchase Orders

In Workbench, a Purchase Order can be utilised to settle an approved Expense Claim or to procure services, not solely for purchasing materials.
Once a Purchase Order is approved and dispatched to the supplier, it concludes the purchasing phase. Subsequent steps pertain to the financial phase, focusing on the Accounts Payable process.
Purchase Orders are the input of the Accounts Payable invoices.

Purchase Order should be coded to the corresponding budget line to align commitments with the budget, enabling accurate forecasting and effective financial management.

Steps

	Task / Action	Person

	Task / Action	Person
Configuration	Roles and permissions Workflow Schema	System administrator
Purchase Order process.	Make new Purchase Order Update Purchase Order Review and approve. Import from file. Create order for approved Purchase Requisition.	Procurers Finance team.
Log the deliveries of goods	Once the Purchase Order is finalized and the goods are received, the Inwards Goods function can be activated to log the deliveries.	Authorised person Stock person

Relations

Inputs	Outputs	Relations

Inputs	Outputs	Relations
Procurement list Purchase Requisition	Account Payable Voucher (if it is in use by your organisation) Approved Purchase Order	Inward goods (option) Workflow Schema Docket (option)

Questions & Answers

Within Workbench, a Purchase Order is a document that your organization issues to a supplier, specifying the goods or services and the agreed-upon prices that your organisation wishes to purchase.

A Purchase Requisition is a request to purchase items for internally review, whereas a Purchase Order is an official order to purchase items, sent to the supplier after approval.

A Purchase Order is a from the buyer to purchase goods or services, while an supplier invoice is a request for payment sent by the seller to the buyer after the goods or services have been delivered. Read more at Account Payable invoice.

Purchase Orders can go through a defined approval workflow where they are reviewed and approved by designated personnel before being sent to the supplier.

Purchase Orders play a crucial role in financial tracking by recording commitments to spend and helping track actual expenditures against budgets.

Purchase Orders for items always detail the job, Work Centre, and Activities for which they are used, guaranteeing that costs are properly allocated and monitored.