Creating a Purchase Order will allow you to print a PO form to obtain approval for a future purchase and to create an encumbrance that can be included on the Encumbrance Report. Approved Purchase Orders can be sent directly to A/P, Manuals Checks, or Adjustments to spare users the burden of double entry.
The necessity of creating Purchase Orders and the precise process will depend entirely upon each organization's policies and procedures. This article explains the many features available to you, though many of the features are optional in the creation of a Purchase Order.
Posting a Purchase Order
Selecting Post will begin a new purchase order and automatically generate a PO # and PO Date. These can edited if desired. Some organizations require a requisition number, which you can add if necessary in the field Reqstn#. If you transfer the purchase order to A/P the value in the Reqstn# field will be used for the invoice number.
A Vendor is required for every purchase order. You can enter this by vendor name or vendor number using the fields following Vendor, search by name or number using the magnifying glass icon, or add a new vendor with the Add Vendor button.
Select a Ship To address from the drop-down menu. This address will be printed on the PO Form. (If you need to add additional Ship To options, you can do so by exiting the Purchase Orders screen, going to Other Functions and selecting Ship To Codes.)
Using the Tsfr to AP, Man'l Ck, or Adj/JE box, you can define where the purchase order is sent after it has been closed.
The Printed box defaults as unchecked, but if you wish to mark the purchase order as printed, you can manually check this box.
The Total field will instantly sum the purchase order amount as lines are added below.
The fields at the bottom of the screen are used to enter all detail of account number, department, quantity, description, unit cost, and amount paid, according to the column. The Qty, Unit Cost and Amount Pd values will be automatically calculate the Balance of the line when the line is completed by multiplying the quantity by unit cost and subtracting the amount paid.
Enter or Tab through the end of the line to add it to the purchase order. There is no limit to the number of lines you can add to a single purchase order, and the sum of the balance amount of all lines will populate in the Total field above. After you have added all desired lines to the purchase order, select Save.
Editing a Purchase Order
To find a previous purchase order, select the magnifying glass icon next to PO # field. This will bring up a list of all purchase orders in a new window, which can be sorted by any column to allow you search by any criterion.
Once you've located the correct purchase order, select any field to or double-click on any line to edit the field or line. If you wish to delete the purchase order or any line from the purchase order, select Delete at the top of the screen and select either PO on Screen or PO Line. Select Save to save any changes.
To manually close a purchase order, find the desired PO then select Close from the top menu. This allows you to close either the entire PO, or a just selected line of the PO. If you wish to open a PO (or a single line of a PO), select Un-Close instead. Using either of these two tools will change the value in the Clsd column below.
If you wish to void the purchase order (or a single line of a PO), instead select Void PO from the top menu. This will instantly change all dollar values on the PO and add "VOID" to the line description(s).
After closing, opening, or voiding a purchase order (or a line thereof), you must select Save to save any changes.
Printing Purchase Orders or Reports
To print purchase order forms or reports of purchase orders, Select Print then Report/POs. There are three options for Report Type:
Forms: This option will print all purchase orders on forms, one per sheet.
List Report: This option will print a summarized list of all purchase orders.
Full Report: This option will print a detailed list of all purchase orders.
On the List and Full reports you'll see five closely-spaced columns with the headings "X M A P C"; these will populate Yes/No data, and refer to the following criteria:
- X: Transfer to AP
- M: Manual check
- A: Adjustment/JE
- P: Printed
- C: Closed
With the Print Order options, you can define what criterion to use to the order that forms or reports will list: purchase order number, vendor number, vendor name, account number, or department code.
You can use the Ranges fields to filter which purchase orders are printed as forms or added to a report. You can filter by many different criteria, including PO #, date, vendor, department, fund, and budget account. Similarly, the check boxes in the Include and Options sections allow you include or exclude purchase orders based on the whether they are transferring to AP, manual check or adjustments, or whether or not they are printed or closed.
Transferring Purchase Orders
To transfer purchase orders to AP, manual checks, or adjustments/journal entries, select AP/Ck/Adj Transfer. This will allow you to filter purchase orders according to manner of transfer, PO #, date, account number. You can also define the AP Date and AP Mo-Yr, and opt to delete the purchase orders after transfer, if desired.