Managing Purchase Orders in the Administration Module

You can get quick information about your purchase orders as well as create and manage purchase orders. You might want to create purchase orders to replace inventory from a vendor, or to receive inventory for a drop-ship order, or to ensure adequate inventory for auto-ship orders.

Purchase orders can be created in the following ways:

• Manually created in Purchase Order Entry in the Administration module. See Creating Purchase Orders.
• Automatically created for drop-ship items. These purchase orders appear in the Purchase Order Manager in the Administration module.
• Programmatically created through API calls by developers.
• Created using purchase order data inserted directly into the Order Management database tables by developers.

The following purchase order operations are available in the Administration module:

• Searching for Purchase Orders
• Creating Purchase Orders
• Editing Purchase Orders
• Receiving Purchase Orders

Searching for Purchase Orders

There are two ways to perform purchase order searches: Selecting a list of purchase orders in a particular state from the Purchase Order Summary section, or using the Search form at the top of the PO Manager. Both are described here.

To search for a purchase order from the Purchase Order Summary section:

1. In the Inventory accordion menu, select PO Manager. The Purchase Order Manager appears.
2. Click view for a list of purchase orders in the Order Summary. For example, click the view link for Purchase Orders Waiting Fulfillment.

To search for a purchase order using the search form at the top of the Purchase Order Manager:

1. In the Inventory accordion menu, select PO Manager. The Purchase Order Manager appears.
2. Along the top of the page are the search criteria fields, which enable filtering the search results. Using more than one search criteria refines your search results. Note that the drop-down list filters are user-customizable and are based on the structure and needs of each company. See the “Configuration and Settings” section for details on configuring these lists.
3. Select the search criteria from one or more drop-down lists. Available search criteria include:
   • Site: A drop-down list to search for purchase orders by the sites (such as warehouses) where inventory is allocated and fulfilled.
   • Type: A drop-down list to search based on the type of the purchase order. Available types include Auto, Dropship, and Manual.
   • PO #: A drop-down list to search based on specific criterion types. When the criterion type is selected, enter search terms based on the selected criterion type. Wildcard searches can be made using the percent (%) symbol, which represents zero or more characters. The following criterion types are available:
     • Vendor Email
     • Vendor
     • PO #
     • Item #
   • Quick Search: A drop-down list to search based on a purchase order’s general state or workflow state. Options include the following:
     • New Orders
     • Incomplete
     • Waiting Receipt
     • Waiting Filing
     • Closed
     • Active
     • Alerted
     • Locked
     • Suspended
     • NotVisible
     • Closed
     • Void
     • Waiting Completion
     • Waiting Approval
     • Waiting Fulfillment
     • Waiting Filing
   • Range: A drop-down list to search by date or date range. For example, search for Today, This Week, This Month, or This Year.
   • Flag: A drop-down list to search for orders that are flagged with a color or “CHK” (check) flag. These flags can be used to mark an order for future work.
4. Click Search.

Using either search method, note the following regarding the search results:

• Open individual records by clicking the ID hyperlink.
• Select multiple records by checking the boxes next to the records.
• Select all records by checking the column header box in the search results.
• Buttons below the results perform the following actions:
  • Check All to select all record boxes
  • Clear All to clear all selected record boxes
  • Check Page to select all record boxes on the page that appears
  • Clear Page to clear all selected record boxes on the page that appears
• Perform actions on the selected orders in the search results. Select an action from the Run an action on these X purchase orders drop-down list and click GO. Also, email the selected purchase orders by entering text in the Note field and clicking Email. For details on any of these actions, refer to the appropriate section in the Operations online help topics. The following actions are available:
  • Print
  • File
  • Change Flag
  • Clear Alert
  • Suspend Purchase Orders
  • Unsuspend Purchase Orders

Creating Purchase Orders

A new purchase order can be created or a previously saved purchase order can be selected to continue editing. The saved purchase orders are those that were saved or exited prior to submission. They are listed in the Incomplete Purchase Orders section of the Purchase Order Entry page.

To create a new or continue a previously saved purchase order:

1. In the Inventory accordion menu, click PO Entry.
2. Click New Purchase Order. The Vendor page appears.
3. Select the vendor for which a purchase order is created from the Select a vendor drop-down list.
4. Enter a reference number in the Vendor Reference Number field.
5. Select the requested and promise dates using the Requested Date and Promise Date calendar widgets. The default value for both date fields is none. Note that these dates can be overridden by defining dates for individual purchase order line Items.
6. Enter text, if desired, in the Special Instructions field.
7. Click Next or select the Pick Items tab.
8. Pick an item to add to the purchase order. Select a category from the Add To Purchase Order drop-down list. Sub-category drop-down lists appear to the right. Select subcategories from the drop-down lists. For example, sub-categories could be furniture or televisions, with an additional sub-category as desk chairs.
9. Search for items or import a list:
   • Search for items: Enter the name of the item in the search field below the Category drop-down list. The search looks at item codes, item titles, descriptions, and keywords, and returns partial matches. Then click the button for the desired search:
     • Click Search Vendor’s Items to show a list of the vendor’s items. The On Hand (OH), On Hold (HO), and On Order (OO) quantity for each item is listed. Items can be added individually or in bulk. Enter the quantity for one or more items. Select the checkboxes for the desired items and click Add, or click the Add All Checked button.
     • Click Locate any Item to search all items (not just the specified vendor’s items). The On Hand (OH), On Hold (HO), and On Order (OO) quantity for each item is listed. Items can be added individually or in bulk. Enter the quantity for one or more items. Select the checkboxes for the desired items and click Add, or click the Add All Checked button. Adding an item that isn't already associated with the selected vendor permanently associates that item with the vendor.

     Note that master items show a drop-down for selection of child items.

   • Import a list of items: Click Import Lines to open an import form that lets you paste in a list of item codes. The import data can also include quantity and unit price fields. Use the field drop-downs to select the Quantity and Unit Price fields if desired (in either order), then paste the import file contents into the text field and click Import. Click Cancel to abort the import.
10. Select the Show Completed Items checkbox. Any added items appear in the Purchase Order Items section at the bottom of the page. The purchase price of the item is determined by the vendor Information on each item record.
11. Click ReTotal Order to recalculate the total price.
12. Click Next or select the Set Address tab to verify or enter the vendor's address. Enter the Bill To Address and Ship To Address, if not populated. The Ship To Address might be selected in the drop-down Site list if sites have been enabled in Fulfillment Site Manager. Note that the Site drop-down list only appears if sites are enabled. Click Back to return to the previous page.
13. Click Next or select the Review tab to review the purchase order information. Click Back to return to the previous page.
14. Click Complete to confirm that you want to complete this purchase order. Click OK to confirm or click Cancel to cancel the purchase order.

Note the Save & Exit and Delete buttons in the lower left corner. Click Save & Exit at any time to save the purchase order in progress and exit this page. The purchase order then appears in the Purchase Order Summary in the list of incomplete orders. You can click Delete at any time to delete the purchase order and exit this page. This deletion can't be undone.

Note the << Back and Next >> buttons in the lower right corner; use them at any time to advance to the next step or return to the previous step.

Note regarding dropship purchase orders: Items might be marked as Drop Ship on the item record. In addition, a Preferred Vendor might be set on the item record. If these conditions are met, upon approval of a shipping order containing the item, Order Management automatically creates a purchase order with a status of Waiting Approval.

Editing Purchase Orders

Clicking a purchase order ID on the Purchase Order Manager or the Purchase Order Entry page opens a new window containing the details of that purchase order. The purchase order detail page lets you view the following information. To edit a section, click the Edit button on the right side of that section.

• General Info: View or edit the PO Date, Reference ID, Request Date, and Promise Date.
• Vendor: View the vendor information.
• Bill To and Ship To addresses: View or edit the billing and shipping addresses.
• Extended Attributes: If configured for a vendor, view these attributes.
• Special Instructions: View or edit special instructions.
• Items: View or edit the iitems included in the purchase order with quantity and pricing information. To only show completed purchase orders, select the Show Completed Items checkbox.

The following actions are available via buttons on the top right of the page:

• Email: Sends (via email) the purchase order to the vendor.
• Print: Prints the purchase order.
• Close: Closes the purchase order.
• Void: Voids the purchase order. A record of the voided purchase order remains in the system.
• Delete: Deletes the purchase order.
• Templates: (if applicable) Selects a custom template for the email.

The following tabs are available in the Details section at the bottom of the page:

• Linked Orders: Shows sales orders that are linked to the purchase order.
• Activity: A historical view of activities applied to the purchase order. Click Add to create a new activity.
• Emails: Shows a list of existing emails related to the purchase order. Click the New button to create a new email.
• System Events: An audit of both events performed automatically by Order Management and user-initiated events during the life cycle of the purchase order.

Receiving Purchase Orders

Receive a purchase order to add its items to inventory. Receiving is organized by vendor. It might be done for a specific site or multiple sites, and for one or more purchase orders. Partial receipts are recorded. As Items are received, the On Order quantity is reduced and the On Hand quantity is incremented. When all items are received, the purchase order is closed. Voiding a purchase order doesn't adjust On Hand quantity for any items that have not been received.

To receive purchase orders:

1. In the Inventory accordion menu, click Receiving. The Receive Inventory page appears.
2. Search using the form at the top of the Receive Inventory page, as described in Searching for Purchase Orders.
3. Click Search. A list of purchase orders appears in the PO Lines section. Enter a note in the Note field, if desired. For example, if partial orders were received, mention that.
4. All Items associated with the purchase order are listed along with the Quantity, Quantity Left, number of Items Received, Unit Price, and Unit Cost. For each item, specify the quantity received in the Rcv’d box.
5. Click Receive to process that line item. If the Items received include serialization to be noted, click Receive Serialization. A new popup appears listing the serial code and quantity.