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    • Purchase Orders Settings

    • Modified on: Tue, 5 Dec, 2023 at 1:21 PM
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    Overview


    The Purchase Orders module allows you to create and send purchase orders to authorized vendors, and also gives you the ability to request approval for these purchase orders from managers, board members, and other authorized personnel. 


    Table of Contents

    Purchase Orders Settings


    Before you begin issuing purchase orders, you’ll need to set up the module by adding default addresses, approval options, notification preferences, and more. To get started, click on the Settings tab and then click on Purchase Orders.

     


    Begin by adding default shipping and billing addresses for issued purchase orders, terms and conditions, and a PO prefix. These can all be overwritten when issuing a specific purchase order. Scroll down to the second half of the page to enable up to two tax lines, add expense codes, and configure approval settings.



     

    Next, determine whether approval is required to send a purchase order to a vendor (common for U.S. properties) or whether approval is not required prior to sending a purchase order to a vendor, but is required to send payment to a vendor (common for Canadian properties). 



    Next, select any managers and/or board members who should be authorized to approve purchase orders. (All Security Offers can approve purchase orders. Managers can create and edit purchase orders but must be on the list in order to approve them. Board Members cannot create or edit purchase orders, but they can approve purchase orders and add comments if they are on the list of authorized personnel.)

     If you've chosen to require approval prior to sending a PO to a vendor, enter the email address(es) of the person/people who should be notified when a purchase order is awaiting approval. You can add multiple email addresses by separating each email address with a semi-colon (;).

    If you've chosen to require approval prior to sending payment to a vendor (common for Canadian properties), the next step is to create up to four groups of authorized users from whom you can request approval. Upon choosing a specific group to request approval from, email notifications will automatically be sent. You may also enter the email address(es) of the person/people who should be notified when an authorized use approves a Purchase Order.  

    Issuing Purchase Orders


    To issue a purchase order, click on the Manage tab, select Purchase Orders, and then click Create New Purchase Order.  The "Invoice To" and "Ship To" fields will be automatically populated from the default addresses you set up, but you can override these if you wish. Choose to whom the PO will be issued to by selecting a vendor from the drop-down menu. (Vendors must be added to your Vendors Directory before you can select them. To learn how to add vendors to the Vendors Directory, click here.)



    Next, fill out the "Items" section of the purchase order and click Save Changes. Expense Codes are optional. 



    Your purchase order will now be marked as a "Draft." You can continue to edit it until it is submitted for approval. 

    Submitting POs for Approval & Communicating with Vendors


    The approval process and PO workflow is determined by your approval settings. If you've set up the module to require approval when sending POs to vendors (common for U.S. properties), see Workflow A. If you've set up the module to require approval only when sending payments to vendors, see Workflow B. 

     

    Purchase Order Workflow A - Approval Required to Send PO

     

    When you are ready to submit your PO for approval, click the green Submit for Approval button. Clicking Submit for Approval will automatically email the addresses added to the PO Settings page so that they may log in and approve the PO and mark your PO as "Awaiting Approval." Authorized users can also click Submit and Approve to approve the PO on the spot. 


    Once a PO has been approved, it can now be sent to a vendor. Click Email PO To Vendor to automatically attach the PO as a PDF file in BuildingLink’s Compose Email page, where you can email the PO to the vendor and others. If you prefer to hand-deliver the PO or send it through the regular mail, you may generate a PDF to print instead. If you choose this option, simply click Open PO to indicate that the PO has been sent to the vendor and you’re ready to move on to the next step. You may also add notes to the Activity log on the left side of the page; these notes will appear with the PO's status history.



    After the Email PO To Vendor or Open PO buttons have been clicked, the purchase order will be marked as "Open." Once the goods and services have been rendered and you have received an invoice, you can update the *optional* "Received" and "Accounting Options" sections. Click OK to Pay when you are ready to issue payment to the vendor.



    Your PO will now be marked as "Ready for Payment." Clicking Close PO will save a permanent copy of the purchase order and remove the option to cancel it. You can continue to add notes to the activity log after the purchase order has been marked "Closed." 

     

     

    Purchase Order Workflow B - Approval Required to Send Vendor Payments

     

    After your purchase order draft is completed, you will see the option to email the PO directly to the vendor by clicking Email PO To Vendor. This will automatically attach the PO as a PDF file in BuildingLink’s Compose Email page, where you can email the PO to the vendor and others. If you prefer to hand-deliver the PO or send it through the regular mail, you may generate a PDF to print instead. If you choose this option, simply click Open PO to indicate that the PO has been sent to the vendor and you’re ready to move on to the next step. 

     



    After the Email PO To Vendor or Open PO buttons have been clicked, the purchase order will be marked as "Open." Once the goods and services have been rendered and you have received an invoice, you can update the *optional* "Received" and "Accounting Options" sections. Be sure to click Save Changes. 



    Next, click Submit for Approval. This will allow you to select which groups you'd like to request approval from. Once you've made your selection, click Send Request. 


     



    After requesting approval, the purchase order will be marked as "Awaiting Approval." Click the green Approve button to authorize the purchase order. You may also click the green Add Note button and check the Approval Note box to indicate approval by board meeting, committee vote, etc.



    Once the purchase order is approved, click OK to Pay. 




    Once the purchase order is marked as "OK to Pay", all of the line items will be fixed, but you can still add notes and update the Accounting Options section, or cancel the purchase order. Click Close PO when have you made any final changes and wish to file the purchase order. 



    Generating PDFs

    You may generate a PDF of your purchase orders at any time, once they have advanced past Draft status. Simply click the blue Generate PDF button.



    Editing/Canceling Purchase Orders


    Shipping and billing information can be edited until a purchase order has been marked as "Sent." 


    Line items can be edited until a purchase order is in "OK to Pay" status. 


    Accounting Options can be edited until a purchase order is in "Closed" status.


    Purchase orders can be canceled at any stage before they are in "Closed" status. 

    Searching Purchase Orders


    You can choose which purchase orders will appear on the Purchase Orders home screen by clicking on the grey Settings bar. You can also click the blue Search button to search through all purchase orders by PO number, vendor, expense code, PO status, and date range.