Purchasing
Order from suppliers, receive against the order, post the supplier's bill, and let reorder points draft the next orders for you.
Who can do this: Owners and Admins, or a role with Organization settings, turn it on. Others work in it as their role allows, and only Owners and Admins void or correct a bill.
Purchasing adds purchase orders, supplier bills and reorder points. You order from a supplier, receive against the order, post the supplier's bill, and let a reorder point draft the next order.
Turn it on#
Turn Purchasing on from its page in Explore modules: see Modules. Its shelf in the menu holds Purchase orders and Supplier bills. A supplier is a company: add it first, see Contacts and companies. Receiving and the stock figures come from Inventory: see Inventory.
Order from a supplier#
Add the order#
Open Purchase orders and add one. Supplier is required. Set Order date, Expected, Deliver to, Currency and Tax %, then add lines. A line that names a Product fills itself in from it, and takes its unit when you leave Unit empty: see Products.
Confirm it#
Choose Confirm. The order gets its number and its lines freeze. Nothing is sent to the supplier: send it yourself. With Inventory on, the open quantities now count as On order.
Receive and close#
Receive the goods against the order: see Inventory. The order closes by itself once every line is fully received. Close ends it earlier, when nothing more will come. Cancel is for an order the supplier will not deliver, and what was received stays received. Both are final. Cancel is for Owners, Admins and Members.
A purchase order has no approval step of its own. An approval rule can hold Confirm: see Approval rules.
Post a supplier's bill#
Add the bill#
Open Supplier bills and add one. Supplier and Bill date are required. Enter the Supplier's number, Due and Currency, then the lines: each needs a Description and an Amount.
To bill goods you received, name the Goods receipt, and a line can name its Receipt line. The receipt must be posted. A line that names a Receipt line and states no quantity bills what nothing has billed yet. No line can bill more than is left.
Post it#
Choose Post bill. The bill gets a BILL number and can no longer be edited. A supplier's number is used once per supplier: another posted bill of the same supplier with it is refused.
A posted bill that should not stand, such as one entered twice, is cancelled with Void. Correct bill voids it and drafts its replacement, linked in Corrects, with the same supplier, legal entity and currency. Only Owners and Admins do either.
Reorder automatically#
Reordering needs Inventory as well as Purchasing, because it reads what is on hand and on order.
Set a reorder point#
Open the product. In its Reordering card, choose Set a reorder point. Set Minimum, Order up to, Pack of, Lead time, Supplier and Supplier price. A product has one reorder point for each location.
Draft the orders#
When what is on hand plus what is on order falls below the Minimum, the product shows To reorder. On the Stock page, choose the To reorder tile and then Draft purchase orders, or choose Draft purchase order on the product's card.
One draft is made for each supplier, location and currency. It orders up to Order up to, or the minimum when that is empty, rounded up to the Pack of. Its Expected date is today plus the Lead time. A product with no supplier, one already on a draft or one no longer needed is skipped, and the page says which.
Confirm each draft#
Open each draft, check it and choose Confirm to put it on order.
Settings#
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Settings > Purchasing > Setup | Lists what is done and what is missing: Legal entity, Products you buy and Document templates, which is optional. For Owners and Admins. |
| Settings > Members and access > Access defaults | Purchase orders start as Public read/write: see Access. |
What the Agent does#
- It reads Goods on order and What to reorder in every mode.
- It drafts orders with Draft purchase orders to reorder, and creates and edits purchase orders and supplier bills like any record. Drafting runs from Edit records.
- Confirm, Close, Cancel, Post bill, Void and Correct bill wait on a card unless the mode is Full autonomy, and an approval rule can still hold them. The Agent works as the person, so it cannot do what the person's role cannot: see Autonomy and approvals.