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Navigating Purchase Orders #
The Purchase Order log page can be found in a project by accessing the left-side menu in a project and clicking Cost Tracking > Purchase Order. The Purchase Order log will show only pending purchase orders by default; clicking the Approvals column will allow you to toggle and view approved purchase orders.
What is the Purchase Orders Feature? #
The Purchase Orders tool is the primary way to track and manage purchase orders committed towards a project. The tool is flexible and can be used to manage purchase orders for goods such as lighting fixtures, refrigeration cases, fixtures signage, software, etc., as well as any shipping or freight associated.
A key distinction between Contracts and Purchase Orders in Projectmates is that Purchase Orders cannot have change orders created against them.
Creating Purchase Orders #
Purchase Orders can be created in two ways: from the project Budget or from the Purchase Order log.
To Create a Purchase Order From the Budget #
- Check the box next to the budget line item(s) that corresponds to the Purchase Order you are creating.
- Click on Create… > Purchase Order.
- Give the Purchase Order a Description (title/name), then click Go.
- You will now begin building out the Purchase Order. Navigate through the General, Items, Attachments and Approval tabs using the Save & Next button to complete the purchase order.
- In the General tab, fill out any required information that is missing (denoted by the red asterisk *). At the minimum, you will need to choose which Vendor this PO is awarded to.
- Award the PO to a User if the vendor account has a user account and will bill you directly through Projectmates.
- Award the PO to a Contact if the vendor is only listed as a contact, and you plan to enter invoices into Projectmates on their behalf.
- In the Items tab, you will find the line items of the PO automatically populated based on what you selected in the Budget. Enter in the dollar amounts for the line items of the PO.
- In the Attachments tab, upload any relevant files/backup documents for this PO.
- In the Approval tab, select the appropriate approval type from the drop-down menu and click Start Approval.
To Create a Purchase Order From the Log #
- Navigate to the log by clicking Cost Tracking > Purchase Order on the left-side menu.
- Click on the + Purchase Order button found on the upper right corner of the log.
- You will now begin building out the Purchase Order. Navigate through the General, Items, Attachments and Approval tabs using the Save & Next button to complete the purchase order.
- In In the General tab, fill out any required information that is missing.
- In the Items tab, you will need to manually create the line items for the PO.
- Line items can be created directly within Projectmates. Click the + icon to add as many rows as you need, and fill out the required information for each one.
- Line items can also be loaded in bulk through the Import/Export Download the Template xlsx file, fill out the line items of the PO based on Instructions provided within, then use the Select button to reimport the file to populate your PO.
- After building the line items of your PO, you can link them back to your project budget. If your organization manages the project budget, this is an extremely important step. Your PO and any invoices against the PO will not display properly in the budget otherwise.
- Select the line items for your PO by checking the boxes next to them.
- Click Link to Budget.
- Choose from one of the three options:
- Select Create new budget line item and add links if there currently isn’t an appropriate budget item to house the line items of the PO. Choose which Budget thread the budget item will be created in and fill out the fields (WBS/Section, Description). A budget item will be created and your PO line items will be linked as subitems within it.
- Select Add links to existing budget items if there is already a budget item that can house your PO line items. Select the budget thread, then the budget item you want to link to. If you selected one line item in your PO to link back, then you have the option to link it to an existing budget subitem or create a new subitem. If you selected several PO line items, then the only option will be to create new subitems for all of the PO line items.
- Select Remove link(s) without deleting existing budget item(s) to unlink the PO line items from the current budget subitems that they are linked to.
- In the Attachments tab, upload any relevant files/backup documents for this PO.
- In the Approval tab, select the appropriate approval type from the drop-down menu and click Start Approval.
