V8 - Working with purchase orders (POs) and the Purchase orders list

A purchase order, or PO, is a form used to request that a vendor provide a good or service to you in exchange for payment. The purchase order will typically define payment terms, delivery, and so on. Purchase orders in SOS Inventory will synchronize with purchase orders in QuickBooks Online if the Synchronize POs setting is enabled on the Purchasing settings page (Settings > Purchasing settings). This option is enabled by default.

A purchase order is a non-posting transaction, meaning that it does not affect your financial reports directly. A purchase order closes automatically when all items have been received, but you can close it manually at any time. 

Purchase orders list

The Purchase orders list (Operations menu > Purchasing > Purchase orders) houses the records of all POs in SOS Inventory.

The Mark as confirmed and Mark as unconfirmed actions allow you specify whether the vendor has confirmed receipt of your purchase order. The PO's confirmation status can be viewed when the Confirmed column is displayed on the Purchase orders list. When items on a purchase order arrive, the Receive action on the PO record can be used to generate an item receipt, while Create invoice generates an invoice.

If your organization requires administrator pre-approval of purchase orders, the action or batch action Approve is SOS Inventory's tool that allows the administrator to authorize the order's submission to the vendor.

For a general overview of how lists work in SOS Inventory, refer to List functions. See Action and batch action descriptions for more information about the actions available on lists.

Adding and editing a purchase order

To add a purchase order, use any of the following methods:

• On the Task bar, go to the Quick add > Purchasing > Purchase order.
• Go to Operations menu > Purchasing > Purchase orders, then select Add new.
• Generate a purchase order from another transaction (such as a sales order, sales receipt, or invoice). Locate the parent transaction record on its appropriate list, then select Create purchase order from its Actions menu.

Refer to Purchase order field descriptions for explanations of each data field.

An existing purchase order can be opened for editing by selecting the Edit action on the Purchase orders list. Be sure to save your changes. 

Handling purchase order approvals

On the Plus and Pro plans, SOS Inventory can require approval for all purchase orders before they can be emailed. This is a single level approval capability only. To enable this capability, go to Settings menu > Purchasing settings and select Require approval for POs. 

When approvals are enabled, any purchase orders that are pending approval will be highlighted with a pink bar on the transaction record line of the Purchase orders list. A PO that is pending approval also will have No showing in the list’s Approved column. SOS Inventory also sends a notification to the administrator for each purchase order that is pending approval.

Only administrators or users with the appropriate privileges can approve POs.  Purchase orders needing approval will display a red highlight. To approve one purchase order, select the Approve option on the Actions menu dropdown. To approve multiple purchase orders at once, check the box next to each record and select Approve from the Batch actions dropdown list, as shown in the screenshot below.

When the purchase order(s) have been approved, the system will remove the red highlight(s) and change the Approved column status for each PO from No to a blank field.

Once approved, the purchase order may be emailed or printed.

Specifying a blanket PO

Blanket POs are open-ended purchase orders, meaning that they specify an agreement to purchase a certain item at a certain price, without a specific quantity. To create a blanket PO, enter the purchase order as normal and check the Blanket PO option on the form. Blanket purchase orders must be manually closed.

Adding and editing payment terms available on purchase orders

To add/edit/delete payment terms that are available on purchase orders, go to Company menu > Terms. The payment terms are the same as your sales terms, and they will also synchronize with QuickBooks Online.