What's a purchase order?
A Purchase Order request is used when an employee needs to make a purchase or an order request on behalf of their company. It is a request, often with a quote attached, that is used to inform the cost center owner so that the purchasing process can be started.
Once the purchase order request has been made and has passed the approval process, a purchase order is created. Then, the Requester sends the confirmation to the supplier, including the purchase order number. Once the order is shipped, the supplier sends an invoice for the goods or services to be paid.
The purchase order number will be used for the 3-way match by the finance team when receiving the invoice.
Submit a Purchase Order
Account Owners and any member with a Requester role can submit a Purchase Order on Spendesk.
Click on the New request button.
Select the Make a Purchase request and then Request a Purchase Order.
Upload your document: we support .JPG, .PNG, and .PDF files, you can upload several of them at the same time. Max size : 10 MB.
Once you've filled out the required information and are ready, click on the "Confirm my request" button.
Your Purchase Order request will be either validated automatically or by an approver (depending on your approval policy, which is explained in your Profile under your personal information).
Where to find Purchase order requests to approve
As a requester, go to Requests to view your POs pending approval.
Your approvers can find this request under Requests > To approve or in Requests > All.
Once approved, a Purchase Order is created, you'll find it:
in the Purchase Orders tab as a Requester.
in the Commitments > Purchase Orders tab as a Controller.
Purchase order status
What's the status of the Purchase order?
An open Purchase order can have the following status:
Waiting for delivery: if current date < end date
Late invoice: if current date > end date & no invoice is attached to the PO
Partially billed: at least 1 invoice attached & amount billed (sum of invoices attached to PO) is less than PO amount
Billed: at least 1 invoice attached & amount billed (sum of invoices attached to PO) is equal to PO amount
Overbilled: at least 1 invoice attached & amount billed (sum of invoices attached to PO) is higher than PO amount
Itemisation in PO requests
Customers on Scale+ plans, in all regions can now list items & quantities in their PO requests to make them more readable & error-proof, ready to generate a clear Purchase Order PDF.
This helps avoid purchase order delays & gives Finance the information they need to approve upfront.
The Budget Owner can now view the individual items in a purchase order request to manage everything correctly.
Download a Purchase order
You can create a purchase order PDF proof, by clicking the "Create a PDF" button, when selecting a PO. This PDF will take into account your line itemisation. It will be viewable at all times, alongside the quote and the invoices.
Customize Purchase Orders
Spendesk Procurement allows you to customize purchase orders for your business needs. To do so, navigate to Expenditures > Purchase orders > Settings.
Company Logo - Upload a logo for your PO PDF
Footer text - Customize comments & specific instructions for every PO
All this information will be pre-fill on any PO PDF, PO owner can still edit it for any specific needs. On PO PDF, Billing Address and Shipping Address are customizable and you can add your Spendesk Billing Contact (inbox email) on your PO PDF.
Send PO PDF to supplier
You can now send PO PDF directly to the supplier contact's email inbox. On PO PDF panel, check the box "Send to supplier" and click on "Create PDF". A modal will appears that allow to enter the supplier contact email address, a customizable object and message. When the PO PDF is sent to the supplier, you have a new tag "Sent to supplier".
Cancel a Purchase Order
You can cancel a PO as long as no invoice is attached.
Close a Purchase order
You can close a PO as long as all attached invoices are paid.
It's possible to assign several invoices to a PO but not several POs to an invoice.
To close a purchase order, go to the Commitments > "Purchase Orders" tab, select the purchase order you wish to close, scroll down the main page and click the button to close it. Sometimes, the "End this purchase order" button is hidden when you scroll down the purchase order details, so you need to scroll down the main page after clicking on a purchase order.
It is possible to close a partially invoiced purchase order only if the associated invoices have all been paid. This can be the case when the amount of the invoices is lower than the amount of the original purchase order.