Create and send a purchase order

You manage purchase orders to your suppliers under Purchasing → Purchase orders. A purchase order opens as a window – like orders and items – and can be edited directly there: supplier, delivery date, warehouse, note, lines with quantity and purchase price. Save (or Ctrl+S) applies the changes, Discard reverts them; if you close the window with unsaved changes, allverto asks.

#Before you start

Anyone whose role has the View purchasing, suppliers and purchase orders permission may view purchase orders. Creating, changing and sending requires Create purchase orders, booking goods receipt requires Post stock movements, and approving requires the Approve purchase orders permission (see below).

#Status of a purchase order

A draft that has been submitted for approval is also read-only – first Withdraw approval request.

#The list

In the left sidebar under Purchase orders you find the filters as in JTL-Wawi: Open, For approval (only when something is waiting for approval – with a counter), Partially delivered, Fully delivered and Cancelled; the tabs above the list also offer Completed and All. Use the Supplier filter to narrow down the list. Columns include: Purchase order, Supplier, Dropshipping (order number), Created, Delivery date (overdue in red), Delivered (only goods booked on lines – clarification cases count once they are booked in), Net total (in the order currency), Invoiced (supplier invoices for the purchase order; yellow if they deviate up or down from the grand total including discount, small-quantity surcharge and freight), Status, Conf. and Delivery reminders. Overdue purchase orders are additionally highlighted in colour; you can see all overdue deliveries at a glance under Overdue deliveries.

If you select several purchase orders, the Output button (print, email, save …) appears at the bottom.

#Lines below the list

Below the list you see the Lines of the most recently selected purchase order: header with purchase order number, supplier, date, delivery date, warehouse and total, below that item no., supplier item no., description, ordered, delivered, open, unit, net purchase price and amount. Via View → Show line items below you switch the preview on or off; drag the divider to change the height, double-click it or press Ctrl+I to collapse it. Right-click a line: Open item, Add to purchase list (e.g. to reorder the open quantity), Copy value.

#Step by step

1. Under Purchasing → Purchase orders, click New purchase order (also in the Purchasing → Create new menu or via right-click on a supplier → New purchase order …).
2. Choose the Supplier. Lines can only be added once a supplier has been chosen.
3. Add the lines via Add item… – items with a supplier item are at the top. Quantity and net purchase price come from the supplier item and can be changed. Without your own purchase price, the supplier's purchase price tiers apply to the order quantity; if you change the quantity, the window suggests the tier price again as long as you have not changed the purchase price by hand. Purchase prices have up to 4 decimal places (e.g. 0.0123 € for small parts); the line total is rounded to the cent. If a quantity is below the minimum quantity or doesn't match the packaging unit, a notice appears.
4. Choose the Expected delivery date and the target warehouse under Deliver to – it is prefilled with the supplier's Default target warehouse, otherwise the default warehouse. A Note (e.g. delivery times) appears at the bottom of the purchase order.
5. Click Create draft. If the supplier's minimum order value hasn't been reached, allverto shows how much is still missing.
6. Send the purchase order from the purchase order window:
   • Order by email – goes as a PDF to the supplier's default contact (To field, with an optional Personal message), Send purchase order button. The purchase order then counts as ordered and the email appears in the supplier's Messages tab.
   • Or open or download the PDF, send it yourself and then Mark as ordered.

#The purchase order window

On the left are the header (Supplier with your customer number, Delivery date, Deliver to) and the Lines. On the right, depending on the purchase order, you find:

• Terms – goods value, discount from the discount tiers, small-quantity surcharge, freight costs and Net total from the supplier's terms.
• VAT – not applicable for a VAT-exempt supplier.
• Supplier's order confirmation – see below.
• Backorder and delivery reminders – overdue lines, reminders sent and Send delivery reminder.
• Incidental procurement costs and landed cost – see below.
• Goods receipts – booked receipts with delivery note and editor.
• Note and Approval (history).

Top right: PDF and – for partially delivered or delivered purchase orders – Supplier return… (see Supplier returns). Bottom left: More actions (the same entries as in the context menu) and Output.

#Partial quantities (kg, l, m)

Items with a divisible unit can be ordered and booked in partial quantities too, e.g. 2.5 kg of spice or 12.5 m of fabric. Divisible units are kg, g, t, l, ml, cl, m, cm, mm, m² and m³ (the unit is set in the item). Quantities then have up to 3 decimal places – in the purchase order, the order confirmation, the purchase list, the purchase suggestions, the price request, in goods receipt (also in the warehouse app), for clarification cases and supplier returns. Items in pcs and other units stay whole numbers; allverto rejects a partial quantity with a message.

Minimum quantity and pack size in the supplier item may also be partial quantities for divisible items, e.g. a 0.5 kg container. A pack size of 1 counts as "no pack size" for them – suggestions are then rounded to 0.001 instead of whole kg. For a 1 kg container, enter the quantity as the minimum quantity.

#Order confirmation (OC)

As soon as the purchase order has been ordered, you record the confirmation in the Supplier's order confirmation section with Record confirmation: Supplier's confirmation number, Confirmation date, Confirmed delivery date, confirmed quantity, purchase price and date per line, and a Note. With the Apply delivery date and Apply prices switches, the confirmed values are taken over into the purchase order. The status is then Order confirmed or Confirmation with deviation; change it with Edit confirmation. Confirmed dates count for Overdue deliveries.

#Incidental procurement costs and landed cost

In the Incidental procurement costs and landed cost section, use Add costs to record freight, customs, packaging or other costs: Cost type, Net amount, Distribution (By goods value, By quantity or By weight) and optionally a Description. The table shows for each item the purchase price, Cost share, Landed cost and Avg. item cost. On goods receipt, the landed cost is included in the item's average purchase price; discount, small-quantity surcharge and freight from the terms are included automatically. Costs you record after goods receipt are posted retroactively by allverto for the delivered quantity.

#Order currency and ordering company

When it is created, the purchase order takes over the supplier's Order currency with the rate of the day (company rate under Settings → Currencies, otherwise ECB) and the supplier's Ordering company. Lines, totals, PDF and print template show the amounts in the order currency; the purchase order window shows the currency and rate. Sender, logo, print template and email layout come from the ordering company. For the average purchase price, landed cost and stock value, allverto converts the foreign currency into EUR using the rate of the purchase order, as well as the supplier invoice suggestion. If you change the supplier in a draft, currency, rate and company follow the new supplier. If there is no rate for the currency, the purchase order cannot be created – store a rate first.

#Approval by managers

With purchase order approval, a purchase order is only sent once an authorised person has approved it. This is configured under Purchasing → Settings → Purchase order approval:

• Approval required: Off, Always or From order value (field From net order value, including the amount itself).
• Second approval from amount (switch, amount under Second approval from net): large purchase orders are additionally approved by another person.
• Approving own purchase orders allowed (switch): off by default (four-eyes principle) – whoever created or submitted a purchase order doesn't approve it themselves.
• Also notify by email (switch): only if email sending is set up.
• Per supplier: Always require approval switch in the supplier window under General data → Settings (also applies if approval is otherwise off).

Anyone whose role has the Approve purchase orders permission may approve (owner, Administration and the Purchasing manager role template; configurable under Roles & permissions).

Workflow

1. Create a draft, then Submit for approval … (with an optional message). Approvers receive a notification (bell at the top right).
2. The purchase order appears in the For approval view with Approval pending (with two levels, then Second approval pending) and is read-only until then.
3. The approver chooses Approve … (optionally with comment, also for several selected purchase orders) or Reject … (reason is mandatory).
4. Rejected: the purchase order is a draft again (Rejected), and the reason is shown at the top of the purchase order window. Revise it and submit it again.
5. Approved: now Mark as ordered and Order by email are available. Before that, both are blocked – also for bulk actions and automations.

Anyone who wants to cancel a submission or approval chooses Withdraw approval request. If lines, quantities, prices or the supplier change on an approved purchase order that has not yet been ordered, the approval expires – the purchase order window points this out before saving. Note, delivery date and warehouse don't affect it. Who submitted, approved or rejected and when, with comment, is shown in the Approval section of the purchase order window and in the change log.

#The goods have arrived

On the purchase order, choose Goods receipt in the warehouse app (button at the bottom of the purchase order window or right-click) – the warehouse app opens in a new tab directly with this purchase order. There you scan the goods and book them, see Book goods receipt and Goods receipt in the warehouse app. This applies to standard and WMS warehouses. Partial and over-deliveries are possible; allverto counts the delivered quantity from the bookings.

Goods you record as a clarification case at goods receipt do not count as delivered and do not go into the average purchase price. Only when you book in the clarification case does allverto include the quantity in the average with the purchase price of the order line (otherwise of the supplier item).

If the remainder of a partially delivered purchase order is no longer coming, choose Close (stop expecting remainder). The purchase order then counts as delivered, and the missing quantities reappear in the purchase suggestions.

If the goods don't arrive on time, remind the supplier with a delivery reminder – see Overdue deliveries and delivery reminders. If goods are defective or wrong, send them back via a supplier return.

#Dropshipping

Dropshipping purchase orders (drop shipping) are created from orders: the supplier delivers directly to the customer, and there is no goods receipt. Lines, supplier and warehouse come from the order; only the note can be changed. In the Dropshipping section you see the order and delivery address; when the supplier delivers, enter Tracking number, Carrier and Shipped on with Record shipment … – the order then counts as shipped. You configure automation, email to the supplier and delivery note attachment under Purchasing → Settings → Dropshipping; which suppliers and items are drop-shipped under Suppliers.

#More actions

In the list's context menu (much of it also for several purchase orders) and under More actions in the purchase order window:

• Open, Edit … (opens the purchase order window)
• Document → Show PDF, Download PDF
• Output – print, email, save, export, preview
• Order by email … (for ordered purchase orders, Send by email …)
• Mark as ordered
• Submit for approval …, Approve …, Reject …, Withdraw approval request – only for drafts that require approval
• Goods receipt in the warehouse app
• Close (stop expecting remainder)
• Duplicate … – new draft with the same lines
• Record supplier invoice … – prefilled with supplier and purchase order, see Supplier invoices; requires the Post payments, match bank statements, send reminders and record supplier invoices permission. Discount, small-quantity surcharge and freight of the purchase order are added as separate lines – only in the first supplier invoice for the purchase order; allverto converts purchase orders in a foreign currency into EUR using their rate
• Open supplier
• Cancel … – only drafts and ordered purchase orders without goods receipt
• Delete draft