A Purchase Order (PO) is a legal document sent to a supplier by a buyer to authorize a purchase. The document lists the products the buyer wants to purchase, the cost, and the quantity. Both the buyer and the seller benefit from these agreements in documenting their transactions.
|
|
Invoice |
What is it? | Official confirmation of an order | Payment request for an order |
Who sends it? | Buyer (project-manager) | Seller (supplier or vendor) |
Who receives it? | Seller (supplier or vendor) | Buyer (project-manager) |
When will it be sent? | Before a purchase is authorized | After the order has been completed |
In Rodeo, you are able to set up your account so that a purchase expense can only be entered after a PO has been sent to the supplier. This makes creating POs as easy as possible.
How to create a PO?
When you add a cost activity to the project budget, it usually means that there is a purchase expense against it.
In Rodeo, you have the option to generate a PO for the cost activity straight from the project budget by clicking on the down arrowhead symbol located to the right of the activity. This will expand the cost activity line.
Next, click on "+ Add supplier" and start typing the name of the supplier. If the supplier has been previously added to your contacts list, you will be able to simply select it. If not, an option to add the supplier will pop up — you must have the supplier added to your contact list before moving forward with the steps.
Once you've added the supplier, click on "+ add purchase order" located directly underneath the supplier's name.
A new screen will open to finalize the PO. From there, you can add an introduction text field by clicking on the green + sign icon. This will help you clearly state the request for the receiving party. You can also add terms and conditions.
Once you are ready to send the PO, simply click the green ✓ icon located at the top right of the screen.
When you go back to the cost activity in this budget, you will be able to press the down arrowhead symbol to see all the relevant information, including the PO number and an option to download it.
You can also see the outstanding and remaining amount on your Purchase orders which you can easily enter into your purchase expenses.
Why do we recommend using purchase orders?
Using POs help set clear expectations and enables buyers to clarify their needs to sellers. They also help you manage orders as PO's, provide purchasing, finance, and operations teams with official documentation on incoming or expected deliveries.
Relevant articles