General Tab of Purchase Orders

Use the General tab to enter and edit data that identifies a purchase order and enter data for change and cancel orders.

Contents

Purchase Order Information Section

Field Description
Number Enter an alphanumeric purchase order number. If you save the completed purchase order form without entering a number, Vision populates this field with an auto-assigned number.

If it is necessary to give a number for a purchase order when you talk to a vendor, make sure that the number you give is unique across your enterprise.

Release Number After you final print a release order, this field displays the result of the calculation [Blanket Order P.O. Number] - 1.
Type Select the purchase order's type. Options are Standard, Blanket, and Service.

The type that you select controls the procedure that Create Voucher from PO application uses for this purchase order. For example, service orders do not use the Receiving application.

Date to Order Vision uses this date to calculate the Due Date on the Line Items grid.

This field displays today's date. You can enter a different date or click and select a date.

Status This field displays a purchase order's processing status.

The processing status for a purchase order may be different from the change order's processing status in the Change/Cancel Orders grid, or if it is a blanket purchase order, its release order's processing status.

The possible statuses are:
Status Using an Approval Workflow Not Using an Approval Workflow Description
In Progress The status is In Progress after you save a purchase order and before it is submitted. The behavior is the same as when you use an approval workflow. When a purchase order is in progress, the next step is to submit it.

While the status is In Progress, you can delete, submit, or draft print the purchase order.

Submitted The status is Submitted:
  • After you click Submit on the Purchase Orders form.
  • While each of the steps in the approval process is waiting to be approved.
  • After each step is approved except the last step.
The Submit status is not used. When you use an approval workflow:
  • Submitting a purchase order starts the approval process.
  • When the status is Submitted, you can perform any of the approval actions on the toolbar or draft print the purchase order.
Approved The status changes to Approved when all the steps of the approval process have been approved for a purchase order.

You click Approvals > Approve on the Purchase Orders toolbar to approve each step.

The status changes to Approved when you click Submit on the Purchase Orders form.

The status changes to Approved only if the monetary amount of the purchase order is not over the buyer's purchase order limit (as specified on the Buyers tab in Purchasing & Inventory Company Settings).

When a purchase order has an Approved status, it:
  • Can be final printed and closed.
  • Cannot be edited or deleted.
Rejected

The status changes to Rejected when you click Approvals > Reject on the Purchase Orders form for any step in the approval process.

Based on the configured approval workflow for the Purchase Orders application, a rejected purchase requisition could be automatically:
  • Canceled. The status remains Rejected and the State changes to Cancelled.
  • Sent back to the employee who submitted it. The status is changed to In Progress.
The status changes to Rejected when you click Reject on the Purchase Orders form.
With a Rejected status, a purchase order:
  • Can be edited by the person who created it or the buyers who are entered on the Buyer tab in Configuration > Purchasing & Inventory > Company Settings with the Edit ALL PO check box selected.

    After a rejected purchase order is edited and saved, its status changes to In Progress, and it can be submitted again.

  • Can be deleted or closed by the person who created it or by the buyers who can edit all purchase orders.
Printed The status changes to Printed when a purchase order has been final printed. (You final printed it using the Print option on the toolbar in Purchasing > Purchase Orders with the Final (Mark as Printed) option selected on the Purchase Order Form print dialog box.) This is the same as when you use an approval workflow. A purchase order with a Printed status:
  • Can be changed only by entering a change order or by cancelling it. For blanket purchase orders, you can now enter a release order.
  • Cannot be deleted.
  • Can be turned into a voucher in Accounts Payable > Create Voucher from PO. This applies to standard or service purchase orders.
Released The status of a blanket purchase order changes to Released when you create and save a release order for it. This is the same as when you use an approval workflow. For blanket purchase orders with a Released status, you can:
  • Enter change orders and release orders.
  • Print a draft copy of the blanket order.
  • Close it.
Changed The status of a purchase order changes to Changed when you enter and save a change order for it and after you submit the change order. This is the same as when you use an approval workflow. For a purchase order with a Changed status, you can:
  • Print a draft copy of it before you submit it and print a final copy of it after you submit it.
  • Cancel it.
  • Enter a change order for it.
Cancelled The status of a purchase order changes to Cancelled when you click Process > Cancel PO on the toolbar of the Purchase Orders form.

You can cancel purchase orders only if they have been approved and final printed (status is Printed).

This is the same as when you use an approval workflow. A purchase order with a Cancelled status can be:
  • Reprinted.
  • Closed.

Closed If this check box is selected, the purchase order is Closed. To close a purchase order, click on the toolbar.
Buyer This field displays the name of the purchase order's buyer. This is usually the name of the Vision user currently logged in.

To select a different name, click and select from a list of all of the employees listed on the Buyers Grid in Configuration > Purchasing & Inventory > Company Settings.

State This field is displayed only when an approval workflow is used for approving purchase orders. This field displays the current state of the approval process for the purchase order based on the configured approval workflow for purchase orders.
The possible states are:
  • Start
  • In Approval
  • In Review
  • Completed
Step This field is displayed only when an approval workflow is used for approving purchase orders. This field displays the current step (1, 2, 3, and so on) of the approval process for the purchase order, based on the steps that are set up for the purchase orders approval workflow in Approvals Configuration. Step 0 is logged with a new purchase order is created but not yet submitted.
Currency Code Select the currency to use for this purchase order. The list displays the currencies that are available for your company.

Vendor Section

Field Description
Vendor Click and select a vendor from the Vendor lookup for the purchase order. After you submit a purchase order, you cannot change the vendor.

If you created this purchase order from a requisition or request for price quote with one line item, and the line item has no vendor specified, this field displays the Primary Vendor from the General tab of Configuration > Purchasing & Inventory > Items Master.

Address This field displays the usual address for the Vendor. You can select a different address.
Contact This field prefills with the name of the default purchasing contact that is entered for the vendor in the Purchasing section on the Accounting tab in the Vendor Info Center. The name displays as a hyperlink that opens the contact record in the Contact Info Center when you click it.

The contact's name and email address (if one is entered on the General tab in the Contact Info Center) print in the To section of a purchase order.

You cannot directly change the contact name that prefills in this field. You can, however, change or remove the default purchasing contact that is entered for a vendor in the Vendor Info Center and the change is applied to any purchase order that has not yet been approved.

Text Box

Field Description
Purchase Order Description Enter any internal or external descriptions for this purchase order. Click to edit the contents of this field in the Text Editor.

When you process a release order for a blanket purchase order, you can enter notes about the release in this field.

Change/Cancel Orders Grid

This grid is enabled when you click Process > Change Order on the toolbar of the Purchase Orders form. The Change Order option is enabled for purchase orders with a status of Printed. Use the Change/Cancel Orders grid to review data for change orders and cancel purchase orders. When you cancel or change a purchase order, Vision adds a row to the grid to show the data for the cancellation or change order. You can delete a change order but you cannot delete a cancellation.

Field Description
Delete Click a row in the grid that you want to delete, and then click this option on the grid toolbar to delete the selected change order. You can delete a change order with a status of In Progress or Submitted.

When you delete a change order, Vision:

  • Deletes the change order's line items from the purchase order's Line Items tab
  • Changes the Status of either the change order that displays in the grid row above it, or of the related purchase order, from Changed to Printed.
C/O Number This field displays an auto-assigned number after you save the change order.
Status This field displays the status of the purchase order that is related to the change order.
Date This field displays the date of the change order. You can enter a new date or click and select a date.
Reason This field displays the reason selected on the Change Order dialog box. You can select a different reason from the drop-down list.
Buyer This field displays the name of the employee who created this cancellation or change order. Click to select a different employee name from the Employee lookup.
Not to Exceed Change Amount This field is enabled when you enter a change order for blanket or service purchase orders if the Modify Not to Exceed Values via Change Order check box is selected on the General tab in Configuration > Purchasing & Inventory > Company Settings. The Not to Exceed Change Amount field does not apply for standard purchase orders.

This field allows you to use a change order to change the not-to-exceed (NTE) amount that was originally entered in the Not to Exceed field in the Service Order or Blanket order section of the Agreement tab on the Purchase Orders form.

In the Not to Exceed Change Amount field, enter the amount by which you want to change the original NTE amount for a purchase order. You can enter a positive or negative amount in this field. For example, if the original NTE amount was $10,000 and you want to increase it to $15,000, enter $5,000 in the Not to Exceed Change Amount field.

The Not to Exceed field on the Agreement tab of the Purchase Order does not get updated with the not-to-exceed change amount that you enter via a change order.

After you enter an amount in the Not to Exceed Change Amount field for a change order, you must complete the following:

  1. Final print the change order with the entry for the not-to-exceed amount.
  2. Complete the following for each type of purchase order:
    • For blanket purchases orders: Enter an additional release order for any additional amount by which you increased the not-to-exceed amount.
    • For service purchase orders: Enter an additional change order (with line items) for any additional amount by which you increased the not-to-exceed amount.
Total Not to Exceed This field is only visible in the List View. This field displays the sum of the values of Not to Exceed field and Not to Exceed Change Amount.
Revised Period to Date This field displays for blanket and service purchase orders (not standard purchase orders) if the Modify Not to Exceed Values via Change Order check box is selected on the General tab in Configuration > Purchasing > Company Settings.

Enter a new end date to replace the original date entered as the Period to date for a purchase order. The original Period to date is entered on the Agreement tab of the Purchase Orders form.