You can start a new purchase order or continue from a product inquiry. Check the products, prices and delivery details before sending it. Saving the order, sending it to the vendor and receiving the goods into the warehouse are separate steps.
Before you start
These instructions cover processing purchase orders in the browser service. Your account must have the warehouse, product inquiry and purchase order features enabled. You need create permission to make a new order and edit permission to change a saved order. Sending requires send permission. Receiving goods into a warehouse requires permission to edit the purchase order, permission to record a purchase transaction and access to the destination warehouse. The same receiving requirements apply when recording a purchase already made.
The products on the order must be enabled and linked to a vendor. If you select a product before selecting a vendor, its only vendor is selected automatically. If there are several vendors, select one of them. You cannot select the same product twice in the same vendor section. For instructions on creating vendors, products and contacts, see How do I add a vendor and its products?
Start a new order or open a saved procurement
Open Manage warehouses → Product inquiries and purchase orders. Select Create new order at the top of the page. Select Purchase order, then choose the appropriate type below it:
- General purchase order: send the order to the vendor and receive the delivery later.
- Record a purchase: record a purchase already made and its receipt in Spotilla. This type does not send a purchase order to the vendor or require an email template. A vendor contact is still required to record the receipt.
You can also select Empty purchase order to create a draft immediately without vendors or products. Complete it on the Add vendor / products tab by selecting a vendor in the Vendor search field. This adds a vendor section. Once you have added and saved sections, the order opens in the normal processing view.
Saved procurements are on the Inquiries and orders tab. In Default view, select a procurement from the list and click Edit in its purchase order section. In Datatable, open the procurement using the pencil icon on its main row. Select the Purchase order tab on the form if the procurement also has a product inquiry.
If you are continuing from a saved inquiry, open the relevant vendor section on the form's Product inquiry tab and select Send to orders as a draft at the bottom. This copies the section to the purchase order as a draft and locks the original inquiry section. Save the change. Check the purchase order's contact, email template and additional information sent to the vendor again.
Complete the vendor sections and save the draft
Each vendor section has its own vendor, contact, products and processing status. If necessary, add a section using New vendor section at the top of the Purchase order tab. Open the section by clicking its heading and select the vendor and products. Add product rows using the section's Add new product button.
For each product, enter Ordered no., Unit price, the required Delivery date, Planned warehouse and Planned warehouse slot. The warehouse and warehouse slot provide initial details for receiving: selecting them does not transfer products into the warehouse, and the actual receiving locations are checked when the goods are received. Internal reference at the top of the form helps identify the procurement.
Check Contact at the top of the section. The vendor's primary contact or only contact may be selected automatically. For a general purchase order, also check Select email template. You can save a draft without a contact or email template, but sending and normal receiving require both. Receiving a purchase already made requires a contact but no email template.
Enter information intended for the vendor in the section's Purchase order notes field. Internal notes remain for internal use. Work links, comments shared across the order and attachments are handled separately; see How do I link a purchase order to work and complete its messages?
Save at the bottom of the form saves the changes and leaves the procurement open. Save and close saves and closes the form. Close without saving discards unsaved form changes; information already saved separately, such as work links and comments, is retained.
A new general purchase order and a purchase recorded using Record a purchase are initially saved as Draft. Saving does not send the order or receive goods. Sending and receiving are performed on a saved order. When you add a new vendor section, save it before performing these actions.
If your organisation uses LemonERP purchase order synchronisation, a saved draft may also transfer automatically to LemonERP. The transfer requires, among other things, a vendor linked to LemonERP and a section containing products. Each vendor section becomes a separate purchase order there. This transfer is separate from emailing the vendor or recording receipt in Spotilla. See LemonERP connection settings.
Unit price and total price
Unit price on a product row is an editable purchase price specific to the order. When you select a product, the default is retrieved in this order:
- The purchase price saved for the link between the selected vendor and product: Supplier price.
- If there is no supplier price, the purchase price in the product registry: Registry Price.
- If neither price exists, the price is set to 0 and the source is manual price.
A saved zero price also counts as a price: a vendor price of 0 overrides the product registry price. The tooltip on the information icon next to the price shows its source. When you enter the price yourself, the source changes to manual price. Changing a row's price saves the price on the order; it does not update the price in the product registry or the vendor link.
The price must be zero or greater. A blank or invalid price prevents saving. Loading the default price also prevents saving while it is incomplete or has failed: use the circular arrows icon next to the price field, Retry loading price, or enter the price yourself.
Price is calculated by multiplying the row's quantity by its unit price. When the quantity or price changes, the result is displayed to two decimal places. For example, 3 products at 12.50 give a total price of 37.50. The calculation does not add the VAT specified in the vendor's response or convert currencies. The unit price on the order row is saved to two decimal places; check the saved price if you entered more decimal places.
A previously saved row price is retained when you open the order. Receiving price is a separate unit price saved with the receipt and defaults to the order row's price. Unit price provided by vendor is also a separate response value: the vendor's response alone does not change the order row's price or the receiving price.
Use the Products panel to help with procurement
In the Products panel on the right of the purchase order form, you can search for a product by name or code in Search products. Select a search result to view the product's details. The panel's prices are unit costs excluding VAT:
- Vendors shows the vendors linked to the product that you are allowed to view, along with their saved purchase prices.
- Last BUY events shows up to 20 of the latest visible records of purchases into warehouses, with the newest first. These are receipts, rather than a list of sent purchase orders. The price comes from the receipt's purchase batch transaction, and the vendor comes from the purchase batch's order link. The vendor's name is shown only if you are allowed to view that vendor. Missing information is shown as a dash.
- Last product subcosts shows up to 20 of the latest subcosts related to the product from tasks and service requests that you are allowed to view. These may also include subcosts for pending product rows. The price is the subcost's net unit price, rather than the purchase price saved on the vendor link.
The lists have no fixed monthly or yearly date limit. Selecting a product in the panel displays its details; also add the product you want to order to a product row in the vendor section.
Add product to vendor in the panel's product details saves a permanent link between the product and vendor. This requires an enabled product and permission to edit both the product and the vendor you select. You can select vendors that are not yet linked to the product. If necessary, add several different vendors using Add row. Enter a purchase price of zero or greater with no more than two decimal places for each vendor, then select Save and close.
The link is saved immediately, separately from saving the purchase order, and remains available for future orders. You cannot add the same vendor to the product again. The new link updates the product choices for that vendor on the open purchase order, but does not change row prices you have already entered.
Copy a vendor section
Open More actions → Copy section at the top of the vendor section you want to copy. Select a vendor for the copy. The copy is created as a new draft section within the same procurement; save it and check the products, contact, email template and additional information before continuing.
When copying to the same vendor, the saved row price is retained. When copying to a different vendor, prices are retrieved again for the new vendor, and products not linked to that vendor are left out of the copy. Changing the vendor of an unsaved section also removes products that are not in the new vendor's selection and retrieves the default prices again for the remaining products. You cannot change the vendor of a saved section.
Copying requires edit permission. Copy section is hidden for cancelled, completed and partially delivered sections. If you need to continue the procurement for such a section as a new order, create a new purchase order and add the required products.
Send the order and follow up on the response
Save your changes and select Send purchase order at the bottom of the vendor section on a general purchase order. Check the vendor and the recipient's email address in the confirmation before accepting. Handle each vendor section separately.
Sending requires send permission, a contact belonging to that vendor and an email template intended for purchase orders. The template must be global or specific to that vendor. Sending first saves the section in question; save any unfinished changes in other sections using the form's save button.
Accepting the send confirmation sets the section to Sent and a draft purchase order to Active. The email is sent in the background to the contact's address. Sent status is not an acknowledgement of receipt from the vendor. The response link in the message is valid for seven days after sending.
When the vendor submits a completed response, the section changes to Waiting for processing. Open the response using Show vendor responses at the bottom of the section. Check the prices, quantities and delivery details. The response does not yet record the products in the warehouse.
Changing the details of a sent section or a section waiting for processing returns it to draft when saved and disables the old response link. Send the revised order again if the changes need to be communicated to the vendor. For more detailed instructions on email templates and information visible to the vendor, see purchase order work links and email templates.
Receive the delivery into the warehouse
Open the relevant vendor section on the saved purchase order and select Record warehouse receiving at the bottom. Purchases recorded using Record a purchase are also received using this action. A contact must be selected before recording receipt; a general purchase order also requires a valid email template.
Compare the goods received with the order and any vendor response. Enter Receiving no. and check the destination warehouse, warehouse slot and Receiving price. The order row's price is used as the default receiving price, but you can change it. The quantity and price provided by the vendor are shown separately and do not prove that the goods have arrived.
Confirming the receipt adds the products to stock, saves the purchase transactions and creates a purchase batch linked to the vendor section. All products in the same receipt belong to the same purchase batch. You can split a product across different warehouses or warehouse slots, but that product must have the same price throughout this receipt. Different prices require separate receipt records. For step-by-step instructions, see How do I receive a purchase order into the warehouse?
Ordered no. shows the quantity on the order row, and Transferred no. shows the quantity already received into the warehouse. If the quantity received on even one product row in the section is less than the quantity ordered, the section is Partially delivered. When the quantity received on every row is at least the quantity ordered, the section is Completed. For example, receiving 4 products from an order for 10 leaves 6 still to receive. You can record the rest later; the final receipt for a product row that has previously had goods received is marked as a post-delivery.
Continue or close a partial delivery
On a partially delivered section, you can change the ordered quantities and internal notes, and record further receipts. Changes to products, the vendor and order row prices are locked. You cannot cancel a partially delivered section, return it to draft, copy it or delete it from the section's More actions menu.
If the remaining goods will no longer be delivered, reduce Ordered no. to match the actual purchase. When the ordered quantities on all rows are no greater than the quantities already received, saving changes the section to completed without a new receipt. For example, reducing the quantity from 10 to 4 when 4 have been received ends the wait for the remainder of that row.
Reducing the quantity does not reduce stock, reverse receipts or correct the purchase batch. Incorrectly received stock must be corrected separately; see How do I investigate a stock discrepancy? A completed section is locked against editing.
Cancellation and deletion
Mark as draft at the bottom of an unfinished section with no goods received returns it for further processing. Mark as cancelled changes the section's status to Cancelled and locks it against editing. Cancellation retains the section's details and does not create a stock movement. A cancelled or completed section cannot be returned to draft.
Deleting a section is separate from cancelling it. More actions → Delete section at the top of an editable section deletes the selected vendor section and its product rows when you save the form. This action is hidden for cancelled, completed and partially delivered sections.
To delete the entire procurement, use the trash icon on its main row in Inquiries and orders → Datatable. Deletion requires delete permissions and confirmation. It deletes the product inquiry and purchase order for the same procurement, their vendor sections and responses, and the purchase order's work links, shared comments and files. Linked tasks and service requests are retained.
Purchase batches and warehouse transactions already received are retained, but their links to the deleted vendor section and order rows are cleared. Deletion does not remove received goods from the warehouse. Vendor information obtained through the order link may then be missing, for example from the purchase transactions in the Products panel.
Check the result on the saved order
Open the procurement again and check the order number, products, saved prices, contacts and the status of each vendor section. After sending, check the Sent status and the send button's tooltip for the latest send time and the response page's expiry. After receiving, check Transferred no., the stock balances at the receiving locations and the warehouse transactions icon at the top of the section, whose tooltip is Warehouse transactions for vendor section.
The entire purchase order becomes completed when all vendor sections are completed or cancelled. The order's Completed status therefore does not by itself indicate that all products originally planned have been received: also check the section statuses, ordered quantities and Transferred no..
You can also view the details, comments and attachments of a purchase order linked to work in that work's Purchase order section on Android and Purchase Order section on iOS, according to your permissions. For instructions on work links and the information shown on mobile, see purchase order work links and email templates.