Purchasing
Purchasing records what you agree to buy, what arrives, what the supplier invoices and how payments are allocated. It keeps these as separate documents so the buyer, receiving team and accounts team can check each other's work.
The purchasing journey
Issue and acknowledgement record the commercial workflow. They do not email the supplier. Receiving is also permitted from certain other approved/progress states; see Receiving.
| Step | Usually done by | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Find or create the order | Buyer | Find orders, Create an order |
| Check quantities and prices | Buyer | Line controls, Totals |
| Submit, approve, reject, issue | Buyer and approver | Approval and issue |
| Change an agreed order | Authorised buyer | Amendments and history |
| Stop the remaining commitment | Purchasing manager | Cancel and close |
| Record deliveries | Storekeeper | Receive goods |
| Record the supplier's bill | Accounts | Purchase invoices |
| Record and allocate a payment | Accounts | Vendor payments |
The running example
Bright Home Supplies replenishes goods from Northstar Wholesale, supplier code SUP-0017, for Main Warehouse. Names, document numbers and IDs in this guide are invented; use the records in your own tenant.
| Person | Role in the examples |
|---|---|
| Omar | Buyer: creates, submits and issues orders |
| Nadia | Approver: reviews a submitted order independently |
| Ali | Storekeeper: checks deliveries and records receipts |
| Farah | Accounts: creates/posts invoices and allocates payments |
| Example order line | Quantity | Unit price | Tax / discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ceramic Mug | 200 | GBP 2.50 | 0 / 0 |
| Cotton T-shirt | 50 | GBP 6.00 | 0 / 0 |
| Total | GBP 800.00 | Header charges also zero |
These are training amounts, not suggested prices or tax treatment. The main partial-delivery example deliberately uses zero tax, discount and header charges so receipt and invoice quantities are easy to reconcile. Separate examples explain more complex calculations.
The Purchase pages
Open Purchase from the application dashboard. The module is called Purchasing in this help site.
| Navigation / action | What it opens |
|---|---|
| Orders | Searchable purchase order register |
| Create order | New draft purchase order |
| Order number | Order details, line progress and lifecycle actions |
| Receipts / View receipts | Goods receipt register; the latter filters to the order |
| Receive goods | Draft receipt against selected order lines |
| Find invoice | Open a purchase invoice by its numeric record ID |
| Find payment | Open a vendor payment by its numeric record ID |
| Post payment | Record a new vendor payment immediately |
Invoice and payment lookup screens are not searchable registers. Keep the numeric IDs returned after creation as well as the document numbers.
Four things that are different
An approved order does not add stock. A draft receipt does not add stock. A payment record does not reduce an invoice's amount due until it is allocated. An order may close before its invoices are paid.
Start with access and prerequisites, then follow the worked examples. The prerequisites include a current browser-form limitation affecting variant/location selection and stock integration.