Create New Purchase Orders

In some organizations, the majority of purchase orders in Maintenance Connection are created through the Order Parts feature. The Order Parts feature automatically generates purchase orders for all items below designated reorder points and items requested for direct issue.

However, the Purchase Order module can be used to manually generate new purchase orders. Creating purchase orders in this manner provides a blank purchase order record where you can record data about the vendor, items to be ordered, and so on.

To create a new purchase order:

1. Choose between two options:

   • Click the down arrow next to the New button.

   • Select File > New > Select from the Main Menu.

     The Module menu opens.

2. Select Purchase Order from the menu.

   The Purchase Order Details page opens. All fields will be empty except those with default values.

   The order date will default to today's date, the follow up date to one week from today, and the buyer to your name. Depending on your organization's business process, default values can also be set for: Priority, Buyer Company, Repair Center, and Bill To and Ship To Companies. To learn how these settings can be configured, see our Purchase Order module preferences article.

3. Enter the vendor from whom the purchase is to be made in the Vendor field.

   The Vendor ID is placed in the Vendor field and the name of the vendor will be listed below the field.

4. Enter any additional description for this purchase order that would assist in identifying the item in the Description field.

   The description is displayed in the Work Center header, and is available in the Expanded List and Search page. By default, the vendor name is placed in this field, but this value can be overwritten.

5. Complete any additional fields required on this Purchase Order Details page.

   Verify that the correct Shipping and Billing Information is specified on the available sub-tabs. For further information about the fields on this page, see our Details tab article.

6. Click the Save button.

   It is not necessary to click Save before entering additional data; however, some pages cannot be accessed until the record is saved.

   As soon as the new purchase order is saved for the first time, Maintenance Connection automatically generates the Purchase Order # (ID) and displays the new ID in the Work Center header.

   Note:

   The Purchase Order # (ID) is incremented each time a new purchase order is generated. Depending on the preference set by your organization, the Purchase Order ID may have a prefix indicating the Customer ID.

   In an organization that includes Customer ID as the prefix, sequential Purchase Order IDs for the customer XYZ would look like: XYZ-1435, XYZ-1436.

   In contrast, for an organization that does not use customer IDs as a prefix, the Purchase Order #s (IDs) would look like: 1435, 1436, 1437.

7. Follow the appropriate procedures for each of the Purchase Order tabs / pages.

8. If all information necessary to issue the purchase order has been entered, you can:

   • Change the Purchase Order Status to Issued by clicking the Status Action menu on the Details page and selecting Issue.

   • Print or email the purchase order for the vendor, if required.

9. Click the Save button.

   Your changes are saved.