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Process a Purchase Order

availability
Platform:WebMobile
Plan Type:BasicEssentialPremiumEnterprise
User Type:RequesterFull UserAdministrator

This article explains how to process a new purchase order as you move it through the approval and fulfillment process.

Purchase Order Workflow Overview​

A purchase order in MaintainX goes through the following steps:

  1. Request (Full Users only): A Full User can't create a purchase order, but they can request one.

    A purchase order request is almost exactly the same as a full purchase order, except that you can't see or edit cost information.

    • When a Full User requests a purchase order, MaintainX notifies Administrators by email.
    • When an Administrator approves the request, MaintainX creates the purchase order.
    • Purchase order requests appear in the Purchase Order module with the status Requested.

  2. Creation: An Administrator creates a new purchase order or approves a purchase order request from a Full User.

    • When you create a purchase order, MaintainX notifies approvers by email.
    • New purchase orders have the status Pending.

  3. Approval: An organization Administrator or other designated approver reviews the purchase order.

    • Approved purchase orders are set to status Approved.

      After you approve a purchase order, you can send it to the vendor (see Send a Purchase Order to a Vendor). When you receive the items you ordered, you can fulfill the purchase order.

    • Rejected purchase orders are set to status Rejected.

      When you reject a purchase order, MaintainX notifies the user who created it (in the application or by email). They have the option to update and resubmit.

  4. Fulfillment: When the organization receives the items, a user confirms the quantity received and the unit cost.

    • When you confirm items, MaintainX adds them to your parts inventory and sets the purchase order status to Partially Fulfilled.
    • You can fulfill a purchase order multiple times until you receive all the items you ordered.
    • Once you start to fulfill a purchase order, you can no longer cancel it (see Cancel a Purchase Order).

  5. Completion: When the organization has received all the items you ordered, you can complete the purchase order.

    • When you complete a purchase order, its status is set to Complete.

Approve or Decline a Purchase Order Request​

After a Full User creates a purchase order request, an organization Administrator can review it and either approve or decline it.

To approve or reject a purchase order request:

  1. From the sidebar, select Purchase Orders.

  2. Select a purchase order with the status Requested.

  3. Review the request details, and select one of the following:

    • Approve Request: MaintainX updates the status to Pending and notifies approvers.
    • Decline Request: MaintainX sets the status to Canceled.

Approve or Reject a Purchase Order​

After a purchase order is created, an organization Administrator can review it and either approve or reject it.

Purchase order approval rules

If your plan includes purchase order approval rules, you can automatically assign purchase orders that meet specific conditions to specific teams or users. For details, see Set Up Purchase Order Approval Rules.

To approve or reject a purchase order:

  1. From the sidebar, select Purchase Orders.

  2. Select a purchase order with the status Pending.

  3. Review the purchase order details, and select one of the following:

    • Approve Purchase Order
    • Reject

What Happens When You Approve a Purchase Order​

When you approve a purchase order, MaintainX does the following:

  • Sets the purchase order's status to Approved.

  • Displays a dialog where you can do one of the following:

    • Send the purchase order to the Vendor (only available if you added a vendor contact).
    • Export the purchase order to PDF.
    • Close the dialog (you can send or export the purchase order later).

  • Notifies the user who created the purchase order.

What Happens When You Reject a Purchase Order​

When you reject a purchase order, MaintainX does the following:

  • Prompts you to confirm that you want to reject the purchase order. Select Yes, Reject Purchase Order.
  • Sets the purchase order's status to Rejected.
  • Notifies the user who created the purchase order. The user can then update and resubmit the purchase order.

Resubmit a Rejected Purchase Order​

When you reject a purchase order, the user who created it can modify and resubmit it. For example, if the purchase order is missing important information, the Administrator can reject it, and ask the user to add that information before resubmitting.

To resubmit a rejected purchase order:

  1. From the sidebar, select Purchase Orders.
  2. Select the purchase order with the status Rejected that you want to resubmit.
  3. In the purchase order details, select Resubmit Purchase Order. The Revise Purchase Order dialog opens.
  4. Update the purchase order details as needed, then select Update.

MaintainX does the following:

  • Saves the updated details.
  • Sets the purchase order status to Approved.
  • Notifies the approver.

Fulfill a Purchase Order​

Fulfilling a purchase order in MaintainX means confirming the number and cost of the items you received. When you fulfill a purchase order, the items you confirm are added to your parts inventory. After you fulfill a purchase order you can complete it to mark it as done.

To fulfill a purchase order:

  1. From the sidebar, select Purchase Orders.

  2. Select a purchase order to fulfill. You can fulfill a purchase order that has any of the following statuses:

    • Approved
    • Partially Fulfilled
    • Completed

  3. In the purchase order details, select . The fulfillment dialog opens.

  4. For each item listed in the fulfillment dialog, do the following:

    • Add the number of items you physically received to the UNITS RECEIVED total.
    • Confirm that the UNIT COST matches the unit cost you were actually charged.

  5. Select Confirm and Fulfill to save your changes and close the fulfillment dialog.

The confirmed items are added to your parts inventory.

Partial Fulfillment​

If you don't receive all the items you ordered at the same time, you can partially fulfill the purchase order to confirm just the received items. You can continue to "re-fullfill" a partially completed purchase order as you continue to receive and confirm items. You can complete a partially fulfilled purchase order if you know you're not going to receive all the items you ordered.

Correct Fulfilled Orders​

As long as a purchase order isn't completed, you can use the fulfillment dialog to change the quantity of confirmed items. For example, if you fulfill the order, but realize afterward that you miscounted the number of items you received, you can use the fulfillment dialog to correct the quantity. If the new confirmed quantity is lower than the previous confirmed quantity, MaintainX removes items from your parts inventory.

tip

If you need to correct the confirmed part quantities in a complete purchase order, you can undo the completion, correct the fulfillment information, and complete the purchase order again. For details, see Undo/Update a Completed Purchase Order.

Complete a Purchase Order​

When you've received and fulfilled the items you ordered, an Administrator can mark the purchase order as complete. You can complete a partially fulfilled purchase order if you don't expect to receive the remaining items.

To complete a purchase order:

  1. From the sidebar, select Purchase Orders.
  2. Select the purchase order with the status Partially Fulfilled that you want to complete.
  3. In the purchase order details, select Complete.

What Happens When You Complete a Purchase Order​

When you complete a purchase order, MaintainX does the following:

  • Prompts you to confirm that you want to complete the purchase order. Select Confirm.
  • Sets the purchase order's status to Completed.

Undo/Update a Completed Purchase Order​

You can update a purchase order even after it's completed. For example, if you complete a partially fulfilled purchase order because you don't expect to receive the remaining items, but then you receive them after all.

To update a completed purchase order:

  1. From the sidebar, select Purchase Orders.

  2. Select the purchase order with the status Completed that you want to update.

  3. In the purchase order details, select (more options), then select Undo Purchase Order Completion.

    MaintainX changes the purchase order's status to Partially Fulfilled.

  4. Update the purchase order details or fulfilled quantities as needed.

  5. When you're finished, complete the purchase order again.

Cancel a Purchase Order​

You can cancel any purchase order that you haven't started to fulfill yet. After you partially or completely fulfill a purchase order you can no longer cancel it.

warning

You can't undo cancelling a purchase order. If you decide you want to use a previously cancelled purchase order after all, you can duplicate it to create an identical new purchase order (See Duplicate a Purchase Order).

To cancel a purchase order:

  1. From the sidebar, select Purchase Orders.

  2. Select a purchase order to cancel. You can cancel a purchase order that has any of the following statuses:

    • Pending
    • Approved

  3. In the purchase order details, select (more options), and then select Cancel. The Cancel Purchase Order dialog appears.

  4. Select Yes, Cancel Purchase Order.

MaintainX sets the purchase order status to Canceled.