Working with Purchase Orders
When merchants need to restock or add new merchandise, they create and send documents called purchase orders (POs) to vendors. A PO typically includes the following information:
- Vendor
- Order, shipping, and cancel dates
- Special shipping instructions if necessary
- A list of the items to be ordered and information about those items, including description, price, cost, and the quantity ordered
- The total cost of the order, including discounts, fees, and taxes
The merchandise ordered on a PO is added into inventory when the merchandise has been received on a voucher referencing that PO. When creating a purchase order (or voucher), the user must enter a Vendor Code (the unique code that identifies the vendor). When creating a voucher, the user can enter a PO # and bring the items/quantities from the PO to the voucher, updating the PO Fill Status. Before creating purchase orders, make sure you configure related RP Prism permissions and preferences.
New Purchase Order
1. Navigate to Store Operations - Purchasing - New Purchase Order button.
2. A new PO form is displayed. Select a Vendor Code.
3. List the items being ordered by scanning or typing the UPC. Alternatively, click the Adv Lookup button to search Inventory.
4. To enter fees, discounts, shipping or other details, tap or click the Purchase Order Details button.
5. Select the General tab to enter Fees, Discounts, and/or Freight.
6. Select the Vendor tab to select Payment terms or define new payment terms.
7. Select the Instructions tab to select or enter PO Instructions.
8. Tap or click the Close button to exit Purchase Order Details.
9. Save the PO.
Sample Purchase Order
PO Fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Order Date | The date the PO was originally created. |
| Cancel Date | The date after which the PO can no longer be received against. |
| Ship Date | The date the ordered merchandise is expected to be shipped from the vendor. |
| Last Edit Date | The date of the most recent edits to the PO. |
| PO Number |
The PO Number is auto-populated with the next sequential PO Numbers. |
| Associate | By default, the current logged-in user is entered as the Associate. Users with the required security permission can edit the Associate field(s) on purchase orders. |
| PO Type | Drop Ship or Marked For |
| Vendor Code | Select a Vendor Code from the drop-down. The Vendor Code is a unique 3-6 character field that identifies the vendor. \ |
| Account No | The vendor will typically assign an account number for the retailer. When creating a PO, enter your account number for that vendor. |
| Ship To Store | By default, the Ship To store is the store to which the current logged-in user is assigned. |
You can view the total number of line items on the PO as well as information about the ordered and received quantities.
Purchase Order Details (Freight, Discounts, Fees, Payment Terms, Instructions)
To enter freight (shipping), fees, discounts and/or payment terms, tap or click the Purchase Order Details button.
Purchase Orders Details has three tabs:
- General: Enter freight, fees and discounts
- Vendor: Enter payment terms and/or your account number with the vendor
- Instructions: Enter up to five lines of PO Instructions
The values that you enter in Purchase Order Details are carried to the voucher that references the PO.
General Tab
- In the Freight Amount field, enter the amount of any freight or shipping charges associated with the order.
- In the Discount area, enter a discount as a percentage of the subtotal or as a specific amount.
- Tap or click the Percent/Amount tab and then enter a Discount Amount or percentage.
- In the Fee area, you can enter any fee amount associated with the order. Select a Fee Type from the dropdown and then enter the Fee Amount. Important! You must define Fee Types in preferences if you want to assign fees to a PO or voucher. The Fee value you enter can be spread across the voucher items when spreading cost.
Vendor Tab
Select the Vendor tab to define "prompt payment" and other payment terms for the order. The payment terms you define are for informational and tracking purposes only. They are not used in any calculations.
Sample Prompt Payment Terms
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| 2/10 net 30 | This means the retailer must pay within 30 days of the invoice date, but will receive a 2% discount if they pay within 10 days of the invoice date. |
| 3/7 EOM | This means the retailer will receive a cash discount of 3% if the bill is paid within 7 days after the end of the month indicated on the invoice date. If an invoice is received on or before the 25th day of the month, payment is due on the 7th day of the next calendar month. If a proper invoice is received after the 25th day of the month, payment is due on the 7th day of the second calendar month. |
| 3/7 EOM net 30 | This means the retailer must pay within 30 days of the invoice date, but will receive a 3% discount if they pay within 7 days after the end of the month indicated on the invoice date. If an invoice is received on or before the 25th day of the month, payment is due on the 7th day of the next calendar month. If a proper invoice is received after the 25th day of the month, payment is due on the 7th day of the second calendar month. |
| 2/15 net 40 ROG | This means the retailer must pay within 40 days of receipt of goods, but will receive a 2% discount if paid in 15 days of the invoice date. (ROG is short for "Receipt of goods.") |
Instructions Tab
PO Instructions: Select the Instructions tab to select one of the predefined Instructions defined in RP Prism Preferences. Users with the required security permission can enter free-form instructions on this tab.
Print a PO
With the PO displayed, tap or click the Print button. The standard print dialog is displayed.
You can assign a default print design for Purchase Orders in Preferences & Settings > Hardware > Printing.
Options Button
Tap or click the Options button to display a menu that gives quick access to Purchase Order Lookup, Pending Purchase Orders and Print Tags. This saves users from having to exit the Purchase Orders area to perform these actions.
Sample New Purchase Order:
Purchase Order Permissions
The following permissions enable retailers to control employee access to purchase orders:
| Permission | Description |
|---|---|
| Print Purchase Orders | Allow group members to print purchase orders. |
| Access Inactive Purchase Orders | Allow group members to view/edit inactive purchase orders. |
| Edit Purchase Orders | Allow group members to edit purchase orders. |
| Edit Purchase Order Item Notes | Allow group members to edit the Notes field for purchase order items. |
| Access Purchase Orders | Allow group members to access the Purchasing > Purchase Orders area. |
| Create/Copy Purchase Orders | Allow group members to create a new voucher using the New button or by copying an existing voucher. |
Purchasing Preferences
The following preference areas have settings related to purchase orders:
- Grid Formats
- Purchasing > General ( has preferences for both POs and Vouchers)
- Purchasing > Purchase Orders
- Purchasing > Comments (PO Instructions)
- Sequencing
Grid Formats
In Grid Formats, users can customize the Advanced Item Search, Purchase Order and PO Lookup grids. You can specify which fields will be displayed by default in these grids and which fields can be added/removed by users.
Purchasing > General
These preferences apply to both purchase orders and vouchers and are inherited (Corp, SBS, Store, WS)
| Preference | Description |
|---|---|
| Cost to use for POs and Vouchers | If a voucher references a purchase order, the item's PO Cost is used as the Voucher Cost. If the item is not listed on a PO (either because a PO was not referenced or the item was not on the original PO), then the setting from this preference determines Voucher Cost If Order Cost is selected, then the value entered in the item's Order Cost field in RP9 Inventory is used. If Inventory Cost is selected, Voucher Cost will be the item's current Cost in RP9 Inventory. |
| Trade Discount | (future release) |
| Inventory Costing Method | This preference determines what will happen when items are received at a cost different from the current cost in Inventory. Default = Average Average: If items are received at a Voucher Cost that is different than the current cost in inventory, the new quantities at the new cost are averaged in with the existing quantities at the old cost Leave: If selected, inventory Cost is always left unchanged. Overwrite: If selected, the Voucher Cost becomes the new Cost in Inventory. |
| Restrict to one vendor per PO/voucher | If selected, the items on the document must have the same vendor as the vendor selected in the document header. If not selected, items from different vendors can be listed on the PO/voucher. |
| PO/Voucher Fee Types | In this area, define fee types for POs and Voucher. |
Purchasing > Purchase Orders Preferences
These preferences only apply to purchase orders and are inherited (Corp, SBS, Store, WS).
| Preference | Description |
|---|---|
| Allow negative quantities on POs | If selected, items on POs can have a negative Doc Qty. This is typically used when returning merchandise. |
| Allow receiving against PO after cancel date | If selected, a user can create a voucher that references a PO that is past its Cancel Date. |
| Order by cases only | This preferences applies to items that are sold by the case or individually. If selected, users must order whole case quantities when ordering; partial cases are not allowed |
| Case Rounding Method | Select how to round the quantity if a case quantity item is listed at a quantity that does not make a full case: Up, Down, or None. |
Purchasing > Comments
In this area of preferences, you can define any PO Instructions (and Voucher Comments) that will be available for selection when creating a purchase order or voucher. These preferences are inherited (Corp, SBS, Store, WS)
- Tap or click the plus sign icon.
- A blank text field is displayed. Type the PO Instruction text.
- Tap or click the Check Mark button.
- Repeat as needed to create additional PO Instructions or Voucher Comments.
PO # Sequencing
Retailers can customize the document sequences used for purchase orders. This is a two-step process. First, in the Sequencing area of preferences, select the level at which sequences will be defined: Subsidiary, Store, or Workstation. Next, you can edit the Subsidiary, Store, or Workstation records as needed and specify the starting number for the sequence. The default starting number is 1. These preferences are inherited (Corp, SBS, Store, WS).