This is a guide around purchase orders intended to help you understand what all the fields are for and why you might use them.
Each purchase order is made up of the main header and a selection of tabbed regions. Each field, link and button is explained in this guide.
Statuses and icons
Field/Link/Button | Description |
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PO# | This is the order number, automatically generated by Brightpearl. It is a unique identifier and can be used to search for an order in any relevant reports. |
Invoice# | This is the purchase invoice number. It is manually entered at the point of invoicing, and should match the invoice given to you by your vendor. It is only displayed after an order has been invoiced. |
Order status |
This indicates the current stage the order is at in your purchases process. Customize your statuses and sales workflow to match your own business processes, and define default statuses to be selected after performing specific actions. The status can be manually updated at any time. It's worth noting that statuses relating to inventory are automatically monitored using the order icon. |
Order icons |
These icons give you further information on the status of the order with regards to inventory.
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Buttons and actions
And at the bottom of an order you'll find...
Field/Link/Button | Description |
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Email/Print button |
Use this button to email or print documents relating to the order. A default system template is selected depending on your settings, but you can manually change the template before printing or emailing. |
Receive inventory button |
Use this button to receive all or some of the inventory on the order. Learn more about receiving inventory on purchase orders here. |
Receive invoice button |
Use this button to invoice the order This will lock the order so no further changes can be made. It will also create accounting to record tax and accounts payable (creditors). All orders must be invoiced to update accounting. Invoicing will not affect inventory. |
Save Changes button |
Save your order as you make changes and continue to edit. Click the drop-down arrow on this button to view more options. |
Take payment |
Allows you to select a payment method in order to mark the order as paid. Note this will not actually make a payment to a vendor. |
Delete |
This will completely remove the order. Orders can only be deleted if they meet the following criteria:
Deleting an order completely removes it from the system - searching for the order number won't return any results. You may wish to use a "Canceled" order status instead in order to maintain an audit trail. |
Allocate landed cost |
This option is only visible if you have landed costs enabled. Clicking it will allow you to allocate landed costs to your order rows. |
Clone to PC |
Clone a purchase order to a purchase credit to reverse an invoice. Cloning will exactly copy the details of the purchase to a credit. However, please note that it is not possible to remove inventory using a purchase credit. |
Clone to PO |
Cloning allows you to copy the order to create a new order. This can be useful if you need to place identical orders. When cloning, you can include cross-references between the orders if desired. |
Change vendor |
Switch this order to a different vendor. This option can only be used if the order meets the following criteria:
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Print labels | Use this to print a barcode for each item on the order. |
Save & back | This will save your changes and take you back to the previous screen. |
Header section
Field/Link/Button | Description |
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Vendor | The vendor's information is displayed along with several tabs that provide details and links directly into the vendor record, including the account balance, credit limit, other orders and financial history. |
Invoice date |
When adding orders, the invoice date will default to today's date. You should change the date before invoicing the order to match the date of the invoice from your vendor. Once an order is invoiced, this date is locked from further editing. |
Payment due |
This will be calculated when the order is created using the invoice date and vendor's credit terms. This date can be manually changed after invoicing. |
Assigned to |
Select a staff member who owns this order. |
Team |
Assign the order to a team of staff members. This will be automatically populated if the vendor record belongs to a team. Assigning a vendor or order to a team means only member of that team can see those records. You can also view reports by team. |
Vendor reference |
Use this field to record a reference from the vendor, likely their own purchase order reference for the order. |
Project | Assign this order to a project. This allows you to monitor costs associated with a particular project. |
Lead Source |
The lead source is used on sales to indicates where the order originated from, e.g. from a particular marketing campaign. If the purchase is cloned from a sale, it will inherit the sale's lead source. |
Channel | The channel indicates which sales channel the order came from, such as an online marketplace like eBay or Amazon, a webstore, or an import. If the purchase is cloned from a sale, it will inherit the sale's channel. |
Season |
Seasons allow you to have different sets of products depending on the time of year. This will default to your current season if set and means you will only be able to search and select products that are within that season. |
Products and prices tab
Field/Link/Button | Description |
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Item Code |
Use this field to search for products or services that have been set up in the products module. If the vendor's price list uses vendor SKUs, those will be displayed upon adding the product. |
Details |
This is where item names are displayed. Clicking into the box will allow you to add to or amend the description if required. If the line is for a stock tracked product the inventory levels are displayed. Once the purchase has been saved a checkbox will appear next to each row, allowing you to select multiple rows to perform batch actions. |
Account Code |
This is the account (nominal) code where the inventory asset for this line will be posted once the items are received (if stock tracked), or the cost for the line will be posted once the order is invoiced (if non-stock tracked). This comes from the product record, but will be overridden if a code is set on the vendor record. The company default purchases code will be used for any miscellaneous lines. |
Tax code |
This is the tax code assigned to the row, used to calculate the tax amount for each row. The tax code is set against individual products/services, but will be overridden by rates set on the vendor account. The company default will be used for any miscellaneous lines. |
Qty | The number of units of the product being ordered. |
List Price | This is the price of the product taken from the price list assigned to the order. The list price column is only displayed when the discount percentage column is enabled under Settings > Purchases > Purchase settings. |
Discount % |
The percentage the row is to be discounted by. It can be manually entered, but will be automatically populated across all line items if set against the vendor record. To display this field go to Settings > Purchases > Purchase settings and set "Show list and discount columns on order edit screen" to "Yes". Warning: This setting cannot be switched off once an order has had a discount applied! |
Price |
The price being charged for the item. If the list price and discount % fields are used this field will display the calculated price (list price less discount). Tip: If the discount field is being used, the price field is not editable. |
Total | The total charge for the line (price multiplied by quantity). |
Tax |
The tax amount of the row. The tax amount can always be edited. Manually edited tax amounts will be highlighted in yellow. Note: The tax column will only display if the order is set to 'Prices exclude tax' mode. |
Add row | Use this link to add a blank row to the order. |
Batch add price list items | Use this link to search for and add multiple products/services using a lookup window. |
Receive inventory |
Click this button to receive inventory for the selected rows. |
Split to back order |
If any items remain unreceived on the order, tick the checkbox next to the relevant rows then click this button to split them to back order. |
Reset prices |
Clicking this link will fetch the prices from the order's price list again. Use this functionality if the price list on the order has changed or if you want to remove any manual price changes that were applied. |
Price List |
This is the price list used to get the buying price of products/services. The price list used depends on where the order came from. When adding orders manually the price list will default to the vendor record. |
Price mode |
This indicates whether prices on the order include or exclude tax. This setting is applied automatically based on whether the price list is net or gross. |
Exchange Rate |
Displayed only for foreign currency purchases. This displays the exchange rate being applied to convert the purchase into base currency for posting to accounts. Note: Foreign currency purchases should always use a foreign currency price list. |
Shipping method |
Select from a predefined shipping method. This field is only a note and will not add any charge to the order. |
Warehouse |
This is the warehouse where the inventory is to be sent to. |
Delivery date | Use this field to record the expected delivery date. Orders can easily be listed by delivery date from the purchases menu. |
Settlement discount |
To apply settlement discount for early payment of the order, enter the percentage to be discounted and with how many days and then click 'Apply'. |
Allocate payment |
Allows you to select a payment method in order to mark the order as paid. Note this will not actually pay the vendor. |
Addresses tab
Field/Link/Button | Description |
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Address |
This will use the address marked as "default" on the vendor's contact record. Where a vendor is part of a company, the default address from the primary contact will be used, unless there is a primary invoice address, in which case this will be used. The contact name will remain as the person who placed the order; it will not be overridden by the primary contact. The email address, telephone and mobile numbers are taken from the contact assigned to the order. Click the Choose link to select a different address from the vendor record, or to search for an address from a different vendor record. The contact name and company name specified in the default address populates the name fields in the purchases list. |
Invoice address |
This will always be the company address from the default channel brand. |
Delivery address |
If you have multi-warehousing switched on, this will always be the address of the warehouse assigned to the order. It will automatically update if a different warehouse is selected on the Products and prices tab of the order. If multi-warehousing is not activated the address is taken from the default channel brand. |
Choose... |
Use this link to view all addresses associated with the vendor record, or to search for an address linked to another vendor record. |
Postcode lookup | (UK only) To use the postcode lookup you will need to sign up to Loqate. |
Custom fields tab
This is where you can add more tabs and custom fields to your purchase orders to make sure you capture all the details you require. Add as many new fields as you want and group them into multiple tabs to make it easy to locate details. Custom fields can be set up at Settings > Custom fields > Purchases.
Learn more about custom fields here.
Files tab
This is where you can upload files to the order to ensure you keep an electronic record of anything relevant to the order. This might be a scanned documents, emails or images. Each document uploaded will be listed. Click on the item to download and view it at any time.
Notes and payment history tab
This is where you can view the history and audit trail of the order such as when it was created, invoiced and any other status changes. You can see the details of the user who made the updates as well as click on links to view any associated PDF document. You can also add your own notes to the order and upload a file at the same time. To add a note simply type it and save the order. To send a copy of any notes to the vendor via email select the checkbox against the main contact's email address before saving.