Purchase order procedure

The purchase order procedure covers the complete administrative procedure for purchasing goods or services.

The procedure includes these steps:

Step 1. Creating purchase orders

In the Purchase Order - Lines (tdpur4100m900) session, purchase orders can be created:

Step 2. Approving purchase orders

After purchase orders are created, purchase order approval is a mandatory step in the purchase order procedure. The execution of the order procedure activities can start when you approve the order.

Step 3. Printing purchase orders

After the order is registered and approved, you can print the purchase order and send it to the buy-from business partner as confirmation. The Print Purchase Orders (tdpur4401m000) session is mandatory only if you communicate the purchase order to the buy-from business partner by mail or electronic data interchange (EDI). If you use the phone to communicate purchase orders, this step is optional.

After the purchase order is printed, you can still modify the purchase order. A change request is required to update the purchase order if the Change Requests check box is selected in the Purchase Order Parameters (tdpur0100m400) session.

Step 4. Releasing purchase orders to Warehousing

After the buy-from business partner is informed about the purchase order and the purchase order is approved, you can release the purchase order to Warehousing in the Release Purchase Orders to Warehousing (tdpur4246m000) session. The warehousing department is now informed about the goods to be expected.

When purchase orders are released to the warehouse, several activities are triggered in Warehouse Orders, starting with warehouse order creation in the Warehousing Orders (whinh2100m000) session. The activities in Warehouse Orders depend on the warehouse order type that is linked to the purchase order type.

To link a warehousing order type to a purchase order type:

  1. Link activities to a warehousing procedure in the Activities by Procedure (whinh0106m000) session.
  2. Link a warehousing procedure to a warehousing order type in the Warehousing Order Types (whinh0110m000) session.
  3. Link the warehousing order type in the Purchase Order Types (tdpur0194m000) session.

It is not mandatory to release purchase orders for cost items and service items to Warehousing. This depends on the setting of the Release to Warehouse check box in the Items - Purchase (tdipu0101m000) session. Direct deliveries are never released to warehousing.

Step 5. Receiving the purchased goods

You can record the receipts of purchased goods in Warehousing or Procurement.

  • Warehousing
    If the purchase order is released to Warehousing, the receipt procedure is covered by the inbound and inspection procedures in Inventory Handling (INH).

    When receipts are recorded in Warehousing, the receipt data is reported back to Procurement. You can view this data in these sessions:

    • Purchase Orders - Receipt Overview (tdpur4531m000)
    • Purchase Receipts (tdpur4106m000)
  • Procurement
    For noninventory items that are not released to Warehousing, you can record the receipts in the Purchase Order - Lines to be Received (tdpur4501m400) and Purchase Receipts (tdpur4106m000) sessions.

After a receipt is confirmed in the Purchase Receipts (tdpur4106m000) session, you can no longer change the receipt data in this session. However, you can still change specific receipt data in the Correct Purchase Receipt (tdpur4106s100) session.

When the goods are received, the prices and discounts of the goods may be changed. Use the Change Price and Discounts after Receipt (tdpur4122m000) session to maintain prices and discounts.

Step 6. Paying the purchased goods

To manage the payment of the purchased goods, use Accounts Payable (ACP). You can carry out this process only if the Financials package is implemented.

In the purchase order procedure, the business partner does not need to send an invoice. Instead, you can use self-billing to automatically generate invoices for the purchased goods.

Self-billing is typically used if you have:

  • A contract with the business partner for the price of the goods you are buying.
  • An agreement with the business partner that you will pay for the goods without receiving an invoice for them.

Self-billing is controlled by these fields in the Purchase Orders (tdpur4100m000) and Purchase Order Lines (tdpur4101m000) sessions:

  • Self-Billing
    If you select this check box, an invoice can be generated for each order line receipt. In the financial company to which the purchase office is linked, you can select the order lines and generate the invoices in the Generate Self-Billing Purchase Invoices (tfacp2290m000) session.
  • Invoice after

    This field can be:

    • Inspection
      Self-billed invoices can be created only for the total approved received quantity, after all inspections are finished for a particular receipt.
    • Receipt
      A self-billed invoice can be immediately created for the total received quantity. If, after inspection, some quantity is rejected, in the Generate Self-Billing Purchase Invoices (tfacp2290m000) session, an invoice is created for the rejected quantity. This invoice includes a negative quantity.
Step 7. Processing purchase orders

At the end of the purchase order procedure, all purchase orders must be processed in the Process Delivered Purchase Orders (tdpur4223m000) session. The processed purchase orders are transferred from the regular database to the history database.

Purchase order workbenches

You can use these sessions to view the purchase order lines that require a buyer's attention and to execute the appropriate actions on the lines:

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