Work with standard purchase orders and the PO approval process

This topic reviews how to work with standard purchase orders (POs) when your program is set to use PO approval levels.

Create a standard PO

  1. Create a new PO. The PO defaults to an Open status. If the Show Pending PO Number when PO Status is Pending option is enabled, the Order Number is masked.

  2. Fill out the required fields, including the PO Estimate.

  3. Save the PO.

If the estimate is higher than your approval level:

  • The Order Status is set to Pending.

  • The Approval Status is set to Needs Approval.

  • The PO Estimate field is turned off. You can edit it by selecting Change PO Estimate.

    1. You may continue working on the PO while waiting for approval.

    2. A user with a high enough approval level approves the PO.

  • The Order Status changes back to Open.

  • The Approval Status is set to Approved.

  • If the Order Number was masked, it is unmasked. . If the PO Estimate changes and its new value is above your approval level, the Order Status returns to Pending and the Approval Status returns to Needs Approval.

Work with a received PO

  1. Open a PO that is in a Received status.

  2. Receive parts on the PO. If the received total is higher than your approval level:

    • The Order Status is set to Pending.

    • The Approval Status is set to Needs Approval.

  3. You may continue working on the PO while waiting for approval.

  4. A user with a high enough approval level approves the PO.

    • The Order Status is set to Open.

    • The Approval Status is set to Approved.

  5. If the PO Estimate changes and its new value is above your approval level, the Order Status returns to Pending and the Approval Status returns to Needs Approval.

Approve or reject a purchase order

You can approve or reject POs that have a PO estimate that is lower than or equal to your approval level. You can start the approval process from either the Purchase Orders Listing page or from the PO itself.

To start the process from the Purchase Orders Listing page, select Approve in the Action column for the PO you want to approve.

To start the process from the PO itself, open the PO and then select Approve.

The steps are the same after you select Approve.

  1. Select Approve. The Approve PO# window opens.

  2. In the Approval tab, click in the Comments field and enter a reason for the approval.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • Select Approve. The Approve PO# window closes and the Order Status changes to Open. The Approval Status changes to Approved. The approval appears in the PO’s Approval History tab.

    • Select Reject. The Approve PO# window closes and the Order Status stays as Pending. The Approval Status changes to Rejected. The rejection appears in the PO’s Approval History tab.

    • Select Reject & Cancel. The Approve PO# window closes and the Order Status changes to Canceled. The approval status changes to Rejected. The rejection and cancellation appear in the PO’s Approval History tab.

    • Select Close. The Approve PO# window closes and the Order Status does not change.

Resubmission process

If a PO is rejected, you can resubmit the PO for approval.

  1. Open the purchase order.

  2. Make edits, if needed.

  3. Select Resubmit for approval. The order approval status changes from REJECTED to NEEDS APPROVAL.

  4. The PO goes through the approval process again.

PO estimates

When you start a new PO, you must fill out the PO Estimate field before you can save it. After you have saved the PO, you can select Change PO Estimate to change the estimate manually. However, after a PO has been approved you cannot select Change PO Estimate unless you have:

  • Approval permissions.

  • An approval limit higher than the current estimate.

If you do not meet these requirements, the Change PO Estimate option is not active.

The PO Estimate can still update automatically if you add lines to the PO that exceed the current estimate.

If the order has been approved, TMT checks your approval limit when you add lines to a PO. If the new total is less than the estimate and less than your approval limit, a confirmation window opens. The message asks, "New Order Total is above the Estimated Amount. Do you want to update the Estimated Amount?"

  • If you select YES, the PO estimate amount updates to the new order total and saves the line changes.

  • If you select NO, TMT removes the line that put the PO over the approved amount. If the new total exceeds your approval limit, the Approval Status changes from Approved to Needs Approval.

Auto or Manual Requisitions

POs created from Manual or Automatic Requisitions auto-populate the PO Estimate field with the total of the line item details. The program uses the approval level of the user who creates the POs from the requisition list to set the PO’s status and check whether approval is necessary.

Editing, receiving, and closing POs created by a requisition follow the same approval rules as a PO that was created manually.