Overview
A purchase order (PO) is a document (much like a contract) that a buyer sends to a seller to request services or goods. In Limble, POs can be easily managed and sent to your vendors.
You also need to have at least one vendor set up in Limble in order to create a PO, as both are tied to the process.
If you limit PO permissions to managers or finance personnel, your other users can make purchase requests for services, parts, and non-stock items.
In this article, you’ll learn how to set up and create purchase orders.
Table of Contents
Where to Start a PO
There are lots of places within Limble where you can start a PO, including:
1. From within a task
1. From within a task
From within a task, find the green action button on the bottom right corner of the screen.
From the expanded list of options, select the PO icon.
(Note: users without purchasing permissions can select the “Request a Purchase” option, the shopping cart icon, to submit a request for items to users with PO permissions.)
From the new menu, select which type of PO you need: a part, service, or other.
After you make your selection, you will be taken to the PO screen.
2. From the Purchase Order page
2. From the Purchase Order page
To get to the Purchase Order page, go to Locations > Select Your Location > Purchasing.
From the Purchase Order page, click “+ Add a Purchase Order.”
The PO screen will appear.
3. From the Manage Vendors page
3. From the Manage Vendors page
To get to the Manage Vendors page, go to Locations > Select Your Location > Vendors.
From the Manage Vendors page, click “POs.”
The PO screen will appear.
You can also start a PO from within the vendor card.
Click on a vendor. From the "POs" tab, you can see current and completed POs associated with the vendor.
By clicking "Add a Purchase Order," you'll be creating a PO that will automatically be associated with that vendor.
4. From the Manage Parts page
4. From the Manage Parts page
To get to the Manage Parts page, go to Locations > Select Your Location > Parts.
From the Manage Parts page, click “POs.” From the dropdown, select “Add a Purchase Order.”
The PO screen will appear.
You can start a PO from within the part card.
From the "POs" tab, you can see current and completed POs associated with the part.
By clicking "Add a Purchase Order," you'll be creating a PO that will automatically be associated with that part.
Initial PO Setup
Once you access the PO screen, you can fill out your purchase order.
Since the PO is the official contract between you and a vendor, we need to select a vendor. Click “Pick Vendor,” choose your desired vendor, and then click “Select.”
Your budget will automatically be your default budget. Enterprise customers can customize this and create additional budgets with custom workflows, and set default budgets for different types of orders.
Assign the PO to the person authorized to approve purchases. By default, a PO is assigned to the person creating it. This can be changed when setting up a purchasing budget workflow, so different users can be the default approver depending on the budget.
After verifying the vendor, budget, and PO assignment, you can edit or add additional PO details.
By default, the PO Details section only displays the PO date and expected delivery date.
You can also add custom fields and even autofill them with specific vendor information. Commonly added custom fields include vendor contacts, terms (like net 15 or net 30), or asset name to quickly identify the asset in need of parts/services.
To add a custom field, click “New Field.”
From here, you can:
Create and name a new custom field. Custom fields will appear in all future POs you create.
Add vendor information by selecting “Pick Vendor Field.” When you link a vendor field, it will autofill with that vendor field data in all future POs.
Once you’ve finished setting up your PO, you’ll be ready to add items such as parts, services, and other purchases.
Adding Items to a PO
If you’re adding items from the PO screen, select “Add Item.”
Parts
Selecting “Part” will bring up your parts list. You can select one or multiple parts at the same time.
Once you’ve selected your part(s), click “Save.”
Services
Selecting “Service” allows you to track services that you request from your vendor.
First, give the service a name. Next, you will need to associate the service with a task by selecting “Pick Task” to choose from existing tasks, or “Create a Task” to create a new one.
All services must be associated with a task. The vendor performing the service will be notified of the request when the task is shared with them. If a PO is started from within a task, this will already be selected in the PO.If a vendor has performed services for you before, you will have the option to base the service in your current request off of a previous service. By default, Limble will assume it is a new service.
Once you select your service, click “Save.”
Other Purchases
Select “Other” to buy a non-stock part that isn’t in your inventory or to replace an asset.
Like services, you will need to name the item and associate it with a task.
Once select, click “Save.”
Once you’ve selected your item(s), you’ll be taken back to the PO screen. You can adjust the following line items:
Description of the item
Quantity
Rate per item
Tax
Discount, if one has been negotiated with your vendor
Shipping costs
GL allows you to associate a part with a general ledger.
Click the “+” under the GL column to do so.
From the dropdown, select a general ledger or add a new one.
(Note: general ledger is only available for Enterprise customers.)
Additional Fields
Once you’ve finished adding items to your PO, you can add notes to the vendor, your “Bill To” address, and your “Ship To” address.
You can set default values by hovering over the field name and selecting the gear icon that appears.
From the new pop-up, add your desired default information and click “Submit.”
PO Comments & Notifying Users
You can add comments to a PO similarly to how you can add them to a task. You can also notify other users about comments on a task.
To add a comment, select “Add Comment.”
Enter your desired text. You can also attach a file by selecting “Attach File.”
If you want to notify additional users of comments being made on a PO, click “Who will be sent notifications?”
From the new pop-up, you’ll see a list of users who will be notified of any comments. Typically this is the user who created the PO, and the user assigned to the PO, if they are different people.
To add another user or team, select “Add Someone.”
From the new pop-up, select the users, teams, or roles you’d like to be notified about comments from the PO.
You can also enter email addresses for external users you want to be notified about comments. If you’re entering more than one email, be sure to separate them with a semicolon.
Once you’ve chosen all of your desired users, click “Select.” When you’re finished, click “X” to return to the comment screen.
(Note: not all users may show up on the notifications screen. If you try to add a user who is already on the notification list, Limble will provide a warning message that the user has already been added to the list.)
Once you’re satisfied with your comment, attached desired files, and added users to the notification list, click “Submit.”
Moving to Ready to Receive & Sending the PO
Your PO will remain in the setup status until you are ready to submit your PO. This allows you to make changes to your PO before you send it to your vendor.
Once you have added all of your desired items and filled out the necessary information, select “Start Next Step…” depending on your budget workflow, this may be an internal approval step or something else before you are sending the PO to your vendor.
In this example, we’ll assume that the user has full permissions and there are no additional approval steps, so we’ll select “Start Next Step: Ready to Receive.”
In the new pop-up, you will be able to edit and send your PO to your vendor. In this window, you can:
Add and edit vendor email. You can send the PO to more than one contact; just be sure to separate emails with a semicolon.
Change the subject line
Change the message or body of the email.
(Note: You can also create default PO templates with customized subject lines and messages. To do this, select “Default Template.” If you choose to do this, make your desired changes and click “Save.”)
The PO itself will generate as a PDF from the information you entered into the PO screen. Once you are satisfied with the email, click “Send Message.”
Your vendor should receive an email (with the PO as an attachment) that looks something like this:
If you have not added additional steps to your budget workflow, the PO will enter the “receive items” status.
Setting Reminders & Printing POs
You can schedule reminders for yourself or other users to follow up with vendors.
Open the PO and select the bell icon.
From the new pop-up, select a date (and a specific time if desired) to send the message.
Next, add emails. If you wish to send the notification to multiple users, separate each email with a semicolon.
Edit the subject line and message as desired. When you are ready to schedule the reminder, click “Set.”
You can also print your PO. Select the arrow icon. From the dropdown, select your desired print type.
The file will automatically download as a PDF.
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