Purchase Order

From Fishbowl Inventory

Purchasing

Training Videos
Purchase Order Creation Purchase Order Receiving
Related Pages
Purchase Order Module Options Part Receiving
Accounting
PO Standard Inventory Items PO Non-Inventory Items PO Credit Return

The Purchase Order Module allows for users to create and issue Purchase Orders with Parts, Misc. Items, Credits, or Outsourced items. Once orders have been created and issued in the Purchase Order Module they will need to be fulfilled in the Receiving Module before they can be placed in inventory.

Create a Purchase Order

In the Purchasing Module Group | Purchase Order module click on New from the Module Toolbar. From the Vendor drop-down list select the vendor for whom this Purchase Order is being sent. You may also click the binoculars icon for an advanced search feature for your vendor. If your vendor does not currently exist in the system you may select Add New from the bottom of the vendor drop-down list. This will take you through a wizard to add this new vendor.

The date will default to the date the PO is created. Simply click on the calendar or manually type a change to the date if you do not want the default. Fishbowl will auto-assign the next available PO number. You may manually change the PO number to a maximum of 25 characters by re-typing your number into the PO No box. You will want to click save in the module toolbar to save your changes.

Fishbowl also offers the ability to associate two Sales Orders with any one Purchase Order. Both the Customer SO and Vendor SO boxes will be blank for you to enter associating orders. To avoid duplications, an Alert will be displayed if a user attempts to enter a number into a SO field where the SO already exists in the database.

For example,

Imagine you receive Sales Order 22568 from a Customer but don't have the items in stock. You create a Purchase Order for Mike's Bikes to order the items from their company. Fishbowl automatically generates the next PO number, which in this case is 10021. However, you wish to tie your PO with the Sales Order created from your customer, so you enter the Sales Order number 22568 into the blank Customer SO box. Since you are ordering your items from Mike's Bikes, he sends you Sales Order number RH452 for the items. In order to tie his Sales Order number to your Purchase Order you enter the number RH452 into the blank Vendor SO box. Through this process you now have the ability to view the original PO number, Customer Sales Order and Vendor SO all in one spot. For your convenience, the Vendor SO field also prints on your Purchase Order Report. The following screenshot shows the Customer and Vendor SO numbers tied to Mike's Bikes Purchase Order:

You will now be able to select which parts (see Adding a Part below) to add to your Purchase Order. If you are using Class Tracking your default class will show at the bottom of the Purchase Order. Also, your default Location Group will populate the Location Group field. You may change either of these fields manually by clicking the drop down arrow and saving your changes in the Module Toolbar.

Add an item

When a part is initially added to your Purchase Order, it will pull the vendor's last cost for the part. Unless a cost is set up for that part under the vendor module, the cost will appear at a $0.00 amount. By double-clicking on the line item and manually changing the cost, Fishbowl will store that cost now as the last vendor cost. The next time you purchase the part from this same vendor, that last vendor cost will be displayed. Fishbowl gives you a few different options to add a part to a Purchase Order. This may be done in any of the following ways:

1. Enter the desired quantity in the quantity field.
2. Click your mouse in the Part box. Fishbowl will do a search for any parts that start with the number/letter you enter into this field.
3. Click on the arrow to the right of the part box. This will bring up all of your parts first numerically then alphabetically in order. Click on the part with your mouse you wish to add.
4. Click on the binoculars to the right of the part box. This will pull up an advanced part search for the part where you can look by part type, description, or part number. Highlight the part you would like to add and click Ok at the bottom of the part search box.
5. Click on the Add item button located in the Component Toolbar. This will bring up the same advanced part search box to search for a part by part type, description, or number.
6. Click on the Add Misc item button located in the Component Toolbar. You will need to manually enter in the part number, description, cost, and vendor part number. This type of item is usually used when you are purchasing an item for one-time use only. This is not a part that is in your parts list, nor will it be brought into your inventory when the order is fulfilled. The cost for this part will be sent to your mapped Misc. Expense Account in QuickBooks and not your Asset Account.

Edit an item

Double click on any line item to bring up an edit box (you may also highlight a line item and click the edit item icon located on the Component Toolbar). Once the edit Item box is displayed, you have the option to change the vendor part number, Customer/Job, class, type, quantity, UOM, cost, fulfillment date for that line item, or to enter in a specific note for the line item.

Item types

An item can be one of three different Types that can be selected from the drop-down:

• Purchase (default)
• Credit Return
• Outsource

Click OK to close the edit box and then click Save in the Module Toolbar to save your changes.

Edit a Fulfilled Purchase Order

Users with the appropriate access rights will be able to modify the information included in the Details, Memo, and Custom subtabs of a Purchase Order even after the order has been Fulfilled and exported to QuickBooks. This includes the ability to change the Fulfillment Date, Shipping Terms, Payment Terms, FOB, Carrier, Custom Fields, and to add Notes or Memos to the order.

This does not include the ability to modify costs, customers, or items currently on the order. Any changes made to Fulfilled orders that have already been exported to QuickBooks will not update QuickBooks (modifications must be manually entered into QuickBooks).

To create modifications, choose the desired Purchase Order from the Search Panel. After making changes to the General, Memo, or Custom subtabs choose the Save option from the Module Toolbar to complete your changes.

Order status

The Status field shows the status of the Purchase Order:

• Bid Request - The Purchase Order has been created, but not issued.
• Issued - The Purchase Order has been issued but not Received.
• Partial - Some items have been fulfilled, but not all items are completely fulfilled.
• Fulfilled - The Purchase Order has been completely fulfilled.
• Closed Short - The Purchase Order was closed short.
• Void - The Purchase Order was voided.

The status may also be one of the following for Credit Return and Outsource types:

• Picking - The Purchase Order is currently being Picked.
• Picked - The Purchase Order has already been Picked.
• Shipped - The Purchase Order has been shipped.

Send to vendor

After all items have been added to the purchase order, the bid request should be sent to the vendor. Once the vendor responds, it may be necessary to make price adjustments, quantity adjustments, etc. Make any necessary edits and then issue the order.

Issue a Purchase Order

To issue a Purchase Order, click the Issue button. Issuing a Purchase Order automatically saves the order and allows the order to move to the next step in the process:

• For Purchase type items, issuing will create a Receipt.
• For Credit type items, issuing will create a Pick.
• For Outsource type items, issuing will create a Pick.

Credit Return

You may need to create a credit return for your Purchase Order. To do this, follow the steps above under "Create a New Purchase Order" and add the items that are being returned.

Edit the line item that is being returned by either double clicking on the line, or highlighting the line item and choosing the edit button from the Component Toolbar. A Details box will be displayed for that line item. In the upper right hand corner of the box click on the Type dropdown and change from Purchase to Credit Return (As shown right). Click Ok to close the edit box and save your changes.

Your line item on the Purchase Order will now have a type of Credit Return instead of Purchase. Click Issue in the top left corner of the Module Toolbar. Since the items are being returned to your vendor, the Credit Return order will be waiting for you in the Picking Module. After you have picked which items are being returned, your order will be sent to the Shipping Module.

You will now Pack and Ship your item out to the vendor. Upon completion of shipping your order is now fulfilled.

Creating a Credit Return for a Miscellaneous Item A Credit Return for a Miscellaneous Item cannot be received in the Receiving Module and must be manually fulfilled. You are given two different ways to manually fulfill an item. First, In the Purchase Order Module you may right click on the line item and select the Fulfill Item option in the drop down list. Second, you may simply highlight the line item and click on the Fulfill Item icon located on the Component Toolbar.

If the Misc. Item is the only item on your Purchase Order then the order is now fulfilled. If there are other items the entire order will not be fulfilled until those items have been received through the Receiving Module.

Outsource

Some companies have items that are outsourced to vendors to have work completed before they are sold to a Customer. For example, say a bike company sells complete bikes or bike parts. They offer custom frame painting to Customers for an additional fee. Since the company does not paint bikes at their location, they outsource the frame to a painting company who then completes the work and ships the frame back to the bike company to be put together and then sold.

When creating an Outsourced order within Fishbowl, the Purchase Order will be created, then the order will be picked and shipped to the vendor. After the work has been completed by the vendor, the order will be waiting in the Receiving Module where the item can be received back into inventory. The following instructions will provide users with the necessary information to outsource their items:

Within the Purchasing Module Group | Purchase Order Module, create a new Purchase Order using the Vendor who will complete the outsourced work. Add the part which is to be outsourced. Once the part has been added, either double click the line item, or highlight the line item and choose the edit icon location on the Component Toolbar. This will display the Purchase Order Item Details box. In the top right corner of the display box, choose the given dropdown menu and change the part from being Purchase to Outsource. Choose ok at the bottom of the display to close the window and save your changes.

Once the Order has been Issued, the user will go to the Picking module to Pick the order, then the Shipping module to pack and ship the order to the vendor. The order will appear in the Receiving module with the item on hold until the item has been successfully shipped to the vendor. Once the order has been shipped, the order within the Receiving Module is available to be fulfilled for whenever the item is completed and sent back to your company.

After the item has been received back into Inventory, it is ready to be placed on a Sales Order (or Work Order if it is a Bill of Material) to be packed and shipped off to a waiting customer.

Auto-Assign PO Number

Fishbowl will automatically assign Purchase Order numbers starting with 1. If a Purchase Order has been deleted or voided, those numbers will not be re-generated into the system by Fishbowl to be used again. You may set your own starting number for the auto-assigning by doing the following things:

1. In the Purchase Order Module click Tools | Module Options from the Main Menu bar.
2. Enter the number at which you want your Purchase Orders to start and click Ok.

Note: in order for your auto-assigned numbers to calculate correctly, you will need your ending characters to be numerical. Fishbowl will not auto-calculate letters.

Void, Delete, or Close Short a PO

Void a Purchase Order

• You may void a Purchase Order as long as the status of your order is issued and not partial [meaning none of the items have yet been received in the Receiving Module]. To void a Purchase Order simply double click in the search panel on the order you would like to void. Click the Void PO button located in the Module Toolbar. A dialog box will be displayed asking if you are sure you want to void your Purchase Order. Click Yes. Note: Voided Purchase Orders will have a history and therefore will be visible on select reports.

Delete a Purchase Order

• You may delete a Purchase Order as long as the status is Bid Request [meaning the order has been saved, but has not been issued]. To delete a Purchase Order simply double click in the search panel on the order you would like to delete. When the order is pulled up on the main screen click the Delete PO button located in the Module Toolbar. A dialog box will be displayed asking if you are sure you want to delete your Purchase Order. Click Yes. Note: Deleted Purchase Orders will not retain a history in Fishbowl because a Bid Request was never issued. Therefore a history will not be kept and deleted orders will not be visible on reports.

Close Short a Purchase Order

• You may close short a Purchase Order if your order is in a partial status [meaning at least one line item has been partially received in the receiving module]. To close short an order simply double click in the search panel on the order you would like to close short. When the order is pulled up on the main screen click the Close Short PO button located in the Module Toolbar. A dialog box will be displayed asking if you are sure you want to close short your Purchase Order. Click Yes. Note: Purchase Orders that are closed short will have a history in Fishbowl and therefore will still be visible on select reports.

Duplicate a Purchase Order

You may duplicate a Purchase Order by simply clicking the Duplicate button located in the Module Toolbar. This will create an exact Purchase Order using the next auto-assigned PO number. Any Purchase Order may be duplicated, including Fulfilled orders. The Purchase Orders duplicated will always be created as a Bid Request.

Auto Purchase Order Wizard

Auto PO is an easy way to generate Purchase Orders for low parts with an assigned default vendor. In order to use Auto PO on a specific part you must already have Reorder Level Points set up for those parts. The following steps will guide you through an Auto PO:

Make sure your parts already have Reorder Levels established. In the Purchase Order Module click the Auto PO button from the Module Toolbar.

The first screen will allow you to set a number of filters. For the broadest possible application do not set any filters. Click Next.

The next screen will show you a list of parts that are below their reorder points, but do not have a default vendor assigned. Fishbowl will not create a Purchase Order for those parts without a default vendor. You may create or change a default vendor in the Part module, Vendor subtab.

The next screen will show a list of parts that have fallen below their reorder points and do have a default vendor. You have the option to edit or delete the quantities by highlighting the part and clicking the edit or delete icons on the right Component Toolbar. The auto-assigned PO number will show at the bottom of this screen as well. Click Next.

The last page will show a summary of Purchase Orders that will be created. You have the option to have the orders created as Issued or Bid Requests. Click Finish to complete the wizard and have the new Purchase Orders created.

About Purchase Order

Details Subtab The details subtab will give a general overview of your Purchase Order. In this subtab you may view the vendor, date the Purchase Order was issued, created, and completed as well as the last user to make changes to the order. You may also have a Date confirmed if you wish [optional]. The Fulfillment Date, Shipping and Payment Terms, FOB, and Carrier are all populated from the details tab in the Vendor Module.

Any notes entered into the Note field will be displayed on the Purchase Order Report.

Memo Subtab The memo field is an internal-use subtab that allows a user to enter notes regarding each Purchase Order. The top portion of the main screen will offer the dates notes were given, by what user, as well as a portion of the memo written. If the memo is longer than the top line allotted, you may highlight the entire line and the memo will be shown in its entirety on the bottom half of the main screen. You may add a new note, edit an existing note, or delete a note by highlighting the line item to be changed and clicking the corresponding button located on the component toolbar. You may print all the memo notes for a Purchase Order by clicking on the 'Print Memos' button in the top left corner of the main screen.

Custom Subtab The custom field subtab is an internal-use field for extra information regarding your company. You can set up specific names for each custom field line in the Custom Fields Module.

You may also look for Purchase Orders using the custom fields in the Advanced Search field of the search panel. For example, in the screenshot shown (right), you could flag each Purchase Order as either a high or low priority and then look for the corresponding Purchase Orders in the Advanced Search.