The two main scenarios for raising a purchase order are:
- Stock purchase orders to replenish stock or keep stock levels up to date
- Creating purchase orders on a specific task, which may include quoted items
The process for both scenarios is much the same; the only difference is how to get to the purchase order screen.
Create a Purchase Order
Order materials for a specific Task
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Order materials for general stock
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The quickest way to create a purchase order for general stock is:
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Alternative methods
Purchase Order menu
- From the main menu, click Workflow
- Click Purchase Orders
- Click Create Purchase Order.
Purchase Order list
- From the main menu, click Workflow
- Click Purchase Orders
- Select a list of purchase orders from the Purchase Order Menu, for example: In Progress Purchase Orders.
- Click Create Order.
Enter order details
Once you save, you may have a coloured banner at the top of the purchase order. Show me See Transaction Terms for more information. |
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(magnifier) to search and select from your supplier list. 
(magnifier) to search and select from the location list. 
Other fields
Field |
Description |
|---|---|
| Date Purchased (Required Field) | When the items are required from the supplier (auto populated with the current date). You can change the date if you need to. |
| Import Email Address | Only visible if you have Supplier Invoice Imports set up. This field displays your configured email address for this import. |
| Date / Time Imported | This field is only visible if you have Supplier Invoice Imports set up. It is automatically populated when a supplier invoice is imported. |
| Delivery Instructions | Record any additional delivery details, e.g. 'All deliveries to site office'. |
| Notes | Record any special instructions relating to the order, e.g. 'All boxes must have the same batch number'. (Information in this field will transfer across to the Bill.) |
Bill-related fields
The following fields are used for recording the bill details once the items have been received. Information in these fields transfer across to the Bill once one has been created.
Once a bill has been created, these fields will no longer display on the purchase order as they need to be completed for each relevant bill instead.
Field |
Description |
|---|---|
| Date Received | When the items were received from the supplier. |
| Date Invoiced | Record the date on the supplier invoice. |
| Due Date | When the Invoice payment is due. This field will auto-populate based on the terms set in the Supplier card. If the supplier has no payment terms, the default will be the same as Date Purchased. If the supplier is changed after creating the Purchase Order and the Date Invoiced has been saved, the Due Date field will automatically update based on the new supplier's payment terms. |
| Invoice No. | Record the Supplier Invoice number. |
Add line items
The next step is adding the items you want ordered to the purchase order.
Click the relevant tab below to find out more about each way line items can be added.
Using supplier invoice imports?
If you're using supplier invoice imports, adding the line items on your purchase order is optional. Simply provide the purchase order number to your supplier and when their invoice is imported into AroFlo, your purchase order line items will be populated and a Bill will be generated and recorded against the purchase order.
Tax-exclusive or inclusive pricing
By default, unit prices are treated as tax exclusive. If you want to use tax-inclusive pricing, click the Tax Inc. checkbox located in the purchase order summary area before adding items.
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Ad hoc line items
To add a new line for ordering items that are not linked to your Inventory:
- Click Add Line Item.
- Complete the fields as described in the table below.
Ad hoc fields are all blank for manual data entry. Items that exist in your AroFlo site are auto-filled using information stored against inventory items.
See an example
In the image below, the first line item has been added manually, using the Add Line Item button. The second line item has been added using the Multi-Search > Inventory option.
- Click Save to complete.
Options button
Once the purchase order is saved, any ad hoc items will have an Options button in the In Inv. column. You can either use these options from here or as part of the check items process. See Create a Bill - Update Inventory Pricing From Bill for an explanation.
Inventory
To select existing inventory items:
- Click Multi-Search and select Inventory.
- Find your items by entering a keyword into the Item description into the fields at the top of the search box, or by going through your Inventory categories.
Header columns
Click the columns
button to add additional searchable columns to the header. - Click an item to select it, or click the checkbox on the left-hand side. You will notice the selected items appear on the purchase order (using the listed cost price).
Cost price
On a Purchase Order, the listed item cost will be based on Cost Ex, rather than any Calculated Cost that has been set.
- Close the pop-up window once all items have been added.
- Enter the required quantity into the Qty Ord. field for all line items.
- When complete, click Save.
View stock levels
To view the stock level when selecting stock from inventory, click Multi-Search > Inventory > Columns and click the Stock Level checkbox.
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Low Stock Inventory
The Low Stock Inventory option is a quick and easy way to restock materials that fall below the required level set on the inventory card. See Stock Alert Levels to learn how to set minimum stock levels for inventory items.
- Click Multi-Search and select Low Stock Inventory.
- To filter the list by Resource or Custom Holder, enter the name into the Stock Assigned To column.
- To add all items to the order, click the first checkbox (top left). Alternatively, click individual items you want to order or use the checkbox on the left-hand side.
- When complete, click Save.
See Low Stock Inventory Orders for more information on keeping low stock up to date.
Assemblies
To order items within an assembly (a list or kit of items):
- Click Multi-Search and select Assemblies.
- Use the filters at the top of the search box to find the relevant assembly, or by going through your Inventory List categories.
- To add an entire assembly to the order, click Select Header, or, add individual items within an assembly by double-clicking each item.
- If you added an entire assembly, enter the required quantity into the Qty Ord field on the assembly header (first line item), or alternatively record the quantity for each item if you added individual items.
- Click Save.
Task Specific Lists
Adding items within a Task specific list is much the same as Assemblies:
- Click Multi-Search and select Task Specific Lists.
- Use the filters at the top of the search box to find the relevant list, or by going through your Inventory List categories.
- To add an entire list to the order, click Select Header, or, add individual items within a list by double-clicking each item.
- Enter the required quantity into the Qty Ord. field for each line item.
- Click Save.
Supplier Catalogues
To add line items directly from a supplier's online catalogue, see Using Supplier Online Catalogues.
Quote Line Items (Order materials from a task only)
| If the task was created from an approved quote, and the quote was built using items from your inventory or an online supplier catalogue, you can click Quoted Items. This will display a list of all the material items from the quote. |  |
All you need to do then is enter the quantities you want to order in the Qty Ord. fields, or simply click the Add All checkbox, then Save.
Using preferred suppliers?
If you've added suppliers to inventory items, you'll have a plus  button when searching for inventory items. Use this if you want to add the item with a particular supplier's settings (e.g. cost and part number). |
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Line Item Fields
Field |
Description |
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| Part No | The part number of the item. |
| In Inv. |
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| Item | The Item name/description. |
| Qty Used | View or record the quantity of items used on the job (Only applicable for Task Purchase Orders) Automatically add new items to task Purchase order items and associated costs are automatically added to Task Materials. For more information, see Purchase Order Settings. |
| Qty Ord | Enter the number of items you want to order (Required Field). |
| Unit Type | Select the unit type that this item is consumed/sold. |
| Supplier Quote No. | This field only appears when using AroFlo's Supplier Connect feature. It updates when adding items from a Reece Branch Quote. |
| Type | Select ‘Mat’ = Materials or 'Fre' = Freight |
| Qty Rec | Used to record the quantity of items received from the supplier. The Qty Rec column heading includes a tick box that allows you to set the quantity received on all line items to the same value as the quantity ordered. The quantity received field becomes colour-coded and read only once a bill has been created for this purchase order. This is because the quantity received is then recorded on a bill. See Check Quantities on a Bill for more information. |
| Qty Billed | The quantity of this item that has incurred a charge from your supplier. See Check Quantities on a Bill for more information. |
| Cost Ex | Used to record the unit cost of the item. When adding ad hoc items, enter the cost or leave it as '0'. If the cost of an inventory item is changed on an order, this will not update the cost field on the inventory card. For more information, see Update Inventory Pricing From Bill. |
| Total Ex | The Total value (excluding Tax). If updated, the system will back calculate the unit Cost Ex. value based on Qty Ordered. |
| Total Inc | The Total value (including Tax). If updated, the system will back calculate the unit Cost Ex. and Total Ex. values. |
| Tax |
Select the appropriate Tax Code from the list.
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| Tracking Centre | Link an existing Tracking Centre to help categorise or group items for reporting purposes. |
| Taken From |
If someone used the item on a task (Qty Used), this field represents the storage location that it was taken from. The location can be changed by clicking the field and selecting a different Stock Holder. This storage location was initially set using the 'Assign Stock To:' field. |
Assigning items
Once you've added items, assign items to a task and/or assign inventory to a user or storage location (optional).
Assign New Items To Task
If ordering stock for scheduled tasks, you can allocate item costs to each task by clicking the Assign New Items To Task 
(magnifier) and selecting from the list.
Add each item using one of the methods above and assign to a task before clicking Save.
If assigning existing items to scheduled tasks, see Moving Purchase Order Items.
Assign Stock To
When adding items to an order, you can assign the stock to a user or storage location.
Add each item using one of the methods above and assign to a user or storage location, before clicking Save.
You can also change the storage location after saving by clicking the location set under the 'Taken From' column. Select a new storage location and click Save.
Users who have been set to not show as a storage location will not appear in the list.
Remember User
The Assign Stock To: field defaults to the user who is currently logged in. The Remember User checkbox allows you to save a selected user as the new default.
A 'remembered user' is based on cookies, so it will only apply to the current device and browser used at the time.
Place your order
There are two ways to send your purchase order to a supplier:
Via Supplier Connect
If you've created your order using an online supplier catalogue, and you have Supplier Connect set up, you can place your order using Supplier Connect.
Once sent, save the purchase order as In Progress, or whatever you generally use for your workflow.
What to do next
Once you've received stock or an invoice from the supplier, the next step is to reconcile your order or just create a bill.
