Manually Creating a PO Line

Creating a PO Line

The procedure for creating a PO line for physical and electronic material is the same, with the exception of specific PO line information that is unique to each material type (noted below).

1. Search for the title for which you want to create a PO line; see Searching in Alma.
   
   Note that you may also use Search External Resources (Resources > Cataloging > Search External Resources) to locate a title such as one from OCLC or the Library of Congress (see Search External Resources). From the Search External Resources results list, select Import to open the record in the MD Editor. In the MD Editor, select Create PO Line & Exit (Ctrl+Alt+O) and the PO Line Owner and Type page opens.
    
2. Select Order in the row actions list to create a main PO line. If the item is an electronic resource and it already has a main PO line attached to it, select Additional Order to create an additional PO line, instead. The PO Line Owner and Type page opens.
   
   PO Line Owner and Type Page
   This is also the page that opens when you select the Create PO Line & Exit icon in the MD Editor.
3. Complete the fields on the PO Line Owner and Type page using the explanation of options provided in the table below.

   Field	Description
   PO line type	Select the PO line type for the PO line. The options at the top of the list are recommended types, which depend on the item you selected to get to this page. Other than for electronic collections and portfolios, all enabled PO line types are available no matter what item you selected to get to this page. Note however that when trying to order an item in a particular format, this does not necessarily mean that any vendor actually has the item in that format (in which case the vendor may reject your order). For an explanation on each type and how an administrator can enable/disable these types, see Enabling/Disabling PO Line Types. Also see Explanation of Purchase Types Workflow and Inventory.  Digital types are not enabled by default. In order to enable them, see the row for enabling digital manual orders in the Digital Manual Order table. Digital PO line types are created with no inventory (both One Time and Continuous), and you need to associate a representation with the PO line. For more information see Digital Manual Orders.
   PO Line Owner	In PO line owner, select the library to own the PO line. This may be different from the library/location for which you are ordering the resource (see step 5). This list is defined by a system administrator; see Adding/Editing Institution Libraries. Only options relevant to your scope as a Purchasing Operator/Purchasing Manager appear in the list.
   Create multiple portfolios	This option appears when the title that you have selected to order has multiple 856 $u entries (URLs) in the bibliographic record, and you have selected an electronic Purchase Type option. When you select this option, a Portfolios List section appears where you can choose specifically which portfolios to order (from the URLs shown in the Portfolios List section). You may select any or all of the portfolios in the Portfolios List section. The portfolios that you select will be associated with the same PO line. See the series of figures below that show an example bibliographic record with multiple 856 $u entries and ordering multiple portfolios by selecting this option. Electronic Resource (Title/Bibliographic Record) with Multiple 856 $u Entries Create Multiple Portfolios Option Selected and the Portfolios List Section Multiple Portfolios (Associated with one PO Line) Created for PO Line For more information about creating multiple portfolios, see the Manual Orders: Create Multiple Portfolios video (5:44 mins). If you do not select Create multiple portfolios, and there are multiple 856 $u entries in the bibliographic record from which you are ordering, Alma randomly chooses one of the 856 $u entries for which to create a PO line.
   Load from Template	Optionally, select a template from which to load the PO line. Templates are created when you select Save as template when creating a PO line (see the last step in this procedure). For more information, see Working with PO Line Templates. (New for November) When loading a template that was saved with the Update Net Price according to item quantity field not checked, this field will be un-checked in the created PO line, even if the po_line_quantity_updated_with_items_number customer parameter is true.
   Generate Barcode Using Sequence	When Alma is configured to automatically generate barcodes (see Configuring Barcode Generation) and you select a one-time print PO line type and a library for PO Line Owner, the Generate Barcode Using Sequence field appears. This field appears for any physical PO line that creates item inventory. These are types enabled on the PO Line Type mapping table (see Enabling/Disabling PO Line Types) with Continuity = One-Time and Inventory Format = Physical. Select one of the following for this field: A library-level barcode sequence profile selected for PO Line Owner (see Configuring Barcode Generation). The institution default is taken if there is not a library-level sequence. The default institution-level barcode sequence profile. No selection If you selected a sequence, then, after you create the PO line, Alma creates an item with the automatically generated barcode.  Automatically Generated Barcode for the Item For orders created with one of the following methods, Alma uses the institution-level default or the library-level default configured for automatic barcode generation depending on the library information identified for the order: EOD From an API (real-time order) Approving a purchase request Receive New Items from the continuous order receiving process
   Assign Inventory Manually	Select this field to prevent Alma from automatically creating an inventory item for the new PO line. This check box does not appear if you are creating a PO line for any standing order (except for Physical - Standing Order Non Monograph), any service, or the options Digital - Non Archiving or Physical - Archiving (both of which imply an order without inventory). If you prevent Alma from creating an inventory item for the PO line, the PO line is created, but new inventory is not created. To attach inventory to the PO line (after step 7), do not select Save and Continue in the last step. Instead, select Save and attach the inventory, as follows: For electronic orders, edit the PO line field of a portfolio in the Electronic Portfolio Editor. For more information, see Editing a Portfolio Using the Electronic Portfolio Editor. For physical continuous orders, associate a PO line with a holding while viewing a list of holdings. For more information, see Working with the List of Holdings. For physical standalone orders, edit the PO line field of an item in the Physical Item Editor. For more information, see Updating Item-Level Information. After attaching the inventory, edit the PO line and proceed with the order workflow. For physical inventory, you must add inventory manually to the PO line before the PO line can proceed to packaging.

4. Select Create PO Line. If you selected Assign Inventory Manually, a confirmation dialog box appears, asking you to confirm that the PO line will be created but inventory will not be created. Select Confirm to continue. The PO Line Summary tab appears. The page is slightly different for electronic orders, mostly with regards to fields in the Ordered Items and Vendor Information sections. Note that digital PO line types are created with no inventory (both One Time and Continuous), and you need to associate a representation with the PO line.

5. The PO Line Summary page header displays basic details about the PO line, including its status, type, and number. If there are any alerts for the PO line, they appear at the top of the page. If the status is Under Evaluation or Under Evaluation (Renewal), the status is selectable. When selected, it displays the associated trial. You can see the complete list of alerts in Configuring Purchasing Review Rules. The creation and update users and dates are displayed when selecting the information icon in the top right corner of the summary box.
6. In the Summary tab, enter the PO line information as required. The table includes the fields for both physical and electronic items.
   A PO line can be associated with either an item or a holdings record. For details on associating a PO line with a holdings record, see Working with the List of Holdings.

   Summary Tab Fields

   Section	Field	Description
   Ordered Items (for physical items)	Number of items to create (required for non-standing orders)	The number of inventory items to create. These items are added to the inventory list in the Ordered Items section. Select Edit or Delete in the row actions list for an item to edit or delete the item. When migrating PO lines without inventory, use this section to create new inventory. To attach existing inventory, see step 6 above.
   	Library/Location	Select the library location (from a list predefined by an administrator) for which you want to order the specified quantity of the item. This may be different from the PO line owner (see step 3). To order the item for an additional library location, select Add or press Enter. Select the additional location for which you want to order the item and define the quantity you want to order for the location in the Number of items to create field. Repeat this procedure for each library location for which you want to order the item. When selecting a new location, you must first select the library in which the location is situated. You can create relationships between libraries to enable the libraries to acquire items for each other (see Configuring Fulfillment Services Between Libraries Within an Institution).
   	Item Policy	Defines the conditions under which a request for this item can be fulfilled. For more information, see Updating Item-Level Information.
   	Receiving note	Add any information that the person receiving the item should be aware of. For example, indicate the intended location of serial or standing order items in which no inventory items are created. The contents of the receiving note is displayed both in the PO line and in the Receive New Material page (Acquisitions > Receiving and Invoicing > Receive; see Receiving Physical Material). When migrating PO lines without inventory, this field contains the library/location information for the permanent location of the item. You can enter multiple lines of text for this field, however note these lines appear as one block of text, without line breaks. This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk
   	Routing during receiving	If selected, a confirmation message appears when receiving the PO line, informing the librarian that the order is marked for routing and the librarian must print the list of interested users. For details on receiving physical material, see Receiving Physical Material.
   	Binding during receiving	If selected, a confirmation message appears when receiving the PO line, informing the librarian that the order is marked for binding and must be sent for binding. For details on receiving physical material, see Receiving Physical Material. Also see Binding (Merging) Items.
   Ordered Portfolios (for electronic items)	Access model	The access model defines how many concurrent end-users can access the electronic resources. The access model also appears in the portfolio. If the access model on the PO line is modified as different than the access model on the portfolio, the portfolio is updated. The access model can also be changed in the Update PO Line Information job. There is an option to search for PO lines via access model. In the simple search, it goes by the code. In the advanced search, there is a dropdown only description. For more information, see Managing Access Models. The field Access Model will appear for the following PO lines: Electronic Book – One Time Electronic Book – Continuous Electronic Journal – One Time Electronic Journal – Subscription Electronic Title – Subscription Electronic Title – One time License Upgrade This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk).  The Access Model field also appears for Digital orders.
   	eResource	The electronic resource to which the PO Line is linked as a main PO line. When migrating PO lines without inventory, use this section to create new inventory. To attach existing inventory, see step 6 above.
   	License	Select a license from the quick pick list to associate with the resource, displayed in the inventory list. For more information on licenses, see Managing Licenses and Amendments. This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk).
   	A table with associated e-resources appears here. The table includes all resources for which this PO line is either the main PO line or an additional PO line. The table includes the following information about each e-resource: Name Type Activation Status Activation Date Additional PO Line - If a green checkmark appears, this PO line is an additional PO line for this e-resource. Select Edit in the row actions list to open the Electronic Portfolio Editor page and edit the resource.
   Ordered Items (for digital items)	License	Select a license from the quick pick list to associate with the resource, displayed in the inventory list. For more information on licenses, see Managing Licenses and Amendments. This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk).
   	Access model	The access model defines how many concurrent end-users can access the electronic resources. The access model also appears in the portfolio. If the access model on the PO line is modified as different than the access model on the portfolio, the portfolio is updated. The access model can also be changed in the Update PO Line Information job. There is an option to search for PO lines via access model. In the simple search, it goes by the code. In the advanced search, there is a dropdown only description. For more information, see Managing Access Models. This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk).
   Vendor Information To change the vendor after saving or sending the PO line, see Changing Vendors in PO Lines and POs.	Material supplier (required)	The vendor supplying the material being ordered; select from the quick pick list. When searching, from the third character on a dropdown list appears, and displays the first ten vendors that begin with the sequence of letters you typed. This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk).
   	Access provider (for electronic items only)	The vendor interface of the material being ordered; select from the quick pick list. See Editing Vendor Interface Information. This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk).
   	Claiming grace period (days)	A grace period (in days) after the expected receipt/activation date, after which the PO line is sent to the claims task list (see Processing Claims). The default value is taken from the Claiming grace period field on the Vendor Account Details page (Acquisitions > Acquisitions Infrastructure > Vendors) for one-time PO lines, and from the Subscription grace period field on the Vendor Account Details page for continuous PO lines. This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk.
   	Expected receipt/activation after ordering (days) or Expected receipt/activation date Enter a value in only one of these fields. If you enter a value in both fields, the Expected receipt/ activation after ordering (days) field is ignored. If both fields are left empty, the expected receipt date defaults to the date that the PO line is sent to the vendor.	Either select the number of days after ordering that you expect physical orders to be received or electronic orders to be activated, or select the expected receipt/activation date from the Calendar pop-up. This value is used to calculate the claim date (see Processing Claims). The default value appearing for the Expected receipt/activation after ordering (days) field is taken from the Vendor Account Details page (see Adding a Vendor and Vendor Account ). This field does not appear when creating PO lines without inventory (including digital PO lines). When a value is entered in this field, the c.uresolver.getit2.item_list..ACQ.with_expected_date label is invoked in the Primo Get It tab and appears as On order until <date>. When no value is entered in this field, the c.uresolver.getit2.item_list..ACQ.with_no_expected_date label is invoked in the Primo Get It tab and appears as On Order. You can customize the values that appear by using the Discovery Interface Labels Code Table page (see Configuring Labels). To invoke the labels for continuous orders, create a holdings record with a prediction pattern. See Prediction Patterns.
   	E-Activation due after ordering (for electronic items only)	The number of days after ordering that the activation task is due. When the due date passes, the Notify E-Activation Due letter is sent to the user that is assigned the e-resource activation task and an alert is displayed in the user’s list of tasks. For information on creating a default due date, see Configuring Other Settings. For more information, see Managing Electronic Resource Activation. For more information, see the Due Date Added to Activation Tasks List video (6:35 mins).
   	Subscription interval (for continuous physical items only)	Whether prediction patterns are in use or not, the receipt interval, in days, of the continuous order (such as 30 for monthly, 90 for quarterly, and so forth.) See also Prediction Patterns. This value is used to calculate the claim date (see Processing Claims). For information on handling items with different receiving intervals, see the explanation for the Technical acquisition method in the table below (Acquisition Methods).
   	Reclaim Interval (days)	When populated, Alma will send reclaim letters at the defined interval after the initial claim letter is sent. If the field is not populated, a reclaim letter will not be sent. When this field is populated on the Vendor Account Details page it is copied to the corresponding field in the PO line page when the specific vendor account is selected, any change on the Reclaim Interval (days) field in the PO line details page will take effect and will be the actual value.
   Pricing	List price (required)	The list price for a single copy of the item, and select the currency from the field to the right of this field. For values less than 1, enter a leading 0. For example, 0.44, not .44.
   	Discount (%)	The discount, if any, to be applied.Alma automatically calculates the total price for the PO line based on the list price for each copy, the discount, and the number of copies being ordered. The total price of the PO line is displayed in the Net price field. This value is pre-filled if the vendor has a defined Account discount percent. See Adding a Vendor and Vendor Account. Updating the parameters in Vendor Account will only impact PO lines created after the change. it will not automatically update all existing PO lines from this vendor account.
   	Quantity for pricing	The number of items to be paid for. Indicate a number between 1 and 100. The total price for the PO line equals the quantity for pricing multiplied by the list price. Note that the Quantity for pricing and the Number of items to create (for physical items) may be different if you have obtained discounted pricing through a deal such as "buy two items and get a third item at no additional charge". Learn more about this feature in the PO Line Pricing for Multiple Items video (2:27 mins).
   	Amount Paid in Current FP	The total amount paid so far during the current fiscal period. This field appears only when viewing or editing the PO line after it was created, and only for subscription orders. It is a calculated value at the time of editing and is therefore not searchable.
   	Update Net Price according to item quantity	(Relevant only for physical PO lines) This reflects the number of ordered items within the Quantity for pricing field. When the checkbox is enabled, the Quantity for pricing amount is updated automatically once the user adds/removes items, and as a result, the Net Price field is also updated. The Update Net Price according to item quantity checkbox is enabled by default when creating new PO lines. If you want to disable this checkbox by default for newly created PO lines, go to; Configuration Menu > Acquisitions > Other Settings and customize the po_line_quantity_updated_with_items_number parameter and set it to False. PO lines created by EOD, API, or purchase requests do not have the new checkbox enabled by default.
   	Discount (amount)	This field enables users to insert a specific discount amount that is automatically calculated and reflected in the Discount (%) field. Alma always looks at the Discount (%) field in order to reflect the actual Net Price. When a user populates the Discount (amount) field, a 0.01 difference between the net price and the list price may occur.
   Funding	Fund (required)	The fund; select Add Row to select from the quick pick list and enter the other values. While the default option is one fund with 100 percent allocation, you can distribute the cost of a PO line among several funds. To add a fund to the list, select the fund, stipulate the percentage of the cost to be covered by the fund, and select Add Fund or press Enter. The funds are displayed as links in the Fund Name column and can be selected to open transactions related to the PO line for that fund. A fund is available for a PO line if it serves the library of the PO line owner, is active, allocated, and is covered by the current fiscal period, or if fund rules allow encumbrance outside of the fiscal period. The fund may not necessarily have money in its balance at the time of ordering. When the PO line is saved, an encumbrance transaction is created. If an amount other than 100% is allocated to funds, select Redistribute Lines to re-allocate the fund amount percentages, based on each fund’s respective amount.
   	Percent	The percentage of the List price value still available for fund allocation. When the Amount field is updated, the value of this field updates accordingly.
   	Amount	The amount of the List price value still available for fund allocation. When the Percent value is updated, the value of this field updates accordingly.
   PO Line Details	Acquisition method	The type of acquisition method for the PO line. For details on the available acquisition methods, see the following table (Acquisition Methods). To enable or disable methods, or to configure the default method, see Configuring Acquisition Methods. This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk).
   	Material type	The type of material—such as book, electronic journal, or CD-ROM—that the item represents. The available options differ depending on whether the item is physical or electronic. For information on customizing material type labels, see Configuring Physical Item Material Type Descriptions. When the material type in a PO line is updated, all items are updated with the material type. This field does not appear when creating PO lines without inventory. Note that digital PO line types are created with no inventory (both One Time and Continuous), and you need to associate a representation with the PO line. For details on creating representations for digital PO lines, see Manual Digital Orders. This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk).
   	No Charge	If you need to create a PO line without any charge, but the Acquisition method, such as License Upgrade, still requires one, this check box appears. When selected, the Funding and Pricing sections are hidden. When the PO line is saved with the check box selected, any ENC transactions on the PO line are deleted, or the transactions will not be created for new orders. The field is visible when the PO line has any of the following acquisition methods: License Upgrade, Purchase, Approval Plan, or Purchase at Vendor System.
   	Invoice Status	This field is set by default to No Invoice and should not be modified. Alma automatically updates this field as required. When an invoice arrives and the invoice line is associated with the PO line: If the PO line is a one-time PO line, the invoice status is set by default to Fully Invoiced, assuming that this is the only invoice for the PO line. However, you can modify the invoice line status using the Fully invoiced field in the Add Invoice Line dialog box (see Add Invoice Line Dialog Box Fields) and thereby modify the PO line invoice status. When an EDI invoice is loaded, if the total number of items in an invoice line (added to the number of items in all previously linked invoices to this PO line) is less than the number of items in the associated PO line, the PO line is marked Partially Invoiced. If the PO line is continuous, the invoice status is always Partially Invoiced because it is assumed that invoices are received periodically and the continuous PO line is never fully invoiced. This impacts the PO line workflow as follows: If a one-time PO line is set to Fully Invoiced and items are received/activated, the PO line is closed. If the PO line is set to Partially Invoiced, it remains in the Waiting for Invoice Status until it is changed (manually or by receiving a new invoice) to Fully Invoiced. The invoice status is set to Fully Invoiced when the ordered items is equal to or less than the invoiced items in all related invoice lines. When an invoice/invoice line is deleted, or a PO line is removed from the invoice line, Alma checks if the PO line has another invoice line related to it and the PO line status. If the status is active and there are no more related invoice lines, the invoice status is set to No Invoice. Deleting an invoice removes the expenditure and recalculates the disencumbrance. To remove the disencumbrance (when removing the only invoice associated with the PO line), manually set the PO line's Invoice Status to Partially Invoiced. See Creating an Invoice From a PO or Manually. This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk).
   	Rush	Whether you want to rush the order of this item. The rush icon appears next to relevant items on PO line details pages. This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk).
   	Manual packaging	Whether to enable manual packaging of the PO line into a PO. For details on packaging PO lines, see Packaging PO Lines into a PO. This field is updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk).
   	Cancellation restriction	Whether to display a cancellation restriction note containing a warning upon the cancellation of a PO line. (To then continue with the cancellation of the PO line, the user must select Confirm.) The Cancellation Restriction icon appears next to the relevant items on the PO line details pages.
   	Cancellation restriction note	The text of the warning to be displayed when canceling a PO line.
   	Identifier	The ISBN/ISSN of the item to be ordered. By default, this field is populated by the first identifier listed in the bibliographic/imported record’s ISBN/ISSN (020/022) field. You can select a different value. If the ISBN number is 13 digits and the display_isbn_13_in_predefined_result parameter is enabled, all 13 digits are displayed. If the parameter is disabled, the identifier will display 10 digits. See Configuring Other Settings.
   	Proposed Identifier	An identifier indicating which ISBN/ISSN of the item to order.
   	Vendor reference number	A reference number for the PO line in Alma, as provided by the vendor. Serves as a matching point for identifying a PO line in Alma. When communicating with an EDI vendor, the SLI field is the Vendor reference number matching point. The LI field is the matching point for the PO line reference number. This field is also used as a matching point for Update Inventory import profiles.
   	Vendor reference number type	The types of vendor reference number. The available options are predefined by Ex Libris.
   	Note to vendor	Any notes for the vendor.
   	Vendor invoice number	Appears when the PO line was uploaded from an EOD file. See Importing Records Using an Import Profile.
   Reporting Codes		Additional classifications of fund attributes. To configure these codes, see Configuring Reporting Codes. These fields are updated by the Update PO Lines Information job (update PO Lines in bulk)
   Renewal	For more information, see Editing PO Line Information – Renewals.
   Additional (this section appears collapsed by default)	Associated PO lines	Enter an associated PO line, or select Find to the right of the field to select an associated PO line from a displayed list. You can only associate the current PO line to one other PO line.  If we open the associated PO line and navigate to its Associated PO Lines tab, we see the current PO line from above  (see Associated PO Lines tab). A PO line can have multiple PO lines that it was associated from.   One use-case for this field is if you are ordering multi-part serials. It is recommended that you have one, main PO line (with fund information) for the subscription and an additional Technical PO line for each item that you are to receive at a different interval.    When canceling a PO line, a warning message appears if there are PO lines in the Associated PO Lines tab.
   	Source type	The source from which the current PO line originated. For imported lines, select the link to open the relevant page containing the source details; for example, the MARC Record Simple View page, or the Import Job Details page.
   	Additional PO line reference	The reference code by which you want to identify the current PO line. This can be any free text or information that references the PO Line, e.g. an identifier that can used by EOD, etc... Note: "Additional" here refers to the reference; this field has nothing to do with whether the PO line is a main PO line or an additional PO line.

   Acquisition Methods

   Acquisition Method	Description
   Approval Plan	An agreement is in place that the vendor sends whatever the vendor determines is necessary to the institution, in EOD format. Such PO lines are not sent to the vendor, but they are packaged into POs and marked as sent until they are received/activated. Pricing and fund information is mandatory for this method. The behavior of this method is identical to that of the Purchase at Vendor System method, with the exception of its display in a report.
   Depository	The institution agrees to host government publications and make them freely available. The behavior of this method is identical to that of the Exchange, Gift, and Technical methods, with the exception of its display in a report. (Such PO lines are not sent to the vendor, but they are packaged into POs and marked as sent until they are received/activated.) Pricing and fund information are not mandatory for this method. The Material supplier value can be a governmental organization.
   EBA	Evidence Based Acquisition: The institution deposits an EBA credit with the vendor, to be used on future eBook purchases, and subscribes for a specified period of time, at no charge, to a particular vendor collection. Towards the end of the subscription period, the vendor provides the institution with statistics describing the institution's usage of the titles in the collection. The institution then uses its EBA credit to purchase perpetual access to the eBooks in the collection that its patrons used the most during the subscription period. For additional information, see Real-Time Ordering.
   Exchange	The institution agrees to exchange resources with another institution. The behavior of this method is identical to that of the Depository, Gift, and Technical methods, with the exception of its display in a report. (Such PO lines are not sent to the vendor, but they are packaged into POs and marked as sent until they are received/activated.) Pricing and fund information are not mandatory for this method. The Material supplier value can be another library. For more information on the exchange method, see Suggested Workflow for Acquisitions Exchange Program.
   Gift	The resource is granted as a gift from the vendor to the institution. The behavior of this method is identical to that of the Depository, Exchange, and Technical methods, with the exception of its display in a report. (Such PO lines are not sent to the vendor, but they are packaged into POs and marked as sent until they are received/activated.) Pricing and fund information are not mandatory for this method. The Material supplier value can be a private individual or a non-commercial organization.
   Legal Deposit	Legal Deposits allow a zero value for a PO to coexist with a notification to the vendor, requiring neither funds nor a price to send out different versions of the PO line order letter. See Working With Legal Deposits.
   Purchase	The institution purchases the resource and, when the PO is approved, sends the order and renewals to the vendor by EDI or email. For details on managing vendors and vendor accounts, see Managing Vendors. If the parameter po_line_send_notification_to_vendor_on_renewal is set to true on the Mapping Table page for Other Settings (in Acquisitions Configuration), notification is sent to a vendor when a subscription is renewed (see Configuring Other Settings).
   Purchase at Vendor System	A purchase is handled using an external vendor system. Such PO lines are not sent to the vendor, but they are packaged into POs and marked as sent until they are received/activated. Pricing and fund information is mandatory for this method. The behavior of this method is identical to that of the Approval Plan method, with the exception of its display in a report.
   Technical	Relevant for service subscription orders without inventory or items that have migrated from an external system. Often used for multi-part orders where you pay once and receive multiple resources. If you are ordering multi-part serials, it is recommended that you have one, main PO line (with fund information) for the subscription and an additional Technical PO line for each item that you are to receive at a different interval. You then associate each Technical PO line with the main PO line. If you are working with a mixed print and electronic order, it is recommended that you have one, main PO line (with fund information) for the electronic inventory and an additional Technical PO line for the printed material (so that you can receive this material). You then associate the Technical PO line with the main PO line. The behavior of this method is identical to that of the Depository, Exchange, and Gift methods, with the exception of its display in a report. Pricing and fund information are not mandatory for this method.

7. In the Description tab, modify the fields as required. All fields (except Identifier Type) are free text and for informational purposes only.
   The PO line description is an entity that is created at the time of the PO line creation and is not connected to, or influenced by, the bibliographic information of the related record. This means, for example, that if a PO line is created for a title Introduction to Chemistry, the PO line description title will be Introduction to Chemistry. If, at a later point in time, the title changes to Introduction to Organic Chemistry, the PO line description title will not automatically change. If you want to have the PO line description title updated as a result of a changed bibliographic record title, you may do so using the PO line's Change Bib Reference link or selecting the Reload Bib Data button.
   • For Access Service Subscription, Database Service One Time, Digital Non Archiving, Other Service One Time, Other Service Subscription, and Physical Archiving orders, the only field is Description.
   • For Electronic Book One Time, Electronic Book Standing Order, Electronic Book Subscription, Electronic Title One Time, Electronic Title Standing Order, Map, Musical Score, Physical One Time, Physical Standing Order Monograph, Physical Standing Order Non Monograph, Print Book One Time, and Print Book Standing Order orders, the fields are:
     • Title
     • Author
     • Identifier
     • Publication Place
     • Publication Date
     • Series
     • Binding
     • Vendor's Title Number
     • Identifier Type
     • Publisher
     • Edition
     • Volume/Part/Number
     • Language
   • For Electronic Journal One Time, Electronic Journal Subscription, Print Journal Subscription, Print Journal One Time, Physical Subscription, and Electronic Title Subscription orders, the fields are:
     • Title
     • Identifier
     • Vendor's Title Number
     • Publisher
     • Frequency
     • Language
     • Binding
     • Identifier Type
     • Publication Place
     • Publication Date
     • Start/End
   • For Microform and Mixed Material orders, the fields are:
     • Title
     • Author
     • Identifier
     • Publication Place
     • Publication Date
     • Series
     • Vendor's Title Number
     • Identifier Type
     • Publisher
     • Language
     • Volume/Part/Number
   • For Electronic Collection One Time and Electronic Collection Subscription orders, the fields are:
     • Title
     • Vendor's Title Number
     • Publisher
     • Language
     • Publication Place
     • Publication Date
     • Binding
   • For Manuscript orders, the fields are:
     • Title
     • Vendor's Title Number
     • Identifier
     • Publication Place
     • Publication Date
     • Author
     • Identifier Type
     • Publisher
     • Language
   • For Physical Computer File One Time, Physical Computer File Subscription, Remote Computer File One Time, Remote Computer File Subscription, and Visual Material orders, the fields are:
     • Title
     • Author
     • Identifier
     • Publication Place
     • Publication Date
     • Series
     • Region Code
     • Vendor's Title Number
     • Identifier Type
     • Publisher
     • Language
     • Volume/Part/Number
     • Format
8. In the Alerts tab, view the alerts that were generated for the PO line.
   The following is a list of the most common alerts generated by Alma. You can see the complete list of alerts in Configuring Purchasing Review Rules.
   • Waiting for Renewal – This alert is generated when the calculated Renewal date for an automatic renewal is later than the Subscription to date. The PO line for the renewal appears in the Waiting for Renewal task list with this alert.
   • There is an active, duplicated order # for this ordered resource – This alert is generated when there is a duplicated order for the resource.
   • Mandatory information is missing or erroneous – If mandatory information is missing or is erroneous, select Edit in the row actions list to complete or correct the information.
   • Order already exists in the inventory – If the ordered resource already exists in your inventory, you can view the items in your inventory that match the ordered item.
   • Overdue PO line – The PO line has not been received/activated within the expected number of days after placing the order or by the expected receipt/activation date (see Processing Claims).
   • Open claims exist for this PO line – The PO line has been sent to the claims task list (see Processing Claims).
9. In the Invoice Lines tab, view, add, or edit any invoice lines associated with the PO line. For information on invoice lines, see Creating an Invoice From a PO or Manually.
   • The available options depend on your privileges.
   • A PO line may be associated with many invoice lines, but an invoice line may be associated with only one PO line.
10. In the Associated PO Lines tab, you can view the PO lines that associated themselves to this PO line whether manually in the Associated PO line field (see the Additional section for the Summary tab) or automatically.
    The filter on this tab is for the Association Type column; the filter can have one of the following values:
    • All - Display all associated PO lines.
    • Same title - Display PO lines associated to resources with the same title as the resource as this PO line.
    • Same Inventory Resource - Display PO lines associated with the same item (or portfolio or representation) as this PO line.
    • User defined relation - Display PO lines manually associated to this PO line by a user.
11. In the Communications tab, start a new communication with the vendor or, if a communication already exists, you can enter details of the reply from the vendor and/or follow up on the communication with your reply to the vendor. For details on this tab, see Communicating with Vendors.
12. In the Interested Users tab, you manage the users interested in the acquisition. Interested users are always notified about changes in the PO line. You can configure whether an interested user is also notified when the item is received or activated, renewed, or canceled, and whether a hold is placed on the item for the user. The notification is sent as an Interested in Letter. The requester of the purchase request is automatically defined as an interested user.
    
    To add an interested user, select Add interested users. In the box that opens, search for the user, optionally select any of the following options (when available), and then select Add User. The user is added as an interested user.
    • The Interested Users tab appears only in PO lines that have inventory. PO line types defined with a material type of Generic in the PO line type mapping table do not have this tab. For information on the PO line type mapping table, see Enabling/Disabling PO Line Types.
    • To delete interested users on closed and canceled PO lines, use the po_line_remove_interested_users parameter (see Configuring Other Settings (Acquisitions)). When the weekly PO Line - Delete interested users system job runs, all applicable interested users are removed (see Viewing Scheduled Jobs).
    • Notify user upon receiving/activation – This option is not selected by default. When selected, Alma sends an email to the user when the item arrives at the library's receiving department. An email is sent only if this is selected and an email address is configured for the user. 
    • Hold item – This option appears only when working with physical items. When selected, Alma will create a hold request when the item leaves the Acquisition Department, but not before. If the item is kept in the department (a work-order request for the Acquisitions department exists), the hold request will be created when the post-receiving processing is completed. When the hold request is created, the Requester will be the interested user from the PO line and the Creator will be the receiving operator. The item’s request date is the same as the PO line's order date. If other requests exist for the item, request priority is handled according to role, as configured by the institution. The pickup location is the circulation desk of the item’s location, as specified in the PO line. 
    • Notify upon renewal – This option is clear by default. This option appears only for continuous orders. When selected, Alma sends the Notify Upon Renewal letter to the user when the order is sent to manual renewal. An email is sent only if this is selected and an email address is configured for the user.  
    • Notify upon cancelation - This option is clear by default. When selected, Alma sends an email to the user when the order is canceled. An email is sent only if this is selected and an email address is configured for the user. The email sent uses the Interested In Letter. When the order is cancelled it automatically changes the original text of this letter to say “Order was cancelled”.
13. In the History tab, view a list of the changes that have been made to the fields of the PO line after it was first created and saved. These include changes in status, price, and fund distribution. (Notes or attachments that are added to the PO line are not listed in the tab.) For details, see History Tab.
    Changes to a fund, price, fund percentage, or anything else that affects the transaction (encumbrance, expenditure, disencumbrance) appear with the value Transaction Item in the Field Name column. This may be the result of a system process, such as a rollover.
14. In the Notes tab, add, update, or delete notes for the PO line. For details, see Notes Tab.
15. In the Attachments tab, add, update, or delete attachments for the PO line. For details, see Attachments Tab.
16. After you enter the PO line information, select one of the following from the top actions. If you save the PO line and the ordered item's record is brief, you may receive a warning and a confirmation dialog box. See Working with Brief Record Levels for more information about brief records.
    • Save and continue – The information you entered is saved and the PO line continues to the following stage of the workflow (review rules are not checked). For more information on the purchasing workflow, see Purchasing Workflow. If there are any alerts for the PO line, they appear in a confirmation dialog box. You can see the complete list of alerts in Configuring Purchasing Review Rules.
      If you selected Assign Inventory Manually when you started this process, select Save to store the PO line, attach the inventory to the PO line, re-edit the PO line, ensure that all remaining fields are complete and correct, and then select Save and continue.

      When the following scenario applies, that the "PO Line - Packaging" job is enabled and "Manual packaging" is checked in the PO Line and the PO Line package job configuration is setup (Configuration Menu > Acquisitions > General > Acquisitions Jobs Configuration), clicking Save and Continue for such PO lines renders their status changed to Auto Packaging.

       

      Afterwards, when the scheduled "PO Line - Packaging" job runs, it checks all of the PO lines in that status and packages them together based on Vendor account, Owner, Currency, Acq method, Fund, and so forth into a single PO.

    • Save – The information you entered is saved, and the PO line remains in its current workflow stage (if you just created the PO line manually, it remains In Review). Use this option if you are assigning inventory manually, if you are unsure if you want the PO line to continue to the following stage of the purchasing workflow, or if you are editing PO lines from the Claims page.
      If you are editing PO lines from the Claims page, select Save to store the information you modified.
    • Save and Request Evaluation – The information you entered is saved and a trial is requested. Use this option if the PO line is assigned to you but you do not have the Trial Operator/Trial Manager role. The PO line’s status changes to Under Evaluation and moves to the Manage Trials page with the status Requested, where the Trial Operator/Trial Manager can access it and continue with step 3 in the evaluation workflow. This option is available only for electronic PO lines that create inventory.
    • Save and Start Trial – The information you entered is saved and a trial is started. Use this option if you have the Trial Operator/Trial Manager role, the PO line is assigned to you, and you want to start the trial. The PO line’s status changes to Under Evaluation and the Trial Details page opens (continue with the evaluation workflow at step 3). This option is available only for electronic PO lines that create inventory.
    • Order now – Initiates the processing of the order for the PO line, by moving the PO line to the purchasing workflow where it is normalized and validated before being packaged (step 4 in the Purchasing workflow) and sent. For more information on packaging PO lines, see Packaging PO Lines into a PO. If you select Order Now, an Order Now Letter is sent to you after the order is sent for processing, and the vendor receives the order as an Order List Letter. For information on these letters, see Configuring Alma Letters.
    • Cancel line – The PO line is canceled (see Canceling PO Lines).
    • Defer – The PO line is deferred and appears in the Review Deferred task list until it is either reactivated (moved back to step 2 of the regular purchasing workflow) or canceled. For more information on deferring PO lines, see Deferring PO Lines.
    • Integrate with OASIS - For a PO line that has OASIS in the Material Supplier field, you can select this button to automatically send the order to OASIS. See Check Availability and Pricing.
    • Relink – Changes the bibliographic record to which the PO line is linked (see Relinking PO Lines).
    • Delete – Deletes the PO line (see Deleting PO Lines).
    • Change Bib Reference – Changes the bibliographic record of the PO line. See Changing Bibliographic Reference.
    • Save as template —The entered field values are saved as part of a template. See Working with PO Line Templates.

Working with PO Line Templates

Communicating with Vendors