Packaging PO Lines into a PO

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To package PO lines, you must have one of the following roles:

Purchasing Operator
Purchasing Manager

Packaging PO lines is the process of creating the PO that will be sent to the vendor.

If the Manual packaging option was assigned during PO line creation (in the PO line Summary tab – see Creating PO Lines), PO lines must be packaged manually into POs. If manual packaging was not assigned, PO lines are packaged automatically into a single PO if the PO Line - Packaging job is enabled (see Configuring Acquisition Jobs) and all the following properties match:

Vendor account
Owner
Currency
Continuity – One-time/continuous
Acquisition method
Source type
Ordering Library
Fund (if the po_packed_by_fund parameter is set to true; see Configuring Other Settings)

If the PO line is associated with more than one fund, an error is generated and the PO line must be packaged manually.
The maximum number of PO lines that will be added to each PO is controlled on the Acquisition Jobs Configuration page; see Configuring Acquisition Jobs.

Packaging Within the Purchasing Workflow

You manage PO lines that require manual packaging on the Select PO Line page (Acquisitions > Purchase Order > Package). You can also access this page by selecting the task Order Lines - packaging in the Tasks List in the persistent menu (see Tasks in the Task List).

Select one of the following links beneath a PO line to perform its action:

Edit – Edit the PO line. See Editing PO Line Information
Create new PO – Package the PO line into its own PO. The PO is sent for approval (see Approving and Sending POs). If a purchase order's acquisition method is Purchase, the process stops at the approval stage.
Order Now – Send the PO line to the vendor without waiting for approval (see Approving and Sending POs). If you select this option, the Order Now Letter is sent to you after the order is sent for processing. The vendor receives the order as an Order List Letter. For information on these letters, see Configuring Alma Letters.
Defer – Defer the PO line. See Deferring PO Lines
Relink – Relink the PO line. See Relinking PO Lines
Change Bib Reference – Change the bibliographic reference of the PO line. See Changing Bibliographic Reference
Cancel – Cancel the PO line. See Canceling PO Lines
Delete – Delete the PO line. See Deleting PO Lines

To manually package PO lines into a PO:

On the Select PO Line page (Acquisitions > Purchase Order > Package), select the check box to the left of each PO line you want to include in the PO.
PO lines can be included in the same PO if they are for the same library, have a common vendor, vendor account and common currency, share the same order pattern (one-time/continuous), and share the same acquisition method and source type.
Select Create New PO. The selected PO lines are packaged into a PO and the PO is sent for approval (see Approving and Sending POs).

Reviewing POs

To review POs you must have the following role:

Purchasing Operator

A PO is sent for review if mandatory information is invalid or missing when the PO is created. After correcting or adding the mandatory information, the PO is packaged and moves to the Approval and Sending stage of the workflow (see Approving and Sending POs).

You review PO lines on the Orders in Review page (Acquisitions > Purchase Order > Review). You can also access this page by selecting the task Orders - review in the Tasks List in the persistent menu (see Tasks in the Task List).

To review POs:

On the Purchase Orders in Review page, select Edit in the row actions list for the PO you want to review. The PO Summary page appears.
Edit the fields on the page, as required.
- The required fields are marked with an asterisk and must be completed before the PO can advance to the next stage of the workflow.
- Vendor is view only and may not be edited in the PO Summary. To change a vendor, run Acquisitions > Advanced Tools > Change Vendor in Order. See Changing Vendors in PO Lines and POs.
- When Integrate by ERP Number is selected for the Export Orders (PO) job (see Financial Systems), a PO's ERP number must be filled in for the PO to proceed to the next stage of the workflow. If ERP number is not filled in, the PO is sent to the ERP to receive a number, after which it is re-imported to Alma using the Import PO Approvals job. If the ERP number is filled in, the PO (after it is approved in Alma) is sent to the vendor and the ERP simultaneously.
Select one of the following:
- Save – The PO is saved. Use this option if you are unsure if you want the PO to continue to the next stage of the purchasing workflow.
- Save and Continue – The information you modified is saved, the PO is packaged, and then proceeds to the approval and sending stage of the workflow (see Approving and Sending POs).
When saving a PO line, the expected receipt date of the items associated with the PO line is updated.

To view POs:

On the Purchase Orders in Review page (Acquisitions > Purchase Order > Review), select View in the row actions list for the PO you want to view. The PO Summary page appears. You cannot edit the fields on the page.

To manually add PO lines to an existing PO:

On the Purchase Orders in Review page (Acquisitions > Purchase Order > Review), select Edit in the row actions list for the relevant PO. The PO Summary page appears.
In the PO Line List tab, select Add PO Line. The list of PO lines that can be added to the PO appear.
Note that only PO lines with a status of 'Ready' for manual packaging will appear in the list and are available to add to the PO; see the Summary Tab Fields table in Manually Creating a PO Line.
If the PO Line is 'In Review', it will not display in the list until all errors in the PO Lines's Alerts tab have been resolved and that status changes to 'Ready'.
Select one or more PO lines to add.
Select Select. The PO line(s) is/are added to the PO.

Deleting POs

To delete POs:

On the Purchase Orders in Review page (Acquisitions > Purchase Order > Review), select Delete PO in the row actions list and select Confirm in the confirmation dialog box.

You can also delete a PO from the main menu by selecting Acquisitions > Purchase Order > Delete PO (see Deleting POs).