Deferring PO Lines
This page describes how to defer PO lines including reviewing, editing, reactivating and relinking deferred PO lines. It also describes how to cancel a deferred PO line and how to send a deferred PO line for packaging into a PO. For the overall deferral workflow see Deferring PO Line Workflow. For information on the overall purchasing workflow see Purchasing Workflow. For an overview of working with acquisitions in Alma, including links to relevant sections such as Infrastructure, Invoicing, Configuration, etc., see Introduction to Acquisitions.
To defer PO lines, you must have the following role:
- Purchasing Operator
PO lines whose Workflow Step is In Review, Manual Packaging, or Ready (packaged into a PO that has not yet been approved) can be deferred (see Deferring PO Line Workflow). If its Workflow Step is Ready, you must remove it from its PO before you can defer it. If it is the only PO line in the order, the order is deleted when you remove the PO line from it.
Deferring a PO Line
You can defer any PO line except those with the Acquisition method of Approval plan or Purchase at vendor system.
To defer a PO line:
- In the Purchase Order Lines task list (Acquisitions > Purchase Order Lines > All PO Lines), locate the PO line; see Searching for PO Lines.
- If the PO line is already packaged into a PO (i.e., its Workflow Step is Ready), from the row actions of the PO line, select Remove from Order, and then, in the Remove from Order dialog box, select Confirm. The Workflow Step of the PO line is changed to In Review, and it is removed from the order.
- In the row actions list for the PO line, select Defer. The Deferring PO Line dialog box opens.
Deferring PO Line Dialog Box - Select a date in the Deferral reminder field.
- Select a Reason for the deferral. Reasons are predefined by an administrator (see Configuring PO Line Deferral Reasons).
- Optionally, enter a Note.
- Select Save. The PO line is deferred and its Workflow Step is changed to In Review (see Reviewing Deferred PO Lines). If this is the only PO line in the PO, the PO is canceled and is removed from the Purchase Orders in Review page.
The PO Line - Deferred job runs daily to check the deferral date against the current date. If the two dates are the same, an alert, Reminder date is arrived, is attached to the PO line. At the same time, a reminder that the deferral date has arrived appears in the deferred PO lines task list. The reminder appears in the Dashboard task list only on the Deferral reminder date. After that date, the PO line appears on the Review Deferred page with the task label Deferred PO lines waiting for your handling until one of the following is done:
- The PO line is reactivated or canceled.
- The deferral reminder date is changed to a future date.
Reviewing Deferred PO Lines
You can locate deferred PO lines that require review in the PO Lines task list by using the facets to filter the list. (For information about working with the facets, see New Layout 2022.) Once you have located a deferred PO line that you want to manage, you can edit, reactivate, package, relink, or cancel them, as explained below.
When the PO Lines task list (Acquisitions > Purchase Order Lines > All PO Lines) is already open:
To filter the PO lines so that only deferred PO lines are displayed:
- In the facets, under Workflow Step, select Deferred.
To filter the PO lines so that only deferred PO lines that have already reached their deferral dates are displayed:
- In the facets, under Alerts, select Reminder date is arrived.
You can also open the PO Lines task list with two facets, Assigned to Me and Deferred, selected, so only deferred PO lines that are assigned to you appear in the list.
To open the PO Lines task list and only display those deferred PO lines that are are assigned to you:
- Navigate to Acquisitions > Purchase Order Lines > Review Deferred.
To open the PO Lines task list and only display those deferred PO lines that are are assigned to you and have reached their deferral dates:
- In the persistent menu, in the Tasks list, select Order Lines > Deferred - assigned to you (see Tasks in the Task List).
PO Lines Task List Filtered to Display Deferred PO Lines that Are Assigned to Me
Reactivating Deferred PO Lines
Reactivating a deferred PO line means that you remove the deferral from the PO line, normalize and validate it, and move it back into the stage of the purchasing workflow that it had reached before deferral. If the PO line is complete, it moves to the packaging stage of the workflow.
To reactivate a deferred PO line:
- In the PO Lines task list, in the row actions of the PO line, select Reactivate, and then, in the Confirmation Message dialog box, select Confirm.
Editing Deferred PO Lines
You can edit a deferred PO line as you would any other PO line; see Editing PO Line Information. To change the Deferral reminder date and the Deferring reason, reactivate the PO line and then defer it again.
Sending a Deferred PO Line for Packaging into a PO
You can reactivate a deferred PO line and send it directly to packaging. When you initiate this process, the PO line is normalized and validated. If normalization and validation succeed, the PO line moves to the packaging stage of the workflow, where it is packaged into a PO. If normalization and validation does not succeed, the PO line is sent for review to be corrected, and its Workflow Step becomes In Review. You receive a message (Order Now Letter) after the order is sent to the vendor. For information on the Order Now Letter, see Configuring Alma Letters.
For details on the packaging stage of the workflow, see Packaging PO Lines into a PO.
You can only send a deferred PO line directly to packaging if it is either assigned to you or unassigned.
To package a deferred PO line into a PO:
- In the PO Lines task list, in the row actions of the PO line, select Order Now, and then, in the Confirmation Message dialog box, select Confirm.
Relinking Deferred PO Lines
See Relinking PO Lines.
Cancelling Deferred PO Lines
See Cancelling PO Lines.