Module "Purchasing"

Purpose

The Purchasing module covers the entire path from identifying need to paying the vendor. Each step is recorded as a separate document: Purchase Order, Goods Receipt, Vendor Invoice, Payment. The system automatically pulls prices from history, calculates payment due dates per vendor terms, and shows where each order is stuck.

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Purchasing Workbench

The first screen of the Purchasing module — the Purchasing Workbench. You see several things at once:

MRP Suggestions

At the top — a table of items with stock deficit. The system recommends order quantity. You can:

1. Select a vendor group.
2. Click "Create PO" — the system copies items into a new purchase order.

Queue Documents (Queues)

Three configurable queues help you focus:

• Overdue Invoices — vendor invoices with approaching or past due date.
• Orders Without Receipt — confirmed POs not yet fully received.
• Receipts Without Invoice — posted goods receipts not yet matched with vendor invoice.

Each queue row links directly to the document.

Configuring Queue Thresholds

Click Settings on the workbench:

1. For each queue, set Days Threshold:

   • Orders without receipt: warn after N days
   • Receipts without invoice: warn after N days
   • Invoices to pay: warn N days before due date

2. Click "Save" — system remembers and updates queues accordingly.

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Main Scenarios

Scenario 1: PO → Receipt → Invoice → Payment

1. Go to Purchasing → Purchase Orders → New Order.

2. Fill Main Data:

   • Vendor — contact
   • Date of order
   • Warehouse — where goods arrive
   • Currency of order

3. Add Line Items:

   • Select Item.
   • System auto-fills price from last purchase of this item from this vendor.
   • If no history — field stays empty for manual entry.
   • Nearby shows Comparison of recent prices from all vendors.
   • Specify Quantity.
   • System calculates Total (qty × price).

4. Exchange Rate is fixed automatically per system rules on document date (R14).

5. Click "Save" — document in "Draft" status.

6. Click "Confirm" — order becomes "Confirmed".

7. Click "Send to Vendor" (permission: purchasing.order_send):

   • System generates PDF of the order.
   • You download & send to vendor manually (no auto-send).

Scenario 2: Document Chain (ChainBar)

On each document's page, at the top — ChainBar (horizontal chain panel):

Order [✓] → Receipt [ ] → Invoice [ ] → Payment [ ]

Each step shows status and lets you proceed to next. Blue button = recommended next action.

1. From order, click "Create Receipt".
2. Form opens for Goods Receipt with pre-filled line items from order.
3. Verify quantity (may have changed at warehouse).
4. Click "Post" — goods credited to warehouse, costing calculated (FIFO / Average).

5. From receipt, click "Create Invoice".

6. Fill Due Date or leave blank for auto-calculation per vendor payment terms (R15).

7. Click "Post" — system creates entry: Debit Items / Credit Accounts Payable.

8. From invoice, click "Create Payment" or record payment in Cash & Bank to record the payment.

Scenario 3: Documents Feed

The Documents tab on the workbench shows a unified feed of all purchasing documents:

• Filters by type (PO, Receipt, Invoice), period, status, vendor.
• Search by number or vendor name.
• Chain View displays linked docs: PO → Receipt → Invoice in one row.
• Micro-dots near each doc show its chain state.

One look — and you see where the hold-up is.

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Tips

1. Auto-price from history. When adding a line to a PO, the system proposes price in order:

   • Last price from same vendor
   • If none — last price from any vendor
   • If none — empty for manual entry. Context banner shows price source.

2. Price Comparison. On a PO line, click Compare — system shows recent prices of this item from all vendors with dates.

3. Due Date per vendor terms. Leave Due Date blank — system calculates per:

   • Days to Pay field on vendor card (if exists)
   • Tenant default payment terms (if vendor has none) Due date always shown honestly — no hidden rounding.

4. ChainBar always shows state. Even if you navigate to a doc from elsewhere — one glance at the chain panel tells you what's done and what's next.

5. Guide Tab. On the workbench, click Guide — system shows the full purchasing flow from order to payment with explanations for each step.

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Purchasing Guide

On the purchasing workbench, click the Guide tab:

The system shows an interactive map of the entire flow:

• Purchase Order — which button to click, what data auto-fills.
• Goods Receipt — how stock moves, how costing is calculated.
• Vendor Invoice — how due date is computed, what entries are created.
• Due Date — which rules the system uses to set payment term.
• Workbench — how to use the queue view of document statuses.
• Documents Tab — how to find a document in the feed with filters.

For someone new to the team, this is the complete process map.