A purchase order workflow in Acumatica helps organizations manage purchasing activity from the initial order through receiving goods and matching vendor invoices. In this tutorial, we will walk through a general purchase order process, including how to create a purchase order, create a purchase receipt, and generate an AP bill for a three-way match.
This walkthrough focuses specifically on the purchasing side of the process. The payment application process is separate and would typically happen after the AP bill has been approved and released.
In Acumatica, a standard purchasing workflow often includes three main steps:
Together, these steps support the three-way match process, where the purchase order, receipt, and vendor bill are compared to confirm that the ordered, received, and billed quantities and costs align.
To begin, navigate to the Purchases module in Acumatica.
There are several ways to create a new purchase order:
Any of these options will open the Purchase Order Entry screen.
The first step in the purchase order entry screen is to attach the purchase order to a vendor.
If you already know the vendor name, you can type directly into the vendor search field. Acumatica will automatically display matching results.
You can also click the search icon to open the full vendor list. From there, select the vendor you want to use for the purchase order.
Once a vendor is selected, Acumatica automatically populates certain information from the vendor record, such as vendor location, owner, and default vendor details. These fields can typically be overridden if needed.
You can also enter additional header-level information, such as a vendor reference number or description. The date fields, including the purchase order date and promise date, will default based on the current date, but they can also be changed manually.
After entering the header information, click Save.
Once the purchase order header is created, the next step is to add items.
To do so, go to the Details tab. From here, you can add items in a few different ways.
Click Add Row to manually add an inventory item.
In the inventory item field, you can either type to search for a specific item or click the search icon to view the full item list. After selecting an item, Acumatica automatically populates related information, such as the item description, unit of measure, and unit cost.
These values default from the inventory item record, but they can be changed on the purchase order if needed.
Next, enter the order quantity. Once saved, Acumatica updates the order total based on the quantity and unit cost.
You can also click Add Items to select from a list of inventory items.
This option is helpful when adding multiple items at once. The list may filter by vendor-specific items by default, but you can remove that filter to see more results. You can also filter by item class, such as consumer goods, depending on how your system is configured.
Select one or more items, enter the quantities, and click Add and Close. Acumatica will add the selected items to the purchase order and update the order total.
For purchase orders with many line items, Acumatica also allows you to load records from a file, such as an Excel spreadsheet. This can be a useful shortcut when creating large purchase orders with many lines.
After all items have been added, save the purchase order.
The purchase order may initially be placed on hold. To continue processing it, remove the hold.
If purchase order approvals are enabled in your system, removing the hold may move the purchase order into a Pending Approval status. In that case, an approval tab will show who the purchase order has been routed to for approval. The purchase order will remain pending until the assigned approver approves it.
If approvals are not enabled, removing the hold allows the purchase order to continue through the workflow.
Once the items have been received, the next step is to create a purchase receipt.
You can create a purchase receipt in a few different ways:
To create a new receipt from the Purchase Receipts screen, select the same vendor used on the purchase order.
You may see an option to automatically create the AP bill. If this option is selected, Acumatica will create the AP bill as part of the receipt process. If it is not selected, the AP bill can be entered separately later and matched manually.
After creating the purchase receipt, click Add PO.
Acumatica will display a list of open purchase orders for the selected vendor. Choose the purchase order you are receiving against.
You can select one purchase order or multiple purchase orders if the receipt applies to more than one. After selecting the purchase order, click Add and Close.
Acumatica will populate the receipt lines based on the purchase order.
By default, the system assumes you are receiving the full order quantity. If you are only receiving part of the order, you can override the receipt quantity. In that case, the purchase order will remain open until the remaining quantity is received.
If you are receiving the full quantity, review the receipt and release it.
Once the receipt is released, the purchase order status updates to Completed if all items have been fully received.
You can return to the purchase order and open the PO History tab to review related documents. This tab shows the documents connected to the purchase order, including the purchase receipt and AP bill.
If the AP bill was created automatically, it will appear in the PO History tab. You can drill into the AP bill to review the details.
The AP bill may also be placed on hold or routed for approval, depending on your system setup.
If approval workflows are enabled, the AP bill will show who it is assigned to for approval. Once approved and released, the bill can continue to the payment process.
At this point, the purchasing portion of the workflow is complete, and the process can move into AP payment application.
The three-way match compares three key documents:
This process helps confirm that the company is paying only for the items that were ordered and received. It also provides a clear audit trail from the original purchase order through receipt and billing.
Creating a purchase order in Acumatica begins with selecting a vendor and adding inventory items to the order. After the purchase order is saved and released from hold, the items can be received through a purchase receipt. From there, Acumatica can either automatically create the AP bill or allow the bill to be entered and matched manually.
This workflow provides a structured way to manage purchasing activity and supports a complete three-way match between the purchase order, receipt, and AP bill.
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