A purchase order is a form you send to your vendor, requesting any items you want to purchase from them. The purchase order includes the PO (Purchase Order) number, date it was issued, purchase order terms, purchasing agent, and other crucial information. Read on to learn about purchase orders.
Note: Artisan also utilizes purchase requests, which are made either on the Sales Screen when a customer orders something that isn’t in stock and “claims” the item, or automatically when the item’s quantity on hand drops below a certain threshold.
Creating a PO
To create a Purchase Order, click the “New PO” button. Or, select “Create New Purchase Order” from the “Purchasing” button on the “Main Menu.”
Artisan will ask for you to select a vendor. Do so by double-clicking on the vendor, or type their vendor code into the search bar to narrow your selection.
Select Site
If you have more than one store location, Artisan will ask for the Target Site, meaning which location you want to order these items for.
Note: You can change the “Ship-To” and “Target Site” if necessary on the Purchase Order.
For example, let’s say you want the items to ship to Site 1 so you can double-check the quality, though they will be transferred to site 2.
The Purchase Order Options pop-up will ask how you want to start your purchase order.
- Include Purchase Requests for This Vendor (as Preferred Vendor)
- Include ALL Items for this Vendor (with zeros for non-requested items)
- Start with Blank PO (Don’t Include Any Requests)
- “Smart Start”: Set Quantities Based on Sales or Items Created Between Whatever Days you Select
- Option: Also Include Items with This Vendor as an Alternate Supplier
Note: You may also load purchase order details from a PDT (portable data terminal). Click here to learn how.
Vendor
The vendor you selected will show here, along with their address and contact details. You may edit the vendor at any time. Or, you may select a new vendor. Doing so will abandon any work you are doing on this PO.
PO Number
The PO number displays at the middle of the screen. This number is calculated based on how many purchase orders you’ve created in Artisan thus far.
PO Issue Date
This will default to your current day and time you are creating the purchase order. You may backdate the purchase order if necessary.
PO Terms
If the vendor has PO terms established in their vendor record, it will show here. If they do not, this field will be blank.
To view other dates, such as due date for the items, select “ALL DATES.”
Purchasing Agent
This is the person creating or authorizing the purchase order. This defaults to the person currently logged in when the purchase order was first created. You may change this by selecting ALT-5 on your keyboard or pressing the button.
Account Number
If the vendor has an account number in their record, it will display here. If not, this field will be blank.
Include Purchase Requests for This Vendor
This option includes all special orders or sales orders created in Artisan that need to be fulfilled and any products that have been requested by a customer. The customer name and units requested will show in red at the bottom of the screen when the item is selected.
Include All Items for This Vendor
This option includes all products that this vendor sells.
Start With a Blank Purchase Order
This option creates a blank PO that you can add items to.
Start scanning items. Or, click on “Item Search” or hit F2 on your keyboard.
Search for the item(s) in the search bar and select them from the list by double-clicking or hitting “Enter” on your keyboard.
Type in the quantity of the item(s). Note: Any items with a quantity of zero will be removed from the PO.
“Smart Start”
This option starts the purchase order off with quantities from recent sales or recently created items. Input the date range.
Adding Product Variants
If you want, you can add all of a product’s variants to a purchase order.
Click on the base product.
Artisan will ask if you want to include the base product’s variants.
Shipping
Next, head to the “Shipping” tab (below the “Line Items” tab). Choose your shipping method (Ground, Next Day Air, etc.). Fill out your shipping information.
Starting in 4.6, you can include additional addresses. Just click on “Other Addresses” and add a record.
Input the information.
Dates
Next, click on the “Dates” tab. Fill out the fields to determine the date you would like to receive your order.
Also starting with 4.6, you can add Memos and Vendor Order numbers to POs. This is useful if the vendor’s number for your order is different from your PO number.
Save and View PO
When you’re finished, press “Save PO.”
A copy of your PO will open.
Printing Purchase Order
With the Purchase Order open, click on “File,” then “Print” to print the PO, or click on the printer icon.
Exporting Purchase Order
Click on “Report” and “Export,” or the export icon to export the PO as a PDF, XLS document, or other option. Press “OK” when done.
Emailing Purchase Order
Click on “Report,” then “Mail,” or the email icon. In the Mail Report panel, input the email address you’re sending the PO to. Include any relevant information in the body of the email. Press “Send” when finished.
Refreshing Report
If you want to refresh the report before printing, exporting, or emailing, click on “Report,” then “Refresh,” or the refresh icon. This will regenerate the report with the latest information.
If your report is multiple pages, click on “View” and navigate with these options. (In this example, these options are grayed out because we only have one page in this PO).
Once you’re finished with the PO, you can close out.