How to Create a Purchase Order
A Purchase Order is a representation of the purchasing agreement that you have with your Supplier. The Purchase Order encompasses all information related to the supplier contract and outlines the terms of the purchase. Information within the Purchase Order includes the Supplier's address, shipping address, and detailed item information expressed by weight, price, and grade specifications.
To create a new Purchase Order use the Quick Create button on the Purchase Order module in the Orders tab or navigate to Orders > Purchase Orders and click the New Order button provided in the top right corner.
Start by completing the reference fields along the top of the Purchase Order: The Order No field is an automatically generated number, which will be populated once the Purchase Order is saved.
The Reference field is a user assigned reference number that allows you to further track the Order in the system for your Supplier.
The Dept and Trade Type fields are optional and can be used to internally track sales information for distinct divisions of a company and/or distinct financial centers.
The Order-Type drop-down menu allows you to set the Purchase Order as either a Spot, or one-time, Order or a Contract. Purchase Orders that are set up as Contracts can be rolled from month to month using the Contract Roll Forward feature.
The Order Date will determine when the pricing on this Purchase Order becomes effective. Enter the date that the pricing on this agreement is effective or select the first day of the month for a Contract.
An Expiration date may be added to the Purchase Order, if desired.
The Status field is used to indicate whether the order is in Open, Closed, Work, or Review status. The use of the Status field is dependent on your workflow preferences; however, in order to link orders to transactions, the orders must be in Open status.
In the Purchase From section, select the Supplier that you are purchasing from and select the Address that represents the office location where the Purchase Order will be sent. Select the Payment Terms, Shipping Terms, and Ship Via from the drop-down lists provided. If the Supplier selected has default Payment Terms, these will pre-fill when the Customer is selected.
Note: It is now possible to add spot rates & currency contracts at the order level.
In the Ship To section, you have the option to change the ship-from address, if it differs from the Supplier's address. Click to 'Change Destination to Deliver' in order to see the Supplier's list of Ship-From locations.
NOTE: if you select Ship to, the date will say Ship Date. If you choose Pick up from the date will say Pickup date. In the Date field you can also write something like TBD if you do not have a definite date for your Supplier. A Destination Port can also be entered if desired.
To add products to the Purchase Order, click the Add Item button provided in the Products/Grades section. In the Product or Grade field, select the product being sold. Select the appropriate Packaging type from the drop-down list provided and, if applicable, enter the number of Units being sold. If the product being used to fill the order is tracked as another grade, or if the product name doesn't match the Supplier's name, you may manually type in a Description. This Description will be displayed on the Supplier's documentation, while still being tracked in cieTrade.net as the product specified in the Product or Grade field.
NOTE: You can set packing types to different Property Sets in Common Information. The property sets include Lumber, Plastic, Roll, Sheet, and the default setting. The Property Sets will add different fields such as "Color" on the new item screen when adding products to an order.
Enter the Price and price unit of measure and, if applicable, the Quantity being sold and a unit of measure. Click the Save button to add this product to your Purchase Order.
If you selected Contract as the Order Type, the Index Pricing drop-down will appear. Here you can select from your pre-defined list of Index Formulas and cieTrade.net will automatically determine the pricing for you on this PO and all POs going forward.
The Sales Reps field(s) will populate automatically if the Supplier selected has a default Sales Rep.
Finally, you may enter custom Terms & Conditions for your business or for this specific Supplier. To save Terms & Conditions as a template, hover over the 'Select Terms & Conditions' button until the Save icon appears. Click to 'Save Terms & Conditions Template' and name your template prior to hitting the Save Changes button. To select a previously saved template, click 'Select Terms & Conditions' and choose from your personal list.
Click Save in the top right corner to save your new Purchase Order.
To view any of the transactions that reference this Purchase Order, click on the Transactions tab at the top of the worksheet.
This tab will show you information such as Ship Date, Release No, Booking No, etc.
A Price Confirmation can be previewed and either printed or distributed directly to your Customer from the Sales Order form. To preview the Sales Order, use the More Actions menu in the top right corner to select Print Order. A PDF of the Purchase Order will open for you to preview.
The Price Confirmation will also be saved to the Documents tab of the Purchase Order. From there, you can print or email the Price Confirmation directly to your Customer.
To email, check the check box to the left of the document name and select the Email option. An email form will open, allowing you to input the email address(es) and and a subject for your email. Click the Send button in the top right corner of the screen to send your email.
To print, hover over the document name in the list and click the printer icon that appears to the far right.
To watch a short video demonstration, please click here.
If you have additional questions, please contact the Support Team via email to support@cietrade.net.