Purchase Orders

User Personas: Project Manager | Field User

Purchase Orders (POs) in eSUB Fusion authorize purchase transactions between a buyer and a vendor. The PO tool is robust yet flexible and lets you track material commitments, vendor correspondence, PO statuses, shipments, and invoice totals against the materials ordered as items are received.

To perform the actions described in this article, you must have the Purchase Orders - General Permissions, Edit Receiving Tab, Share, Change Status to Complete, and Change Status to Void permissions.

Use the links below to jump to a topic:

• View and Manage the PO Log
  • PO Log Features
  • Download, Generate a PDF, and Email a PO
    • Email PO
    • PDF Display Options
  • PO Statuses
  • Export the PO Log
• Create PO
  • PO Sections
    • Revisions
  • PO Numbering
  • PO Lines Tab Features
  • Receiving Tab Features
• Create a Request for Pricing
• Committing Material Purchases and Other Expenses
• Record Shipments
  • Set Up Receiving Tab Permissions
  • Attach Invoices and Order Slips

• Add Vendors 

• PO Settings
• Permissions
• FAQ

If your organization uses the eSUB Public API to connect Fusion to an external system, Purchase Orders may show additional integration behavior: a Submit action, integration status chips, and locking after submission. See Public API - Document Submission and Locking for details. If your organization does not use the Public API, none of this appears on your Purchase Orders.

View and Manage the PO Log

1. Select Projects on the global navigation menu, then select the desired project from the list.
2. Select Purchase Orders from the slide-out menu.
3. Use the sort and filter icons on the log to refine the list.
4. Select a PO to view it.

PO Log Features

Search, Sort, and Filter the Log

• Use the Search bar at the top of the page to enter your search criteria.
• The filter funnels in the column headers can be used to make your desired filtering selections.

  • Clicking on the column-header description will sort the data in the log in ascending or descending order based on the contents of the column.

    

• To quickly adjust the status of a PO, select the corresponding status badge drop-down menu.

• Previous versions of revised POs can be hidden or shown with the Show Revised On/Off toggle.

  

See the Navigating through the eSUB Fusion Interface article.

Download, Generate a PDF, and Email a PO

1. Select the 3-dot button in line with the applicable document from the log page, then select View PDF. Alternatively, selecting your desired PO and selecting the View PDF or Email buttons will have the same effect.

   

2. Select the desired sections and/or attachments to include in the PDF, then select Done.

3. Review the generated PDF in the viewer. If the preview is acceptable, select Download to save it, or select Email to send it directly from the viewer. Your PDF selections carry over into the email.

   • To change the included options, select Configure and repeat step 2.

   

See the Document Downloads and Exports and Emailing Documents articles.

Email PO

1. Select the 3-dot button from the log page, then select Email.
2. Select the desired sections and/or attachments to include in the PDF.
3. Compose the email adding recipients and additional comments, then select Send.

See the Emailing Documents article.

Use the three-dot button on a document from the log page to quickly access actions for the document, such as Revise, View PDF, or Email.

PDF Display Options

When emailing or generating a PDF of the document, PDF display options let you customize the PDF output to suit your needs. Choose what to include:

PO Statuses

The status shows where a Purchase Order is in its life cycle. New Purchase Orders default to the Default status. Update the Status field on the General Info tab as the PO moves through its life cycle.

Status	What it means
↓ Preparatory Status - PO's are not considered Committed Costs and are not applied in Cost Reports ↓
	The PO is being prepared and has not been finalized. New POs default to this status.
	The PO is awaiting action before it is issued.
↓ Final Status - PO's are considered Committed Costs and are applied in all Cost Reports ↓
	The PO is active.
	Some of the ordered materials have been received.
	All ordered materials on the PO have been received.
	The PO is complete and closed out.
↓ Void Status - PO's are fully excluded from all Cost Reports ↓
	The PO has been voided. POs cannot be deleted, so void a PO you no longer need.

A Purchase Order counts as a committed cost on the Job Cost Report, Revenue Report and Cost to Complete report only while it is in a final status: Open, Partial Shipment, Received in Full, or Complete.  Draft and Pending POs do not count as committed costs, and Void POs are excluded entirely.  These same final statuses are also required before a PO can be submitted and picked up by an integration through the eSUB Public API.

Export the PO Log

The Purchase Orders log can be exported as a .csv or .xlsx file and includes the info displayed in the General Info tab.

Filtering first will save time and make your export cleaner.

1. Select the Actions button, then select Export log.
   • The file will download to your default downloads folder.

See the Document Downloads and Exports article.

The Export log option from the Actions button in the Purchase Orders log.

Create PO

1. Select Projects on the global navigation menu, then select the desired project from the list.
2. Select Purchase Orders from the slide-out menu, then select Add Purchase Order on the action button.
3. Fill in the fields as desired (see below), then select Save or navigate to the PO Lines tab.

PO Sections

See the table below for information on the various sections of the PO document.

Section	Purpose
	Set base details of the PO such as status, description, tax details, and vendor. Only contacts with AP Vendor checked appear as a vendor option. See Add Vendors.
Billing and Shipping Info	Select the billing and shipping details for the PO. Address information from your selected contacts appears automatically, and you can also use your company's address (for billing) or the project's address (for shipping).  Configure address information through the Contacts log and the Project Info page. To update your company address, contact eSUB Support.
Buyer and Vendor Notes	Enter notes to appear in the PO PDF export.
Attachments	Attach or link files, media, and other supporting documentation. Some attachments can be included when generating a PDF of the document.
Internal Notes	Record internal notes related to the document. This section does not print on any PDF export and is only visible to users in your company with the appropriate project access and document viewing permissions.
	Make corrections while keeping a record of previous versions. Revisions append R1, R2, R3, etc. to the document number. Older versions cannot be edited but can still be emailed or downloaded as PDF. See Revisions.
	Creates a new PO with information carried over from the current PO, such as: Description Vendor Sales Tax Rate Shipping & Handling Deposit Amount Billing Info section Shipping Info section (Except for Delivery Date and Time) PO Lines tab (Except for Release Date)
	An alternate option to the 3-dot button in the PO log for previewing, downloading, and emailing a PO with the sections and attachments you select. See PDF Display Options.
	An alternate option to the three-dot button in the PO log for emailing a PO to a recipient. See Download, Generate a PDF, and Email a PO and PDF Display Options.
	Use the PO Lines tab to create line items for the PO under the appropriate cost code, with quantities and pricing. See PO Lines Tab Features.
	Use the Receiving tab to record material shipments against the PO and track received or backordered quantities. See Record Material Shipments and Receiving Tab Features.
	A timeline of activity related to the document, such as email activity. To see this tab, you must have the Mailbox - General Permissions permission.

Revisions

Revisions allow you to make corrections or updates to the document while also keeping a record of the previous versions. Document revisions will have R1, R2, R3, etc. appended to the document number field so that they can be easily identified. Older document revisions are not editable, but they can still be emailed or downloaded as PDF.

Use the Show Revised Off toggle option to hide old revisions from the log.

PO Numbering

If the No. field is left blank, the PO number will be generated automatically. The auto-generated PO number is based on the numbering settings configured under the Company Settings page.

Companies using global PO numbering can set the numbering to start at any value (including numbers larger than 999) to keep eSUB PO numbers congruent with your accounting or ERP system.

PO Lines Tab Features

The top section of the PO Lines tab contains a form that enables you to create line items for the PO. Selecting the + Add PO Line button will open the Add PO Line side-pane to begin entering your PO Lines.

While editing and creating your PO Lines, the PO Lines log lists each PO Lines and pertinent details including Item, Description, Category, Cost Code, Pricing and Received information. This table can also be sorted and filtered using the filter funnels. Clicking and dragging the line item on the far left of the line will also allow you to rearrange your PO Lines in your desired order.

1. Select the 3-dot menu for options to Edit or Delete the line item. 
    

Cost codes and categories that are enabled on the project will be displayed when creating a PO Line. Project cost codes and their cost categories can be configured under the Cost Codes page in Project Settings.

Receiving Tab Features

When viewing the Receiving tab, a number of features allow a quick overview of any previous shipments.

The shipments logged can be:

• Searched and filtered
• Reloaded/Refreshed
• Individual shipment lines can be expanded or collapsed to view additional information
• The Expand All button can expand or collapse all shipment lines at once
• Any shipment attachments can easily be accessing by selecting the paperclip icon next to the applicable shipment line.
• Hovering over a shipment line will also produce a pop-up with more details of the shipment.

To add/edit a shipment line see Record Shipments.

Create a Request for Pricing

A Request for Pricing (RFP) can be created by selecting "Request for Pricing" in the Type field on the PO form. An RFP may be changed to a PO by updating the Type field to "Purchase Order".

While creating or editing a PO:

1. Select the General Info tab.
2. Select the Type field and choose Request for Pricing.
3. Select Save.

Easily track and update your estimated pricing when creating an RFP, simply enter your line items and estimated prices when initially creating the PO.  When emailing, uncheck the Dollar Amounts PDF Display option before distributing to multiple vendors. Upon response with pricing, compare your estimate pricing entered into the PO Lines with your returned pricing from multiple vendors and edit the PO Line with the accepted pricing. If sending to multiple vendors, be sure to use the BCC field when emailing.

Committing Material Purchases and Other Expenses

The PO tool is primarily used for tracking purchases of materials, but it can also be used to enter expenses of other types to reflect against the project budget to be visible as committed costs on various Reports. 

When creating line items on the PO Lines tab of the PO, use the Cost Code field to make a selection under the cost category that best correlates with the expense.  

While creating or editing a PO:

1. Select the PO Lines tab.
2. Use the input fields in the side-panel to create the line item, choosing the correct Category and Cost Code corresponding to the line items you'd like to commit to the projects budget.
   • Repeat as needed to commit additional line items to the PO.
3. Select Save when finished.

Use POs to commit costs to the project for every cost category except Labor.  POs are most often used for material buy-out, but you can also use them to enter subcontracts, professional services and design (Other category), equipment rentals and purchases (Equipment category), and to commit overhead (Overhead) category.  Select the matching cost category on each line under the PO Lines tab so the commitment lands in the right place on the Job Cost Report and various other reports.

Record Shipments

Selecting the Add Shipment button at the top of the PO will produce a shipment record input form on the Receiving tab to document material shipments for the PO.

The Receiving tab lets you record material deliveries against a PO as they arrive. Use it to track received and backordered quantities against what was ordered, attach the invoice or packing slip for each shipment, and keep an accurate delivery record for reconciliation and job cost reporting.

While creating or editing a PO:

1. Select the Receiving tab.
2. Select Add Shipment.
3. Fill in the fields as needed, upload any shipment attachments and select Save.
   • Repeat as necessary to document additional shipments.
   • The Invoiced amount of the PO increases when entering any Invoice Amounts in the shipment lines. 

The PO status is set manually and does not change based on your shipment records.  Marking a shipment line item Received in Full on the Receiving tab does not auto-check the remaining shipment items, and checking in every shipment item does not update the PO status to Received in Full.  Update the Status field on the General Info tab yourself to reflect Partial Shipment or Received in Full.

Set Up Receiving Tab Permissions

It is possible to grant a user permission to record PO shipments without allowing them to create or manage POs beyond this capacity.

he Purchase Orders - Edit Receiving Tab permission is especially useful for field users that just need the ability to record material shipments to the job site (be sure to give the user the Purchase Order - View permission as well for this).

An admin can enable both permissions for the user's Permission Group under the Settings > User Permissions > Permission Groups menu. See the Set Up User Permissions article.

Attach Invoices and Order Slips

Files and photos related to a shipment can be attached to individual shipments on the Receiving tab of a PO. This differs from simply attaching files or media to a document as a whole because the files are associated with a specific shipment record on the PO.

While creating or editing a PO:

1. Select the Receiving tab, then select Edit.
2. Select Add Attachment on the desired shipment record and upload the attachment.
3. Select Save when finished.

Add Vendors

To add a contact as a vendor, you must select the AP Vendor checkbox when creating a contact for the vendor to appear in the Vendor selection in General Info of a PO.  This is required if you are using POs. A user with the appropriate permissions can create or edit contacts. See the Create and Manage Contacts article.

The AP Vendor will be used to filter your POs by vendor as well as enter relevant vendor information in the letterhead of the PO document. This will not automatically send your PO to the vendor selected, and specific recipients can still be selected when emailing the PO.

1. Select Settings > Resources > Contacts from the global navigation menu to access the Contacts log.
   • If the vendor contact already exists, select the contact to view it, then select Edit.
   • If the vendor contact does not exist, select Add Contact on the action button.
2. Select the AP Vendor field for the contact and fill in any other fields as needed.
3. Select Save.

The Vendor drop-down on a PO is filtered by market area in two ways:  It lists only AP Vendor contacts assigned to the project's market area, and a signed-in user only sees vendors within their own assigned market areas, as long as one of the AP vendor contact's Market Area matches (if the contact has multiple market areas assigned) Unassigned records are unrestricted, so an AP Vendor with no market area can be selected on any project, and a user with no market area sees all AP Vendor contacts.  Best practice is to assign AP Vendors to multiple market areas, or leave them unassigned, so the right vendors always appear regardless of the project's market area.

PO Settings

A project manager or administrator can toggle project-specific Purchase Order settings. See the Project Settings article.

Permissions

Purchase Orders sit under the Purchase Orders permission group. Adding a vendor is governed separately by the Company - Contacts permissions. Administrators can adjust permissions; see Set Up User Permissions.

FAQ

Why didn’t my PO Line Item save?

The line has to be added to the PO before the PO is saved. On the PO Lines tab, select + Add PO Line and complete the side-pane first, then save the Purchase Order. See PO Lines Tab Features.

A line will also fail to save if Line Notes exceeds its 2,000-character limit. The field shows a character counter as you type and an inline message when you go over the limit, so shorten the note and save again.

Why isn’t my PO cost data appearing in the Committed Costs column of the Job Cost Reports?

Two things have to be true. The Purchase Order must be in a final status, which means Open, Partial Shipment, Received in Full, or Complete; preparatory and void statuses are excluded from cost reports. The line item must also be tied to a cost code. See PO Statuses and Committing Material Purchases and Other Expenses.

Why can’t I delete a PO?

Purchase Orders cannot be deleted. If a PO is no longer needed, set its status to Void. Voided POs are fully excluded from all cost reports. See PO Statuses.

Why can’t I find the vendor I want on a PO?

Only contacts with AP Vendor checked appear in the Vendor selection on the General Info tab. Confirm the vendor exists in your contacts and that AP Vendor is selected on the contact record. See Add Vendors and Create and Manage Contacts.

What happens if I leave the PO number blank?

The PO number is generated automatically from the numbering settings configured on the Company Settings page. See PO Numbering and Company Settings.