Purchasing

Applications › Purchasing

Overview

The Purchasing application provides a central workspace for reviewing purchasing records and starting new procurement activity. Purchasing officers, project managers, account managers, warehouse managers, and finance users can use it to locate RFQs, direct purchase orders, offers, and purchase orders associated with jobs and packages. Use this workspace when you need to begin a purchasing request, review purchasing activity, or adjust the list layout used to monitor records.

Settings

Before working with purchasing records, select or create a list layout that displays the information relevant to your role. The available layout controls affect how the Purchasing list is displayed; they do not change the purchasing records themselves.

Note: Use a clear and role-specific Layout name so that purchasing users can identify the correct list view before reviewing RFQs, offers, or POs.

1. Open Purchasing from the application navigation.

   

   Purchasing — Purchasing

2. Decide whether the standard view is sufficient.

   • To use the default list presentation, select Standard Layout.
   • To work with an existing or alternative layout, use Layout (icn icn-layoout) and select the required layout.

3. When you need a different set of list columns, select Columns Chooser. Enter a descriptive Layout name, then select Save to retain the new layout.

   • To change an existing layout, select Update Current.
   • To abandon unsaved changes, select Cancel.
   • To remove an obsolete layout, select Delete Current or Delete, as appropriate.

Warning: Deleting a layout removes that saved layout choice. Confirm that the layout is no longer needed before selecting Delete Current or Delete.

Workflow

Use the Purchasing workspace to choose the appropriate purchasing starting point, then review records in the relevant tab. The available screen provides separate entry actions for an RFQ and a direct purchase order, as well as tabs for all records, archived records, offers, and POs.

1. Review the current Purchasing list before creating or opening a purchasing item. Use Search to find records by the information displayed in the list, such as purchasing number, RFQ number, purchaser, job, stage, package title, or required receipt date.

   

   Purchasing — Purchasing

2. Decide how to start the purchasing activity.

   • Select RFQ when you need to begin a Request for Quotation process for supplier pricing or commercial offers.
   • Select Direct P.O. when you need to begin a purchase order directly, without first using the RFQ workflow.

   

   Purchasing — Purchasing

3. Decide which record group you need to review. Select the appropriate tab:

   • All for the complete visible Purchasing record list.
   • Archived for archived records.
   • Offers for offer records.
   • POs for purchase order records.

   

   Purchasing — Purchasing

4. Refresh the list when you need to review the latest displayed information. Select Refresh (icn-update), then use Search again if necessary to narrow the refreshed results.

Tip: Search before starting a new RFQ or direct purchase order to reduce the risk of creating duplicate purchasing activity for the same job, package, or required receipt date.

All

The All tab contains the general Purchasing list. It displays purchasing records with information such as purchasing number, RFQ number, purchaser, job, stage, package title, and required receipt date. Use this tab as the primary review point when you need to locate purchasing activity across the available records rather than within a single record group.

Select All to return to this complete list view. The available screen does not identify a separate action that moves records into or out of this tab.

Archived

The Archived tab contains archived Purchasing records. Use it when a purchasing item is no longer being reviewed in the active list but must still be located or checked by its purchasing reference, purchaser, job, package title, or required receipt date.

Select Archived to review these records. The available controls do not specify an archive or restore action, so record movement into or out of this tab is not documented from this screen.

Offers

The Offers tab contains purchasing offer records. Use it to review supplier offer-related purchasing activity and identify records using the list information, including the RFQ number, purchaser, job, stage, package title, and required receipt date.

Select Offers to view this record group. The available screen does not provide a control that identifies how an RFQ becomes an offer or how an offer moves to another tab.

Purchase Orders

The POs tab contains purchase order records. Use it when you need to review purchase orders that are already represented in the Purchasing workspace, including their purchasing number, purchaser, related job, stage, package title, and required receipt date.

Select POs to review purchase order records. You can start a direct purchase order by selecting Direct P.O., but the available screen does not provide a specific control that moves an existing record into or out of the POs tab.

Examples

A project manager needs supplier pricing for a crane package required for a job in late June.

1. Open Purchasing and select All to check whether purchasing activity already exists for the job and package.

2. Enter the job reference or package title in Search. Review the displayed purchasing number, RFQ number, purchaser, job, stage, package title, and required receipt date to identify any related records.

3. If no appropriate RFQ is found, select RFQ to start the Request for Quotation process for the crane package.

4. Return to the Purchasing list and select Offers when you need to review offer-related records for the request.

5. When the purchasing activity is represented as a purchase order, select POs to review it with the other purchase order records. Use Refresh (icn-update) if the list does not show the latest available information.

Tips

Tip: Use Standard Layout when you need a predictable list presentation for daily review.

Note: The Purchasing list can include both RFQ-related and purchase-order-related references. Check the purchasing number and RFQ number together when identifying the correct record.

Warning: The available Purchasing screen does not show approval, confirmation, receipt, or invoicing controls. Do not assume that selecting a tab changes a record’s purchasing status.

Troubleshooting

Related pages

• Purchasing — Overview
• Purchasing — Learning Path