Purchase Order Matching to Purchase Invoice

This guide describes how to allocate a purchase order to a purchase invoice. Allocating allows the linking of cost object calculations and product lines used in the purchase order to the purchase invoice.

CONTENTS

• Allocating a purchase order to a purchase invoice
• Linking transactions
  • Price handling replaces all new allocations with purchase invoice lines with purchase order lines.
• Delivery of the purchase order

Allocating a purchase order to a purchase invoice

A purchase order can be allocated to a received purchase invoice. The purchase order must be sent/locally printed to enable allocation. The invoice allocation does not make a warehouse entry in the background, but the lines must be handled in the delivery receipt section and specify when the purchase order lines have arrived at the warehouse. This allows you to define line by line when each product has arrived at the warehouse, and you no longer have to wait until the purchase invoice arrives.

Allocating a purchase order requires read or edit rights to the purchase price, which can be set in the Sales and Purchase Ledgers rights, as well as the review and/or approval rights. Adding/editing rights requires KH rights. To perform the allocation or access this view, you must also have edit rights to purchase orders. 

A purchase order can be linked to a purchase invoice, allowing the cost object calculations and product lines used in the purchase order to be transferred to the purchase invoice. Allocating is done from the purchase order view via the "Allocate invoice" link. The number of purchase order lines linked to the purchase invoice is displayed next to the Allocate invoice link.

Alternatively, you can access the view through the Actions button of the purchase order or purchase invoice by selecting "Link lines..."

 If the lines are already linked, they are displayed in the linked purchase orders section.

In this example, purchase order 25 is allocated to purchase invoice 1616. The purchase order appears on the right side and the purchase invoice on the left side.

1. From the Add purchase invoices button, you can search for purchase invoices found in the system. By default, invoices from the same vendor are searched, and the status is unprocessed. If the purchase invoice is not found in the system, check the invoice status and change it if necessary. When the correct invoice is found, select it and click "Add selected purchase invoices".

2. Paid. First shows how much of the purchase invoice has been paid and / - after the slash is the total amount of the purchase invoice.

3. Linked. Shows in currency how much of the purchase order amount has been linked to the purchase invoice / - after the slash is the total amount of the purchase invoice.

4. Delivery status. If all lines of the purchase invoice are marked as delivered, the delivery status is "Delivered". If some lines are delivered, the status is "Partially delivered". If the lines are not processed, the status is "Undelivered". Allocating the purchase order to the purchase invoice does not update this status, but it must be done in the delivery receipt view. By clicking the Delivery status field, you can access the delivery receipt view.

5. Linked. Shows as a sum how much of the purchase order has been linked to the purchase invoice. The first point is the linked amount and / - after the slash is the total amount of the purchase order.

Linking transactions

The actual linking is done by selecting one line from either side to be allocated and then selecting the line(s) from the other side to be allocated. In the example below, one purchase invoice line is linked to three purchase order lines. The linking is saved by pressing the "Save changes and link lines" button.

After this, the lines are linked together. Next to the Save button is an upward triangle, which opens two new options for linking when clicked. "Remove links from selected lines" removes existing links and can be used if the linking was initially done incorrectly. The linking can be removed from all lines or just the selected line.

"Replace all new allocations with purchase invoice lines with purchase order lines" replaces the invoice and posting lines of the purchase invoice with the lines of the purchase order. This way, the cost object calculations used in the purchase order can also be transferred to the purchase invoices. The purchase invoice line information can only be replaced with the selected purchase order line information if the purchase invoice is unprocessed.

NOTE. Line selection works with the logic that first one line is selected from either side to be allocated and then the lines to be allocated from the other side. All lines cannot be selected simultaneously because the system cannot determine which line matches which. Especially if the product codes and names are not the same. With the help of purchase invoice automation, allocation can be automated.

Note. If lines are replaced, the period must be open. Otherwise, allocation would also succeed for a locked period purchase invoice. 

NOTE! The one-time posting function must NOT be used on a purchase invoice related to a purchase order. This permanently removes the relationship between purchase invoice lines and posting lines and prevents the inheritance of posting information from purchase order allocations (posting and cost object calculation).

Price handling replaces all new allocations with purchase invoice lines with purchase order lines.

Delivery of the purchase order

The purchase order can also be set as fully delivered in the invoice linking view. There is an option to handle the entire purchase order as delivered. In this case, the entire purchase order is marked as delivered. If only some products have arrived, this must be handled in the delivery receipt view. When the purchase order is fully delivered, it can be archived, causing it to disappear from the purchase order view.

From the menu above, you can also remove the purchase order from the listing. Similarly, if you select the same option for the purchase invoice, it removes the purchase invoice from the linking view. With the option "Update unit price of purchase order lines from linked purchase invoice lines", you can update the new unit price to the selected purchase order from the linked purchase invoice. The update function requires the following:
- Linking transactions must be done first.
- The one-time posting function must NOT be used on a purchase invoice related to a purchase order. This permanently removes the relationship between purchase invoice lines and posting lines and prevents the inheritance of posting information from purchase order allocations (posting and cost object calculation)
- The purchase invoice requires e-invoice lines (Invoice lines) for the lines to be updated with the purchase price. The original scan service posting line cannot be used because it does not have the concepts "Quantity" or "Unit price"

Below is an example of this for the purchase invoice.

If there are no e-invoice lines, i.e., the invoice has come through the scan service or has been entered manually, in that case, select the option "Replace all new allocations with purchase invoice lines with purchase order lines" in the linking transactions. This option is found after the "Save changes and allocate lines" button in the upward triangle button.

If the vendor cannot provide an e-invoice, do not allow consolidated invoicing, but require one invoice per purchase order. Since the purchase order line replacement function for the purchase invoice removes all line information from the purchase invoice and replaces it with the selected purchase order lines, the replacement function cannot succeed for multiple purchase orders on the same invoice. Therefore, the vendor must be required to provide one invoice per purchase order (multiple invoices for partial delivery are possible), or switch to e-invoicing. The problem arises only when the vendor invoices the contents of multiple purchase orders consolidated on one invoice.

If the unit prices of the purchase order are updated in this way, it will appear in the purchase order processing history. The price update goes to the purchase order line and also as the purchase price of the respective procurement batch in the warehouse.

Below is a complete picture where the purchase order is linked to three purchase invoices (the example includes a separate purchase invoice for freight and surface treatment) the actual goods are invoiced on one purchase invoice. 

If the purchase order is invoiced through scanning according to partial deliveries, e.g., for the 3 lines in the image above, 1+2 lines separately, the same line content can be replaced for both invoices from the respective purchase order. This way, e-invoice lines are obtained for both invoices, and the lines not belonging to the partial delivery invoice can be manually removed, and line prices can be edited if necessary. These actions are necessary if a price update is needed for the respective batch in the purchase order/warehouse. If you just want to link lines, e.g., for the accounts payable manager's information about the received immaterial service, creating an e-invoice line may not be necessary, and using only posting lines may be sufficient to convey information to the purchase invoice approver. Naturally, all this manual work is unnecessary with e-invoicing, and allocation can even be automated with accounts payable automation rules.
If the purchase order is allocated to the purchase invoice, it can be seen from the open purchase order view or through the purchase order list in the "Order lines allocated" field.

Keywords: purchase order, allocating, purchase invoice, delivery

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