Our last blog post we took you on a tour of the Status Windows in Design Manager.  This blog post we want to highlight one Status Window specifically in more detail.  The Purchase Order Status Window is the primary area in the software to record order tracking information, so understanding how to use it is important.

Where can I find the Purchase Order Status Window?

Pro Cloud

In Pro Cloud, click Purchase Orders, highlight a Purchase Order and click the Rec/Status button.

DM Cloud

In DM Cloud, click Documents and Accounting, browse to the correct Project, click Purchase and Work Orders, highlight a Purchase Order and click Status.

What information can be entered on the Purchase Order Status Window?

What information can't be entered on the Purchase Order Status Window is a better question.  When looking at the window, the top fields are grayed out because they are automatically populated from the Purchase Order itself.  Next, you have a section for the Acknowledgement Date and Number.

Directly below the Acknowledgement information, you have the option to close the PO Manually.  We recommend choosing this option only if you are never going to get a vendor invoice or completely receive the component.  Also, on the right hand side of the window is a Notes Section for any handy notes that you want other users to be reminded of with that specific Purchase Order.  In DM Cloud, the Notes field can be found on the Notes Tab.

Moving to the bottom half of the window you will find the Components Grid.  This is where you can enter more order tracking information either per component or for all components on that Purchase Order.  Click the Pencil button to edit an individual component or click the Change All button to update tracking information for all components.

More tracking fields appear on the Edit Order Status Window!

Expected Ship Date: This is the date that you expect merchandise to be shipped from the Vendor.

Received Date: The date that you actually receive the merchandise from the Vendor.

CFA Date: The CFA date is used to record when a "Cutting For Approval" is received from the Vendor, if one is required.

Quantity Received (Qty. Received): The quantity of the item actually delivered from the Vendor. The Quantity Received may differ from the original Ordered Quantity if a portion of the merchandise is back ordered. Note: The Quantity Received should reflect the total amount of merchandise received to date. For example, if 5 lamps were ordered and 2 lamps had been received, enter 2 as the Quantity Received. When the additional 3 lamps are delivered, the Quantity Received should be changed from 2 to 5.

Quantity Paid For (Qty. Paid For): The Quantity Paid For represents the amount of the merchandise for which you have actually paid the Vendor and is automatically recorded by Design Manager when the Vendor Invoice for the merchandise is recorded.

Quantity Back Ordered (Qty. Back Ordered): The quantity of the product that is currently on back order from the Vendor.

Vendor Invoice Date: The date the Vendor Invoice was recorded for the merchandise. Again, this date will be displayed automatically.

Vendor Invoice Number (Vendor Invoice No.): The invoice number of the bill from the Vendor which will be recorded when the Vendor Invoice is entered in Design Manager.

User Date 1: This is a user-defined field that can be used for any additional Purchase Order tracking information that you may want to record. The title for this field can be set on the Company Advanced Options – General Tab.  For the example, we used Called On to show when we last spoke with the Vendor.

User Date 2: Same as User Date 1 and for the example we used Install Date.

Status / Storage: You may use this field for entering any additional information or specifically about the component's physical location.

Don't worry, you don't have to memorize these or write them on a post-it note.  Simply click the question mark button like in the above picture and the explanations will appear in our help window.

It should be noted that you can use the Vendor Invoice window to enter the tracking information instead of the Purchase Order Status Window.  That may be too late in the process for some clients or it may be fine.  You can use both windows for recording the information at different times.  It all depends on how your business typically flows with your Vendors.

What reports are driven off of the Purchase Order Status Window?

Why did you just spend time typing in the above tracking information?  To have professional reports to stay on top of your project, of course!  Filling in the above information sets up the following reports to be used internally and externally.

Acknowledgment Report

The Acknowledgement Report is accessed from the Reports Window, Project Management, Order Tracking folder and shows order tracking information for each component that qualifies for a variety of ranges and Purchase Order acknowledgement conditions.

Back Order Report

The Back Order Report is accessed from the Reports Window, Project Management, Order Tracking folder and is designed to show components that have been delayed in shipment from the Vendor.

The user can select to view components that satisfy four distinct criteria:

• With a Back Order Quantity (With B/O Qty.) to show all Purchase Order components that currently have a Back Order Quantity entered.
• With a Back Order Quantity or not all Received (With B/O Qty. or not all Rcv'd.) to show all Purchase Order components that currently have a Back Order Quantity entered or the Ordered Quantity does not equal the Received Quantity for the component.
• With a Back Order Quantity or not all Paid For (With B/O Qty. or not all Paid For) to show all Purchase Order components that currently have a Back Order Quantity entered or the Ordered Quantity does not equal the Paid For Quantity for the component.
• With a Back Order Quantity or not all Received or not all Paid For (With B/O Qty. or not all Rcv'd. or not all Paid For) to show all Purchase Order components that currently have a Back Order Quantity entered or the Ordered Quantity does not equal the Received Quantity or the Ordered Quantity does not equal the Paid For Quantity for the component.

Expected Ship Report

The Expected Ship Report is accessed from the Reports Window, Project Management, Order Tracking folder and monitors the Expected Ship Dates as well as other order tracking information.  Components can be optionally shown that either have or do not have an Expected Ship Date, along with opting to display all purchased components, by choosing the proper Show Components selection.

Receiving Report

The Receiving Report is accessed from the Reports Window, Project Management, Order Tracking folder and monitors the Receiving status as well as other order tracking information.  The report will display components based upon one of the three choices in the Show Components menu:

• Not Received: Show Components where the total Received Quantity does not equal the total Ordered Quantity for the Component.
• Received: Show Components where the total Received Quantity does equal the total Ordered Quantity for the Component.
• All Components: Show each Component in the Project, regardless of the Received status.

There are a few more helpful order tracking reports: Open Purchase Order Report, CFA Report and the User Defined Date Report. Please click on each one to learn more.

If you would like to learn more about the Purchase Order Status Window please watch our training video on it by clicking the button below.

Watch Video

If you already use the Purchase Order Status Window for order tracking and have more tips to share with our readers, please share them in the comments section below.