How a PO Number Can Help You Keep Track Of Purchases

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Are you using your PO number? A purchase order number is the language between the buyer and the seller. Without a PO number, there is a language barrier that creates some unwanted chaos which wastes time in your process.

Let’s say every item on a purchase order is a person, i.e. the PO number, the name, the address, the items needed, the price, and they are all employees in your company. Every person in a business has a part to play in making the business function in line with its required outcomes. An agreement is made between the company and every employee that is appointed. A handshake is exchanged to seal the deal.

A purchase order works the same way. The PO meets the PO number, they shake hands, and a working relationship is formed. The PO needs the PO number to uniquely identify the specific PO. This ensures the buyer and the seller stays on the same page and no language is lost in the process.

All the other items on the purchase order are parties to this relationship. They all work together to ensure that every purchase order can be tracked and viewed easily, especially when problems arise with a certain purchase order.

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Old paper-based systems

Purchase-Order-Sheet-Letterhead-Old-Port-Brewing-Company_87859-1It is imperative that every employee knows how important a PO number is. With the old paper-based purchase order system, there was always a margin for error that crept in. PO numbers were first written in wrong, then printed wrong. To top it off the seller usually had their own system in place with their own numbers, that was different from the buyer’s system. This was hard to keep track of.

A purchase order without a number causes more work for the finance and originating departments. There is more strain put on the project in question. It gets frustrated by a lot of delays and downtime.

PO numbers become even more useful when you use an automated purchase order process. A unique PO number is generated which eliminates duplicate purchases and makes for easy tracking when needed. Additionally, real-time processing means that employees are always on the same page and the purchase order can be called up at any time on any device. Rules are set by the administrator and the rules have to be followed at all times.

Why PO numbers are important

Procurementexpress.com, an excellent automated PO software, has a unique way of generating PO numbers. The PO numbers look like this: 283978-20072017. The first part of the number, before the dash, is generated by the Procurementexpress.com application and will never be duplicated. The second part of the number, after the dash, is made up of any of the custom fields that the company chooses from on the software. This specific field is fed into the software and a number is created only by that custom field. This makes it extremely unique and easily traceable by the buyer, the app, and the seller.

Every process or project in your company is a race to the finish line that has to be won. If every item or employee fills its role and gives the baton to the next person there is no way they will lose.

Make sure your PO numbers are always in agreement with the rest of your purchase order.

Take our Procurementexpress.com application for a trial run around your track.

What are the problems you encounter with your PO numbers?

Delivery note and purchase orders

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