Author: uf_admin

Supply User Manual ENG -> 4. Procurement -> 4.6 LU-SU3201: Purchase Orders (POs) - Generals -> J. How to validate a Purchase Order.

J. How to validate a Purchase Order.

A Purchase Order can be validated at header level (the whole PO is validated) or at line level (1 or some lines of the PO are validated, while the others are left in draft).

Note that the validation at line level is only possible if your user has the appropriate user rights (i.e.the user should have the access group Sup_Valid_Line_PO).

H. a) How to validate a PO at header level

H. b) How to validate a PO at line level

Supply User Manual ENG -> 4. Procurement -> 4.6 LU-SU3201: Purchase Orders (POs) - Generals -> I. How to Duplicate a Purchase Order 

I. How to Duplicate a Purchase Order

UniField offers the possibility to duplicate a PO. This can be useful if you create similar POs on regular (e.g.monthly) basis.

The duplication creates a new PO in draft which is a copy of the duplicated PO with a new order reference. Most of the information is copied from the duplicated PO but some is not. Analytical distribution is not copied, source document reference is not copied, customer reference is not copied,… The creation date is set to today’s date.

Go to: Purchases / Purchase Management / Purchase Orders

1. Click on the line of the Purchase Order to be duplicated (open the PO in display mode).
2. Click on the “Duplicate” button at the top of the screen.
3. A new draft PO will be created, which you can continue to process.

Purchase order, Duplicate button

Supply User Manual ENG -> 4. Procurement -> 4.6 LU-SU3201: Purchase Orders (POs) - Generals -> F. How to Merge Purchase Orders.

F. How to Merge Purchase Orders.

UniField allows the merging of several POs if they are in the state “Draft” and are addressed to the same supplier.

Go to: Purchases / Purchase Management / Purchase Orders

1. Use the check boxes to select the Purchase Orders you want to merge (make sure they are in the state “Draft” and are addressed to the same supplier).
2. Click the option “Merge Purchase orders” in the action menu.

Selecting POs for merging

3. A message appears to inform the user about the merge that he/she is about to do.

Information such as Sourcing Group and Destination Partner (for DPO) if different in both Pos will be taken from the template PO.

Message before POs merging

A report related to POs merging is also available. It displays multiple Internal Requests which were sourced to the same supplier. The output reporting format is a PDF document ready for validation.

Go to: Purchases / Purchase Management / Purchase Orders

1. Click on the check box on the left part of the screen of the line of the Purchase Order to print.
2. The Action Menu is displayed on the right end of the screen.
3. Click on the “Purchase Order (Merged)” option.
4. The PO will be exported in PDF format.

PDF version of a merged PO

Supply User Manual ENG -> 4. Procurement -> 4.6 LU-SU3201: Purchase Orders (POs) - Generals -> D. How to import lines on a Purchase Order.

D. How to import lines on a Purchase Order.

It is possible to import all order lines at once instead of having to encode each order line manually. The purchase information (products, quantities, unit price) should be available in an xml 2003 file which will be imported on a PO.

To import the lines, the file should have the exact following format:

Product Code; Product Description; Quantity; UoM; Price; Delivery Request Date; Currency; Comment, Status

Format of file which can be imported on a PO

Go to: Purchases / Purchase Management / Purchase Orders

1. Open an existing PO or create a new one.
2. Click on the “Import lines” button.
3. Click on the “Add attachment” button then “Browse” and select the file you want to import.
4. Click “Open” on the browse window.
5. Click on the “Import file” button to import the file, then click “Update” to follow the progress of the importation. A message will indicate if lines have been imported successfully.
6. Click on the “Close window” button.
7. The imported lines have been inserted on the PO, save the PO.

Purchase Order, Import lines

Note that comments can also be imported in the PO if you populate the “Comment” column of the Excel. These comments will then appear in the “Comment” column of the PO and be editable on the “Nomenclature Selection” tab of the PO-line.

Note that “product by nomenclature” lines cannot be imported from Excel into a PO. You need to enter these lines manually one by one.

To get a template of the correct Excel format needed, you may export an existing PO to Excel as explained below (see How to export lines from a Purchase Order). Note that you will have to delete the column “External Ref” of the Excel generated if you want use it as a template.

Supply User Manual ENG -> 4. Procurement -> 4.6 LU-SU3201: Purchase Orders (POs) - Generals -> C. How to create an Internal Request with Products by Nomenclature.

C. How to create an Internal Request with Products by Nomenclature.

There might be situations in which the mission needs to order unreferenced products (which may be called non codified products, NC products or * products): for instance at project level when the local products have not been created yet by the coordination for intra-mission orders or at coordination level when ESC suppliers are in a better position to determine the accurate products code required.

UniField now allows the ordering of products by nomenclature for all type of suppliers. The new product code will be created once the order is being managed at coordination or ESC level.

The new product code will then be synchronized to the instance and replace the unreferenced description. Note that UniField will require a correct codification at some point, i.e. you will not be able do a full supply process if the product is not correctly codified in a later stage ( at PO confirmation) .

These products can be ordered together with other referenced products on the same Internal Request. The only difference is in the way the product line is actually inserted in the IR.

1.Click on the “New” button on the “Products” tab to add a product line.

2. Fill the “Comment instead of the product” field with a clear product description.

3. Fill quantity and estimated unit price.

4. Save the product line by clicking on the floppy disk at the right of the line.

5. Click on the “Configurator” icon.

Internal Request by nomenclature – Configurator Icon

6. Open the “Nomenclature Selection” tab on the configurator pop-up.

7. Select the full nomenclature in the “Main Type“, “Group“, “Family” and optionally the “Root” fields.

8. Click on “Save and Close“.

Internal Request by nomenclature – Nomenclature selection

9. The product field will appear empty.

10. The Nomenclature levels together with the comment will help the coordination or the ESC supplier to define the requested product and create a new code for it if needed.

Internal Request – Product by Nomenclature

Note that the “Comment instead of the product” field can also be used for regular IR lines even if you have entered existing product codes. It will help to add complementary information to specify more requirements on the products. This comment will be carried out through all the Supply flow (this is also valid for comment added at FO or PO level).

Supply User Manual ENG -> 4. Procurement -> 4.6 LU-SU3201: Purchase Orders (POs) - Generals -> A. LU Introduction (LU-SU3201)

A. LU Introduction (LU-SU3201)

A Purchase Order document represents requirements to procure any goods from a party outside of the instance. A Purchase Order can be addressed to different partner types: internal, inter-mission, inter-section (PO will go through the synchronization engine); external or ESC (PO won’t go through the synchronization engine).

Process Flow for Purchase order to External / ESC Suppliers

Process Flow for Purchase Order to Internal, InterSection or InterMission Suppliers

The order type can be:

Regular: General PO which must be attributed to a specific supplier, which can be internal, inter-mission, inter-section, external or ESC.

Purchase list: PO not attributed to a specific supplier, usually for products which will be bought at the local market with a cash advance (operational advance). By default, it will be addressed to “local market” but this can be changed if needed.

Direct PO: PO placed by an instance to the final supplier (which must be an external partner or an ESC), but delivered to another instance (from where the initial request originated). Note that Direct PO cannot be created from scratch but only through the OST.

In Kind Donation: In kind donation is a free supply from an external partner (e.g.plumpy-nut given by the WFP for a nutrition campaign). No invoice is managed but instead a “free gift certificate” is required and goods valuated. It is a PO with a specific accounting flow (accounting entries off balance sheet, recorded in an extra-accounting journal called in-kind donation journal).

Loan: PO from A to B (A requesting to borrow goods from B) and an automated counter-order from B to A is scheduled in the future for reimbursement. There is no impact on finance from the lending side as goods are to be replaced.

Standard donation and Donation before expiry (which involve an internal partner) types of Purchase Orders are usually initiated via an FO of the instance which is donating the goods.

The order category can be:

Medical – for medical products.

Logistic – for logistic products.

Service – for products which are “services with reception”, and so will be automatically received into the virtual location for services.

Transport – for products which are services with reception and transport related.

Other – for other types of products.

Each time there is a mismatch between the Order Category and the Product MainType, a non-blocking warning message will be displayed.

Warning message if the product main type does not match with the order type

The Analytical Distribution is mandatory to validate a Purchase Order. The Analytical Distribution (AD) is a set of financial information which will be used in analytical accounting to classify expenses done on supplies. AD includes destination (reason for the purchase) and cost center (usually activity for which the purchased goods will be used). Analytical Distribution is mandatory in the system in order to process all POs except those which are type Loan, IKD, Standard donation and Donation before Expiry. For these cases check with your OC procedures regarding whether & how the AD should be added.

Analytical accounts enable MSF to track revenue and expense per project so that we can be accurate in our donors reporting.

The Analytical Distribution codes need to be allocated according to several analytical trees. In UniField finance terms, we call them account categories. These categories (of Analytical Distribution) are:

• Destination (operations, support, national staff, expatriate staff)
• Cost Center (OC / Mission / Project / Activities)

The Analytical Distribution for each line item (or for the whole Purchase Order if the same AD is valid for every line) must be added to every Purchase Order. As the creation of Purchase Orders is a supply related task, this must be added by the appropriate person of this department, however, the information about which Analytical Distribution codes should be used should come from the Budget holder or Finance at the request stage, and they are responsible for providing this information to facilitate the work of the Supply team. Similarly, it is the responsibility of the person authorizing the Purchase Order to check that the Analytical Distribution is correct, before the PO is authorized and validated.

Please note: For any Internal partner type (Internal, Inter-mission or Inter-section) it should not be possible to update the currency (only the one set in the partner form is authorized – see Chapter 2 Configuration/ -LU-SU1102 Partners (Customers and Supplier)/ B. How to create a new partner).

Internal partners can now be set with a local currency enabling PO/FO flow between instance of the same mission in local currency. The condition is that all internal partners within a mission must be set with the same currency (local or not), if not, PO/FO will not be synchronized.

Proper process shall be put in place if the change of currency is to be done in a mission. Advice is to change the internal partners currencies from coordination at a time when there are no pending PO/FO between Coo and projects in the sync = both PO and FO shall be created before to change the internal partners currencies.

Please note: If a Purchase Order is to be sent to an Inter-mission partner (i.e. another country), there is a particular Intermission cost center which must be added in the PO’s Analytical Distribution.

 

Please note: Purchase Orders must be signed and approved before being validated in the system. Analytical distribution is also mandatory before validation.

Supply User Manual ENG -> 4. Procurement -> 4.6 LU-SU3201: Purchase Orders (POs) - Generals.

LU-SU3201: Purchase Orders (POs) – Generals.

A. LU Introduction

B. How to create a regular Purchase Order

C. How to create a Purchase Order with Products by Nomenclature

D. How to import lines on a Purchase Order

E. How to export a Purchase Order

F. How to Merge Purchase Orders

G. How to update a Purchase Order

H. How to add one or multiple Analytical Distribution (AD) to Purchase orders Line/lines

I. How to Duplicate a Purchase Order

J. How to validate a Purchase Order

K. How to check the impact of a Purchase Order on the budget

L. How to confirm a Purchase Order

M. How to update a Purchase Order through Vertical Integration (VI)

N. How to export a PO to XML VI file

O. How to import an XML VI file into a PO

P. How to cancel & resource on a Purchase Order

Q. How to Cancel a Purchase Order

R. How to Cancel one specific Purchase Order line or Multiple lines.

S. How to follow-up Purchase Orders

T. How to use the Purchase Order lines allocation report

 

Supply User Manual ENG -> 4. Procurement -> 4.5 LU-SU3104: Field Orders (FOs) - Specifics -> C. How to create a "Standard donation" FO

C. How to create a “Standard donation” FO

The process of creation of a “Standard donation” is the same as for the “Donation before expiry” seen above. The difference here is that the goods to be donated are not chosen based on their expiry date but on different criteria defined by the warehouse manager or any other person in charge (excess of products, lack of space in the warehouse, products not needed, donation required by third party, regular donation done to support a local partner,…).

To create a “Standard donation“, follow the same steps as for the creation of a “Donation before expiry” but select “Standard donation” as order type.

Standard donation

Note that the validation of a “Standard donation” FO does not require an Analytical Distribution.

Supply User Manual ENG -> 4. Procurement -> 4.5 LU-SU3104: Field Orders (FOs) - Specifics -> B. How to create a "Donation before expiry" FO

B. How to create a “Donation to prevent losses” FO

This option is to be used to donate goods that are going to expire quite soon to another partner and are unlikely to be used in time by their current owner. To learn more about expiry dates and how to determine products likely to expire please see LU-SU4303 Management of Expiry Dates.

Go to: Orders / Orders / Field Orders

1. Create a Field Order manually (see “How to create a Field Order manually” in LU-SU3103 FO GENERAL). The process is exactly the same, besides the order type.
2. For the field “Order Type“, choose the option “Donation to prevent losses” instead of “Regular“.
3. Enter the partner (internal, external, inter-mission or inter-section) to who you wish to donate the goods.
4. Add the products that are going to be donated.
5. Validate the FO created. Note that at this stage, the system sets (if needed) the procurement method to “from stock“.
6. Source the FO in the Orders Sourcing Tool.

Donation to prevent losses

Note that the validation of a “Donation to prevent losses” FO does not require an Analytical Distribution.

Note that if the customer is another instance (i.e. an internal, inter-mission or inter-section partner), the validation of the FO will (after synchronization of the 2 instances) trigger the creation of a “Donation to prevent losses” PO on the instance where the goods will be received.

In the above example, the donation process is initiated by the “giver“. If the “receiver” is another instance, the donation process could also be initiated by the “receiver” through the manual creation of a “Donation to prevent losses” PO on its instance. However in most cases, the donation process is initiated by the “giver“.

Supply User Manual ENG -> 4. Procurement -> 4.5 LU-SU3104: Field Orders (FOs) - Specifics -> A. LU Introduction (LU-SU3104).

A. LU Introduction (LU-SU3104).

It can happen that a project or coordination has an excess of goods that they don’t need (which can be costly in terms of warehousing) or that are going to expire. A solution to this problem can be to donate or to lend the goods to a partner that needs them and can use them before they expire.

To register these movements of goods in the system we have to use FOs because FOs are the documents to use when we need to get goods out of an instance. The specific FOs which can be used here are FOs with type: Donation before expiry, Standard donation and Loan.

These 3 types of FOs can have as customer internal partners, external partners, but also inter-mission and inter-section partners (but not ESC). To enable the inclusion of a partner as customer on an FO, this partner must be flagged as “Customer” on its partner sheet (master data).