Create a Workflow for Purchase Orders Using the PO Module

The Process Workflow feature is used to force purchase orders that meet a defined criteria to follow a specific approval/review process. You can create and use a workflow from the PO module.

  1. Open the PO Pending Purchase Order form and enter the PO and PO item information. This is just like entering a PO using the PO Purchase Orders Entry form, but the pending PO will not be processed in a batch until after it is approved. The PO Pending Purchase Orders form also does not include SM Work Order type PO items - the Process Workflow feature has not been implemented in the SM module.
  2. Click the Workflow button to view the users that need to review/approve the PO.
  3. Open the PO in the PO Pending Purchase Orders form. Click the Submit for Approval button to submit the PO for approval. The users that need to review/approve the PO will be notified.
  4. Once the PO has been submitted for approval, you can view its progress in several ways:
    • Workflow History tab - Comments display on the Workflow History tab on the form used to create the PO, for example the PM Purchase Orders or PO Pending Change Orders forms. This tab displays the history of the PO, for example the comments entered by reviewers/approvers, when it was submitted for approval, and when it was approved/rejected.
    • Work Center - Open the My Documents in Workflow query in the Work Center that you use to process purchase orders. This displays a list of purchase orders that you have created, and their progress in a workflow.
    • Workflow button - Click the Workflow button on the form that was used to create the PO - for example the PM Purchase Orders or PO Pending Purchase Orders form. This will launch the PO Workflow Item Reviewers form, which displays the progress of the PO in the workflow process and any comments that have been entered.
  5. Optional: Enter comments for the reviewer on a PO item. If you want to enter comments on a PO item for the reviewer/approver, click the Workflow button, double click in the Comments field on the form that displays, and then enter the comments. The reviewer/approver will see these comments when they review/approve the PO item.
  6. Optional: You can make changes to the PO after it has been submitted, but changing the PO items will remove the PO from the workflow process. Once you have made your changes, click the Submit for Approval button to resubmit it for review/approval.
  7. Review the PO. Open the Work Center that you use to review/approve purchase orders and then open the My Documents to Review option in the Work Center menu. A list of POs that you need to approve/review will display. This is a list of POs, not PO items. Perform one of the following actions:
    • View the PO Items - Double click on a PO to drill down and view the PO items.
    • Open/Edit a purchase order - To open or edit a PO/PO item, select it in the list and click the Open () icon. This will open the PO in the form that was used to create it. For example if the PO was entered using the PO Pending Purchase Orders form, the PO will open in that form.
    • Approve a purchase order - From the Workflow Document Review, select a PO that needs to be approved and click the Approve Document () icon. This will approve all of the PO items on the purchase order where you are set up as an approver.
    • Reject a PO - From the Workflow Document Review, select a PO that needs to be rejected and click the Document () icon. This will reject all of the PO items on the purchase order, and the user that created the PO will receive a message that the PO has been rejected.
    • Add a comment - To add a comment, double click on a PO in the My Documents to Review query in the Work Center, and then select a PO item and click the Add Comments () icon. This will open the WF Document Review Edit form.
    • Add an attachment - You can add attachments to PO items directly from a Work Center. From the My Documents to Review query, double click on a PO and then select a PO item that displays. Click on the Attachments () icon at the top of the grid to add an attachment to the selected PO item.
    Note: If you are using using the PO/SL review feature in Vista Web, you can also review and approve purchase orders via the Approval menu. For more information, see Pending PO / Subcontract Review.
  8. Process the PO.
    1. Open the approved PO in the PO Pending Purchase Orders form. Verify that Approved displays in the Workflow Status field at the bottom of the form.
    2. Click the Process button. This will open the Batch Selection form.
    3. Use the Batch Selection form to process the PO in an existing PO Purchase Order Entry batch, or create a new batch. Once a batch has been selected, the PO Batch Process form will display.
    4. Validate the batch, preview/print the batch reports, and then post the batch. If there are errors in the batch, you can fix them by opening the batch using the PO Purchase Order Entry form.