---
title: "Adding external costs (PO's)"
url: "https://knowledgebase.omg.oliver.solutions/en/article/adding-external-costs-pos"
language: "en"
last_updated: "2025-01-27T09:37:55.900Z"
---
# Adding external costs (PO's)
Once you have created a project and understand there is a requirement for external costs to be incurred you should raise a purchase order.
Purchases are created against a project, campaign or activity and are only available for IIG team members as they link into our internal financial system. Customers/clients and other agencies with access to the project simply won’t see the Purchase orders section in the left navigation.
When creating a purchase order, line items should be added for each product or service provided by the supplier, corresponding with any quote that has been issued.
| **Status** | **Definition** |
| --- | --- |
| **Draft** | The purchase order is being created or edited. The costs include on a Draft purchase are likely to change and are reported on as potential spend on the project. |
| **Authorisation required** | The **buy cost** exceeds a user’s purchasing limit and further authorisation is required. There will be an option to **Request Authorisation** whereby an appropriate individual will be able to send the request to be authorised. |
| **Authorised** | The purchase has now been successfully authorised and can now be Ordered. The **Purchase** may automatically update to this status should the value of the buy cost be lower than the owner’s threshold. Should a **Purchase** be rejected, the status will revert to Draft and any notes left when the authoriser rejected the request will be outlined in the email notification as well as the Notes section of the **Purchase**. |
| **Ordered** | The order has been formally placed with the supplier.
Once the Purchase Order has been internally approved, it can now be sent to the supplier.
Purchase orders in the Ordered state are viewed as committed spend against the project. |
| **GRN Confirmed** | The goods/services have been supplied/provided in full and the supplier can now be paid.
Once the |
### **Business rules**
- Purchase orders can be created without defining a supplier – this is for estimating purposes only. It is **not possible** to progress in the workflow (from **Draft** to **Authorise**) until a Supplier has been defined
- Purchase orders can only be associated to suppliers which have been created in **YOUR** legal entities finance system
- The suppliers available to choose are based on the legal entity that you work for. **You cannot raise a Purchase Order on behalf of another legal entity.**
- You must mark the Purchase order as **Goods Received Confirmed (GRN Confirmed)** in before the supplier can be paid
### **Creating a purchase order**
To create a purchase order, open the project/campaign/activity which is incurring the costs. Click New purchase order via the left menu
- Enter a **Title** and a **Description** (optional)
- For all purchases created for external companies (as opposed to an inter-company purchase), ensure **Third party** is selected
- Depending on if you are creating a Purchase order for estimating purposes, or if you know the supplier you’re going to use – select the appropriate supplier from the **Supplier** name field. If the supplier is not yet known, leave blank. o Please note that once a supplier is selected and saved, it cannot be changed. See **Cancelling a purchase** for more information
- The **Contact** details, **Currency** and **Supplier** details should automatically populate based on the given supplier. Check and confirm these are the details you expect
- Click **Save** to create the initial **Purchase Order** (in Draft) and then add line items
- In the **Line items** section, click the **New Line item** button to add a line item modal
- Enter a **Description** and select the appropriate **Service line** which best describes/categorises the goods/services being purchased
- Enter a **Quantity**
- If a tax value has been included on the supplier’s quote, include that value. Note that this is the per unit tax value (optional)
- Enter the **Unit Buy price** (how much, per unit, you’re purchasing from the supplier) and a **Unit Sell price** (how much you’re selling the items to the client for, per unit). If there is no unit price, just a total, input 1 x as quantity and the total
- Click **Add** to add the item to the **Purchase order** and click **Update**
- Repeat this process for each line item included in the purchase for the select supplier
### **Editing a purchase order**
While the Purchase Order is in the **Draft** state, it can be updated. To make edits;
- Select **Purchase orders** from the left navigation of the project
- Click into the detail view of the **Purchase order** by clicking the number or title
- Update the information you need and click **Update**
If the Purchase order is in the **Submitted** state, you will have to first click the **Edit** button which sets the status back to **Draft**.
### **Authorising a purchase order**
Once the purchase order has been finalised and is ready to be send to the supplier, you must first authorise the Purchase. Authorising the Purchase order will validate the **Buy cost** against your spend threshold assigned to your profile.
If the **Buy cost** is less than your threshold then the Purchase order will automatically update to **Authorised**. If authorisation is required, the status will update to **Authorisation required**.
To request authorisation;
- Select **Purchase orders** from the left navigation of the project
- Click into the detail view of the **Purchase order** by clicking the number or title
- Click the **Request authorisation** button
- A modal will appear and allow you to select an appropriate team member (eg your line manager) to authorise the purchase cost
- The status of the **Purchase order** will update to **Authorisation requested** and an email will be sent to the selected team member
### **Ordering a purchase order**
Once the Purchase order has been authorised, you can formally place the order with the supplier. Only Purchase orders that have been authorised (in the **Authorised** state) can be **Ordered**.
To order a Purchase Order;
- Select **Purchase orders** from the left navigation of the project
- Click into the detail view of the **Authorised** Purchase order by clicking the number or title
- Click the **Order** button
- The status of the Purchase order will update to **Ordered**
- Once in the **Ordered** state you should download a copy of the PDF and send to the supplier
Now that the purchase order has been marked as **Ordered**, it will recorded as an *actual cost* and will directly affect the profitability and financial burndown on the project.
Please note that marking the Purchase order as Ordered does not inform your local finance team to pay the supplier. See **Goods received confirmation**
### **Goods received confirmation**
Once the supplier has delivered all goods or services as outlined in the purchase order line items, then the status should be updated to **GRN Confirmed**. Only Purchase Orders in the **Ordered** state can be marked as **GRN Confirmed**.
To mark a Purchase Order as **GRN confirmed**;
- Select **Purchase orders** from the left navigation of the project
- Click into the detail view of the **Ordered** Purchase order by clicking the number or title
- Click the **GRN Confirm** button
- The status of the Purchase order will update to **GRN Confirmed**
- At this point you will be prompted to upload supporting documents pertaining to the confirmation of the goods/services received.
- This may be a receipt, invoice or simply an email correspondence
- Select the files from your desktop and click **Upload**
If you do not have any documentation that confirms the receipt of the goods at this time, you can return to the **Purchase Order** at a later date and upload the files under the **Assets** section of the Purchase order detail view.
### **Cancelling a Purchase**
If at any point in the purchasing workflow, the goods/services are no longer required or if the supplier previously selected is no longer able to provide the goods/services as previously thought, the **Purchase Order** should be marked as cancelled
Please note that it is only possible to cancel a purchase order in the following status’
- **Draft**
- **Submitted**
- **Ordered**
To mark a Purchase Order as **Cancelled**;
- Select **Purchase orders** from the left navigation of the project
- Click into the detail view of the **Purchase order** by clicking the number or title
- Click the **Cancel PO** button
- The status of the Purchase order will update to **Cancelled**
- **No further changes** can be made to the Purchase order once it has been cancelled
Cancelled Purchases are removed from any project spend and will not be paid.