01.08.2019
Reading Time: 4 Minutes

Learn How to Automate Your SAP Purchasing Process

In this Article

    What is an SAP Purchase Order?

    An SAP Purchase Order is a term given to the official confirmation of an order. The purchase order (PO) is a document that is sent from a buyer to the seller to request items or services at the agreed upon price. In the document, the buyer specifies the details of what they want in their order (e.g., item, quantity, delivery time, etc.).

    How Do SAP Purchase Orders Differ from Invoices?

    The difference between an SAP purchase order and an invoice is that the purchase order confirms that the order has been placed, and an invoice is used to request payment for an order.

    SAP Purchase Order Format

    Structure

    An SAP purchase order is comprised of two main parts—the document header and document items.

    Conditions

    Conditions in the purchase order can apply at various levels:

    • To the purchase order (as a whole)
    • To a specific set of services, or the material to be supplied for a specific item
    • At service line level for individual services (e.g., activities, tasks, etc.)

    Account Assignment

    The account assignment can be used to apportion the costs among various controlling objects.

    Vendor Confirmations

    Confirmations can be issued by vendors to the relevant purchasing organization, to confirm compliance or non-compliance with scheduled delivery dates.

    PO History

    A purchase order’s transactions are documented in the PO history on an item-specific basis.

    Partner Roles

    Other business partners can appear in various partner roles, instead of the vendor, as the order recipient.

    Plant

    Every item is destined for a specific company plant location and every plant has a specific company code. The company code indicates where the vendor’s invoice should be sent.

    Automatically Supplement SAP Purchasing Files with All Necessary Documents

    SEAL Systems’ SAP purchase order solution eliminates the time-consuming, manual search for all documents relevant to a company’s purchasing processes. Interested? Check out the below video to see how the purchasing process in SAP works with SEAL Systems:

    Send Additional Documents with the Purchase Order

    Additional documents can be filed in various locations in SAP and linked with the order. An extension automatically identifies the relevant documents and adds them to the order or query.

    Integrate Elements in Whatever Order You Choose

    SEAL Systems can integrate the following items in any order you wish:

    • Purchase order
    • GOS/BDS documents
    • Product line documents
    • Order documents
    • Order item documents
    • Supplier documents
    • Material documents
    Easy Distribution with PDF – and Easily Customizable Email Text

    When purchase orders are distributed by email, users can send a message with all documents in a single PDF document with easily customizable email text, as shown in the illustration below.

    Demo Purchase Order

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