About Purchasing

Purchasing stock parts through the SOMAX system means that the inventory quantity on hand of the parts purchased will automatically update after the parts have been received. Using SOMAX, you can keep track of quantities, receipts, and invoices.

The process of purchasing can be divided into two major stages: purchase requests and purchase orders. This article describes these two stages and the process as a whole.

For any help with finding or viewing existing purchase orders/requests, see Filtering and Viewing Purchase Requests, Orders, and Receipts.

Purchase Requests

Creating Purchase Requests

A purchase request is a request made by an individual or department within your organization and initiates the purchasing process. The request will include details such as the vendor, reason for purchasing, any notes or attachments, and the line items/parts that need to be purchased. Line Items can be Stock parts from Inventory or Non-Stock parts that are required outside of parts kept in Inventory or Services from Vendors.

You can create purchase requests manually or through the auto generator. 

For help creating a purchase request manually, see Creating a Purchase Request. For help setting up and using auto purchasing, see Auto Purchasing.

Once created, a purchase request can be labeled by status. An open or awaiting approval request has not been approved or denied. 

Approving and Converting Purchase Requests

The purchase request can then be evaluated and approved or denied by a higher level or manager of that department.

If approved, it is then sent to the purchasing department to be converted into a purchasing order, which is the actual contract of purchase between your organization and your vendor.

For more help with this stage, see Approving/Denying Purchase Requests or Converting Purchase Requests.

Purchase Orders

Creating Purchase Orders

The purchase order is the actual contract of purchase between your organization and your vendor. It will include all of the details from the purchase request and can also include the date by which the parts must be received, the carrier, the FOB Code, the terms of purchase, and any additional comments to the vendor. 

For help with creating or editing purchase order information, see Creating a Purchase Order. Please note that if a purchase request is converted to an order, all of the information will transfer and you will not need to manually create that order.

Once created, a purchase order can be labeled by status. An open order has not been received at all yet. A partial order means that some parts have been received, but you are still expecting to wait for the rest. A voided order means that the vendor cannot supply any of the parts, and a force completed order was a partial order with the other parts not expecting to come.

Receiving Purchase Orders & Confirming with Receipts

Once you have received at least one of your parts from your purchase order, you can begin to confirm their arrival with receipts. Once completed, this step will ensure that your inventory quantities are up to date. It may also be helpful to print out part receipts once done.

For help with either, see Completing Purchase Orders or Printing Purchase Orders & Receipts.

If there is a problem with your purchase order, such as your vendor not being able to supply all of the necessary parts, or simply not needing the order anymore, you may want to force complete, void, or reverse the order if completed.

For help with any of these, see Void vs Force Completing a Purchase Order or Reversing a Completed Order/Receipts.