2.1 Overview of purchasing documents

A PO can be created directly, or indirectly, from other processes and summarizes the key aspects of the purchase for the supplier. This includes what and how much is being purchased, at what price, when it is required, and when and where it should be delivered. It also contains other information critical to the three-way matching process, such as if and how a GR and invoice should be posted and valued, as well as some financial information. This financial information is required to drive the postings to the supplier and general ledger accounts, and may include, for example, the account determination, tax code, cost objects, currency, exchange rates, special payment terms, etc.

Instead of a PO, you can also have a PSA, which is a scheduling agreement. This is usually for a longer term than a PO and with regular deliveries, but it behaves in a similar way to a PO with regard to invoice verification.

Later in the process, the PO will also contain the associated document process flow and PO history, showing details of the documents posted against it, such as invoices, GRs, and any corrections. Figure 2.1 shows an example of the document process flow relating to one line item of a PO, from purchase requisition through to supplier invoice.

Figure 2.1: Simple document process flow in PO item (F0842A)

In this example, we drilled down into the PO using the Manage Purchase Orders app (F0842A), but similar flows exist in other Fiori apps.

Most organizations have some sort of approval process in place before a PO is sent to a supplier. The number of approvers can vary depending on the size or importance of the purchase. If there is an approval process in place, a GR or invoice cannot be posted against a PO until that PO has been approved.

The new Manage Purchase Orders app (F0842A) is designed to be a simplified version of the classic GUI transactions ME21N, ME22N and ME23N (create, amend, and display PO). It contains the most commonly used features of those transactions, as well as some additional functionality. The Manage Purchase Orders app (F0842A) opens with an overview screen showing existing POs, where you can drill down into a PO to display or edit it. You can also create a new PO. To see the process flow of a line item, you first need to navigate to the line item to find the Process Flow tab. The equivalent app for PSAs is the Manage Purchase Scheduling agreements app (F2179).

The overview screen displays all draft and completed POs, including those created within the app itself, as well as those created using the classic GUI transaction ME21N. This transaction is also available as an app called Create Purchase Order – Advanced.

Some POs that are created using transaction ME21N may contain features that are not supported in the Manage Purchase Order app (F0842A). In this case, a small information box is displayed next to the PO, with a short explanation of which feature is not supported (see Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2: Advanced PO information box (F0842A)

These POs will be displayed in the classic Display Purchase Order – Advanced app (ME23N) rather than in the new Fiori app, and will therefore only have the classic PO history available, and not the process flow. Some examples of unsupported features are specific document types, the validity period of framework orders, multiple account assignment distribution, and certain item categories.