Requisitions/PO’s Tab

The Requisitions/PO's tab contains fields for setting up the following aspects of the PowerSchool ERP Purchasing System:

Determining the numbering of requisitions and purchase orders in the current and upcoming fiscal years.
Establishing approval settings, such as the default in a purchase order's Status field and using approval groups from Organization Chart records.
Providing Purchasing's email address.
Specifying the default method for encumbering payment amounts in Fund Accounting.
Setting the default method for distributing purchase order costs.
Repeating budget/unit account distributions from one requisition or purchase order to the next to facilitate data entry.
Selecting the format for printing purchase orders.
Allowing or disallowing taxes on freight shipments.

Fields

The Requisitions/PO's tab's fields are divided into three sections: Numbering Options, Requisition/Purchase Order Approval, and Miscellaneous. Following are descriptions for each section's fields.

Numbering Options Section

These fields determine how your requisitions and purchase orders are numbered:

Field	Description
Zero-Fill Length of Req Number	Number of character positions the system should ensure are filled for each requisition number, using leading zeroes. For example, if requisition numbers should be zero-filled up to six character spaces, select 6 in this field. In this case, an entry of requisition number 302 would be saved, stored, and displayed as 000302. Zero-filling lets you maintain sequential requisition numbers since it converts all numbers to the same character length. If you do not want to use the zero-filling feature for requisitions, select 0 in this field.
Zero-Fill Length of PO Numbers	Number of character positions the system should ensure are filled for each purchase order number, using leading zeroes. For example, if PO numbers should be zero-filled up to six character spaces, select 6 in this field. In this case, an entry of purchase order number 302 would be saved, stored, and displayed as 000302. Zero-filling lets you maintain sequential purchase order numbers since it converts all numbers to the same character length. If you do not want to use the zero-filling feature for purchase orders, select 0 in this field.
User Assigned Req Numbers	Checkbox determining whether requisition numbers are user or system-assigned. Select the checkbox for user-assigned requisition numbers. For system-assigned requisition numbers, leave the checkbox blank.
Next Requisition Number	Number or letter/number combination for identifying the next requisition added in Purchasing for the current fiscal year. Character/8 If you use letters in your requisition numbers, make sure they are at the beginning or end of the character string. The system refers only to the numeric characters to determine the next sequential requisition number. If you use zero-filling for requisition numbers, the system automatically provides the appropriate number of leading zeroes. This field is updated with the Next New Year Req Number value when you run fiscal year-end processing for Fund Accounting.
Sep Seq for Next Yr Req Numbers	Checkbox determining whether you use a separate numbering sequence for requisitions entered in the current fiscal year versus those entered using the Next Year’s Requisitions option. Select the checkbox if you want to keep the sequences separate. Otherwise, leave it blank. If you select the checkbox, the system refers to the next year sequence, but this is only if you use system-assigned numbering for requisitions. If the checkbox is blank, the system refers to the current year sequence, but this is only if you use system-assigned numbering for requisitions.
Next New Year Req Number	Number the system will use for the next requisition added with the Purchasing System’s Next Year’s Requisitions option. This setting only applies if the Sep Seq for Next Yr Req Numbers checkbox is selected, and you use system-assigned requisition numbers. Character/8 After you run Fund Accounting’s fiscal year-end procedures, update this field with your new-year numbering sequence if necessary.
User Assigned PO Numbers	Checkbox determining whether purchase order numbers are user or system-assigned. Select the checkbox for user-assigned PO numbers. For system-assigned numbers, leave the checkbox blank. This setting applies only to encumbrances entered in the Purchasing System.
Next PO Number	Number or letter/number combination that will be used to identify the next purchase order added in Purchasing for the current fiscal year. Character/8 If you use letters in your PO numbers, make sure they are at the beginning or end of the character string. The system refers only to the numeric characters to determine the next sequential number. If you are using zero-filling for purchase orders, the system automatically provides the appropriate number of leading zeroes. This field is updated with the Next New Year PO Number value when you run fiscal year-end processing for Fund Accounting.
Sep Seq for Next Yr PO Numbers	Checkbox determining whether you use a separate numbering sequence for purchase orders entered in the current fiscal year versus those entered using the Next Year Purchase Orders option. Select the checkbox if you want to keep the sequences separate. Otherwise, leave it blank. If you select the checkbox, the system refers to the next year sequence, but this is only if you use system-assigned numbering for purchase orders. If the checkbox is blank, the system refers to the current year sequence, but this is only if you use system-assigned numbering for purchase orders.
Next New Year PO Number	Number the system will use for the next purchase order added with the Purchasing System’s Next Year Purchase Orders option. This setting only applies if the Sep Seq for Next Yr PO Numbers checkbox is selected, and you use system-assigned purchase order numbers. Character/8 After you run Fund Accounting’s fiscal year-end procedures, update this field with your new-year numbering sequence if necessary.

Requisition Or Purchase Order Approval Section

Use this section to determine several settings relating to approval processing for requisitions and purchase orders:

Field

Description

Approvals by Organization

Checkbox determining whether approval parameters are assigned to requisitions and purchase orders based on levels from your financial reporting structure (Organization Chart) or user-defined approval groups. Select the checkbox to base approval on key organization codes from the Organization Chart. For user-defined codes, leave the checkbox blank.

Group Title

Field label to use for the approval parameters assigned to requisitions, purchase orders, and if applicable, accounts payable records. Character/15

This field is used in the Approval table, as well as in pages where requisitions and purchase orders are processed. It is also a part of payable entry if you use AP approval.

Use a name that reflects on how approvals are handled. If approval is based on the Organization Chart, then Key Orgn would appropriate. Likewise, if approval is based on work location, you could enter Location as the title.

Buyer PO Approval

Checkbox determining the default value in the purchase order header’s Status field. Your selection applies to records entered with the Purchase Orders option as well as those generated by the Mass Convert Reqs to POs option and Vendor Bidding’s Convert Bid to PO option.

Select the checkbox if you want the header to default a Status designation of I - Incomplete. This value indicates that a data entry supervisor or buyer must review the purchase order and manually change the Status setting to C - Complete. This needs to happen before the PO can go through approval processing, posting to Fund Accounting, or printing.
Leave the checkbox blank if you want the header to default a Status designation of C - Complete. This value indicates that the purchase order is valid for approval processing, posting to Fund Accounting, and printing.

Miscellaneous Section

Use this section's fields to determine settings for encumbering purchase order costs, distributing encumbrance amounts, and formatting printed purchase orders:

Field	Description
Purchasing Encumbrance Flag	Default setting to apply in the purchase order header's Encumber field. The Encumber field determines how the system handles encumbering of purchase order costs in Fund Accounting. The default setting you select in the profile applies to purchase orders entered manually in the Purchasing System as well as those converted from requisitions and vendor bids. The default value can be changed upon entry of a purchase order. The setting takes effect when the purchase order is fully approved and posted to Fund Accounting. Select one of the following options: Y - From Purchasing - Updates Encumbrance, General, and Expenditure Ledgers in Fund Accounting when a purchase order is fully approved and posted. N - No Update - Does not update Fund Accounting with encumbrance amounts when purchase orders are posted. R - Review - Sends encumbrance amounts to a batch file in Fund Accounting for review when purchase orders are posted.
Alternate Portrait PO	Setting determining the print orientation for your purchase orders. Select one of the following options: P - Portrait - Prints purchase orders in portrait orientation, a vertical rectangle with the narrow edge at the top. L - Landscape - Prints purchase orders in landscape orientation, a horizontal rectangle with the wider edge at the top. S - Portrait Summary - Prints purchase orders in portrait orientation. With this selection, accounting distribution information is summarized at the bottom of purchase orders. When two or more line items pertain to the same budget unit/account (and project/project account, if used), the charges will be added together, and only one distribution line will appear. Line item numbers will not be included.
Purchasing Distribution Method	Setting determining the default method for distributing the costs of requisition and purchase order line items. If needed, the user can select another method during requisition or purchase order entry. Select one of the following options: A - By Amount - Allows distributing charges by dollar amount for each Expenditure Ledger record. P - By Percentage - Allow distributing charges by a percentage of the total dollar amount for each Expenditure Ledger record. Q - By Quantity - Allows distributing charges by assigning the number of units from a line item to each Expenditure Ledger record.
Create Attachments?	Checkbox determining the default for the Create Attachments? checkbox in the Print Purchase Orders page. The checkbox indicates whether you want the system to create PDF attachments of printed purchase orders as part of the printing process. This profile setting is only available if you have the appropriate Optio software installed on your server. Select the checkbox if the Create Attachments? field should be checked by default when a user prints purchase orders. If you leave the profile's checkbox blank, the field in the Print Purchase Orders page will be blank by default. The user can change the default setting when printing POs.
User Forms Manager for POs	Checkbox to use the Forms Manager feature to print the purchase orders.
Tax on Freight?	Checkbox determining whether taxes should be applied to freight charges. Select the checkbox to allow taxes to be applied. Otherwise, leave it blank.
Purchasing Email Address	Email address of your Purchasing Department or a comparable location for emailing purchase orders or change orders to vendors.
Copy Charges?	Checkbox determining whether the budget unit/account combination used on a requisition or purchase order should be copied to the next one when a user is using continuous add. This feature saves the user time in entering distribution charges. If desired, the user can change the default distribution from the previous requisition or purchase order. In this case, the new distributions will be copied to the next record being added. Select the box to allow the distribution codes to default. Otherwise, leave it blank, in which case, users must look up and enter the codes.
Create Purchase Orders for Fully Approved Requisitions Only	Checkbox determining the output of purchase orders. To create purchase orders for fully approved requisitions only, select the box. Otherwise, leave it blank.
Automatically Create POs from Fully Approved Requisitions	Select to have Purchase Orders automatically created when requisitions are approved.
Prevent Updates to Converted Requisitions	Checkbox that enables or disables updates to converted requisitions. To prevent updates to converted requisitions, select the box. Otherwise, leave it blank.