For deliveries that are expected to occur periodically, requesters can submit recurring purchases.
An overview
Each recurring purchase will contain purchase instances scheduled for each recurring period. For example, if the recurring purchase is set to a monthly recurrence over a year, it will contain 12 purchase instances (scheduled purchases) that will be automatically opened by the system each month on the specified date.
Purchase instances cannot be managed individually; they must be handled through the recurring purchase. For example, if the supplier changes the item prices midway through the recurring order, you can edit the recurring purchase, update the prices, and resubmit it for approval. Purchase instances created before the price change will retain the old prices, while future and open (not yet invoiced) purchase instances will reflect the updated amounts.
You can manage recurring purchases in the same way as one-time purchases, including editing or deleting them. However, you can add invoices and receipt notes to their purchase instances only.
Specifics
Each purchase instance will be opened on the date of its schedule and will appear under Purchases > Open accordingly.
Purchase instances automatically inherit the details of their recurring (parent) purchase, including items, amounts, supplier information, and other relevant details.
Each purchase instance inherits the number of the recurring (parent) purchase, with a suffix appended (e.g., /1, /2, etc.) to indicate its sequence.
Creating requests for recurring purchases
To create a request for a recurring purchase:
In the Payhawk web portal, go to Purchases. Click on the + New button.
In the dialog that opens:
Under Note, describe the purpose of the recurring purchase.
(Optional) Under Supplier, enter the supplier name for the items you are requesting. Similar to the one-time purchases, a supplier will be needed for Payhawk to link the purchase and related expenses. Also, the supplier name will be used as the name of the purchase.
Under Recurrence, select the period for which a new purchase instance will be opened, for example, Monthly.
Under From and To, select the start and end date respectively of the recurring purchase, for example, a year from the current date.
(Optional) Attach a document for your recurring purchase, for example, a supplier quote.
Click on Continue to create the recurring purchase. As a result, you'll be returned to the Purchases > Draft tab.
Open your recurring purchase and fill in the necessary details such as item, net unit price, quantity, and any other fields required by your company. The details will be propagated to the purchase instances and will be available for you to see under the Purchases tab of the recurring purchase.
When ready, click on Send for approval.
