This article provides answers to some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQ) related to purchase orders (PO) in Payhawk.
Can employees use the Payhawk Receipts Mailbox for invoices related to purchase orders?
When an invoice states the number of the purchase order and is sent to the Payhawk Receipt Mailbox for paid or unpaid expenses, the Payhawk optical character recognition (OCR) will extract the data and automatically link the invoice to the respective purchase order.
If for some reason the number of the purchase order cannot be read, you will have to link the invoice to the purchase order manually.
Can users submit PO requests with suppliers that are new or have not been selected?
Yes. The intended process in Payhawk is that the supplier has to be created before the PO is approved.
Can the PO number for the expense be automatically extracted by the system?
Yes. The Payhawk optical character recognition feature (OCR) will automatically extract the PO number if it's included in the uploaded invoice.
Can Payhawk administrators delete a PO after the purchase request has been approved and the PO created?
POs can be manually closed by the requester or by Payhawk accountants and administrators. For more information, see the article on closing POs.
Do the employees who can delete draft purchase requests need to be Payhawk administrators?
No. For more information, see the article about creating and deleting purchase requests.
Can Payhawk match multiple invoices to a single PO?
Yes.
Does Payhawk support a three-way matching process?
Yes. For more information, see the section about the two- and three-way matching accounting process at Payhawk before payment.
How can users configure what categories of purchases require a receipt note?
Customers can select the categories that require a receipt note from the Dashboard > Settings > Purchase orders > Receipt note tab. For more information, see the article about setting the expense categories that require receipt notes for purchase requests.
Does Payhawk support discrepancy identification?
Yes. Payhawk automatically matches uploaded receipt notes and invoices to purchase orders and notifies in cases of quantity and/or price mismatches. For more information, see the article about defining discrepancy thresholds for purchase orders.
How can users define discrepancy thresholds and workflows?
You can set discrepancy thresholds from the Settings > Purchase orders > Discrepancy rules tab. For more information, see the article about defining discrepancy thresholds for purchase orders.
At the same time, you can set custom approval workflows in case of discrepancies from the Settings > Workflows > Expense types > Bank transfers field. For more information, see the article about defining workflows for bank transfers with purchase orders.
How can users define who can submit purchase requests?
Users can set who can submit purchase requests from the Dashboard > Settings > Purchase orders > General tab. At the moment, Payhawk provides the Everyone and Accountants and Admins options.
Can users define a custom PO numbering and prefix?
Yes. You can customize the data from the Dashboard > Settings > Purchase orders > General > Customization field.
Can users set a central invoicing email address to which the incoming invoices will be sent?
Yes. You can set the email address from the Dashboard > Settings > Purchase orders > General > Customization > Central invoicing email address field. For more information, see the article about configuring the basic settings for purchase orders.
Can a purchase request be approved by multiple people before creating the PO?
Yes. You can customize the purchase request approval workflows from the Dashboard > Settings > Workflows > Purchase orders app. There you can set a specific role, such as a Payhawk accountant or administrator; a person, such as a team manager or a manager of a custom expense field, or select an amount-based custom approval workflow.
What are the different PO statuses?
Draft - A purchase request that has not been sent for approval yet.
Pending approval - A purchase request has been submitted and is awaiting approval based on the approval workflow.
Open - An open PO (approved purchase request).
Closed - A closed purchase order is one in which all expected activity against all its lines has been fulfilled. Releases, receipts, and inspections are no longer entered against it.
For more information, see the overview article about purchase orders and the article about the lifecycle of purchase orders at Payhawk.
Can users archive or delete an already created PO after it's been approved?
Yes. You can close the PO if it's no longer needed.