Settings — User Guide
Module: Purchase
Audience: Purchase administrators, system admins
Version: 1.0.0
Last updated: 2026-07-22
Overview
Purchase → Setting is where administrators configure how the Purchase module behaves: document numbering, default terms, approval workflows, units of measure, vendor classifications, bid-evaluation rules, and more. Changes here affect purchase requests, quotations, orders, invoices, and vendor portal behavior.
Prerequisites
| Role | Permission |
|---|---|
| View and change settings | Purchase Settings → Edit (admins always have access) |
| Reset all purchase data | Administrator only |
| Manage units / commodity groups | Purchase → Edit/Delete or administrator |
Settings tabs
Open Purchase → Setting. Use the left navigation to switch tabs:
| Tab | What you configure |
|---|---|
| Purchase order setting | Prefixes, next document numbers, company address on PDFs, default terms, PO logo, hide PR prices, require bid approval before PO |
| Purchase options | Feature toggles (create PO without PR, filter items by vendor, tax column, monthly PO reset, welcome emails) |
| Units | Units of measure for line items |
| Approval | Multi-stage approval rules for PRs, quotations, POs, payments, and bid analysis |
| Bid evaluation criteria | Scoring criteria used on the purchase request Compare quotes tab |
| Commodity group / Sub group | Item classification groups |
| Vendor category | Vendor classification labels |
| Vendor required docs | Document types vendors must upload (e.g. before signing contracts) |
| Permissions | Purchase-module staff role assignments |
| Order return | Return-order numbering prefix and next number |
| Currency rates | Exchange rates and auto-fetch settings |
Step-by-step: Configure document numbering and defaults
- Go to Purchase → Setting (default tab: purchase order settings).
- Set prefixes and next numbers for purchase orders, purchase requests, purchase invoices, and items.
- Enter your company address fields used on purchase PDFs.
- Optionally upload a PO logo and set the PDF logo scale.
- Edit Terms and conditions and Vendor note — these pre-fill on new quotations and orders.
- Click Submit.
Expected result: New documents use the updated numbering and defaults.
Step-by-step: Set up approval workflows
- Go to Purchase → Setting → Approval.
- Click New approval setting.
- Enter a name and choose the related document type (purchase request, quotation, purchase order, payment request, or bid analysis).
- Add one or more approval stages. For each stage, choose approvers (specific staff, direct manager, or department head when HR Profile is active) and actions (approve, sign, or notify).
- Click Submit.
Note: Only one approval rule per document type is allowed. If a rule already exists, edit it instead of creating a duplicate.
Expected result: New documents of that type start in Draft and require the configured approval flow before they are fully approved.
Step-by-step: Require bid approval before purchase orders
- Go to Purchase → Setting (purchase order settings tab).
- Enable Require bid approval for PO.
- Go to Bid evaluation criteria and add your scoring criteria (name, description, display order).
- On purchase requests with multiple quotes, use Compare quotes to score vendors and complete bid analysis approval before creating a PO.
Step-by-step: Toggle purchase options
- Go to Purchase → Setting → Purchase options.
- Toggle checkboxes — each saves immediately:
- Create purchase order without purchase request/quotation — allows standalone POs
- Load item by vendor — filters the item picker by selected vendor
- PO only prefix and number — simplifies PO list display
- Show purchase tax column — shows tax on purchase documents
- Send welcome email for new vendor contact — emails new portal contacts
- Reset purchase order number every month — restarts PO sequence monthly
Step-by-step: Reset purchase data (admin only)
- Go to Purchase → Setting → Purchase options.
- Click Reset data (administrators only).
- Confirm when prompted.
Warning: This permanently deletes all purchase requests, orders, quotations, contracts, invoices, and related approvals. Settings and master data (vendors, items, units) are not removed. Use only in test/sandbox environments.
Field reference (purchase order settings tab)
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| PO / PR / invoice / item prefixes | No | Text prepended to document numbers |
| Next PO / PR / item numbers | No | Next auto-assigned sequence value |
| Debit note prefix | No | Prefix for debit notes (core setting) |
| Invoice auto-operations hour | No | Hour (0–23) for recurring invoice cron |
| Company address block | No | Shown on purchase PDFs |
| Terms and conditions | No | Default legal text on new documents |
| Vendor note | No | Default vendor-facing note |
| PO logo | No | Image on purchase order PDFs |
| Hide PR prices | No | Hides unit prices on purchase request output |
| Require bid approval for PO | No | Blocks PO creation until bid analysis is approved |
Common issues
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Cannot open Settings | Missing Purchase Settings permission | Ask admin to grant Purchase Settings → Edit |
| Duplicate approval warning | Rule already exists for that document type | Edit the existing rule |
| PO blocked after quotes compared | Bid approval required but not completed | Finish bid analysis approval on the PR |
| Wrong document numbers | Prefix or next-number misconfigured | Update values on purchase order settings tab |
| Vendor cannot sign contract | Required documents missing | Upload required docs on vendor profile; check Vendor required docs tab |
| Reset data button missing | Not an administrator | Only admins can reset transactional data |
Related features
- Purchase requests — uses approval rules and bid criteria
- Quotations — uses quotation approval rules and default terms
- Purchase orders — edit — uses PO approval rules and numbering
- Contracts — vendor required docs gate portal signing
- Vendors — vendor categories and required document uploads