If activated, this field is mandatory for all invoices where the invoice type is PO. This is, unless an appropriate invalid reason is selected by a Validation activity user during the Validation activity.

The system only extracts a purchase order if it matches a valid format. Valid formats are specified in the Settings > Invoice Processing > Capture Profiles > PO Number Settings > PO Number Formats tab.

Further configuration settings enable the validation of this field against a database table or against a downstream ERP system. If this is set, the purchase order must exist in that system. These configuration settings are available in Settings > Invoice Processing > Capture Profiles > PO Number Settings > PO Number Validation tab.

On the server side, an additional check is made to ensure that the pay-to vendor set against the extracted purchase order, matches the vendor details on the invoice. It is possible to configure the system to consider and validate the vendor ID and purchase order number independent of each other. This is done by selecting the Ignore PO Vendor setting in the Settings > Invoice Processing > Capture Profiles > Vendor Settings.

Within the Validation activity, the user may change the purchase order or vendor. The system lets them pass as long as the chosen vendor is referenced on the purchase order. If an alternate vendor is required, an appropriate invalid reason must be selected from the list. For ERP systems that use a site ID as well as a vendor ID to identify a unique vendor address, only the vendor ID component needs to be common between the vendor ID field and the purchase order details.

If the user changes the purchase order and the new purchase order does not contain the vendor currently set in the vendor ID field, an information message displays, inviting the user to accept the new vendor or continue with the current vendor. A similar message displays for the currency field if the currency is set to default from the purchase order.

If the new purchase order is not released and the system does not require line items to be mandatory under this circumstance, a message displays informing the Validation activity user.

If the new purchase order is a one-to-one match with the invoice in terms of its overall value or the value of goods received against the purchase order but not yet invoiced, and the system does not require line items to be mandatory under this circumstance, a message displays informing the Validation activity user. For example, the MIRA scenario.

If the purchase order number is missing or invalid, the Validation activity user selects an appropriate invalid reason from the drop-down list to progress the invoice through the rest of the process.

A purchase order must be present and valid for the line-pairing feature to be activated during document export. Multiple purchase orders on a single invoice are supported if activated in the Settings > Invoice Processing > Capture Profiles > Line Pairing Settings. However, the system handles this at the time of line pairing. From the point of view of extraction and operation in the Validation activity, only a single purchase order number is required.