Problem guide
Purchase orders get created after the invoice arrives
Purchase orders get written after the invoice arrives when ordering happens in the field by phone and the PO step lives only in the office. Make the order record easy to create at the moment of purchase, and track every invoice that arrives without one so the habit becomes visible.
What it usually looks like
A foreman runs short of fittings mid-morning and picks them up at the supply house counter on the company account. He keeps the packing slip in the truck. Two weeks later, the vendor invoice arrives in accounts payable with a job name but no order number. The payables clerk emails the project manager, who does not know about the purchase, then calls the foreman, who confirms it. She creates a purchase order dated today to match the invoice, and codes it to the job after the monthly cost report has already gone out.
Signs you have this problem
- Accounts payable writes purchase orders to match invoices that already arrived
- Vendor bills show up for material nobody in the office knew was ordered
- Job costs jump when a stack of backdated orders is entered at once
- Nobody can say what has been ordered but not yet billed
- Vendors hold shipments while someone looks for an order number
What usually causes it
- Foremen order by phone or at the counter, and writing a PO is an office step they skipThe field-to-office split
- Getting a PO number takes an approval that is slower than the job can waitApproval drag
- Orders placed without a PO are invisible until the invoice landsThe invisible queue
What to try this week
- Count the after-the-fact ordersFor a month, mark every vendor invoice that arrived before its purchase order existed. Note the vendor, the job and who placed the order.
- Find where the orders startSort the list by who ordered and how. Counter pickups, phone orders and emergency buys usually account for most of them.
- Make a number easy to getGive field leads a simple way to get an order number at the time of purchase, such as a block of numbers per job, even while approval rules stay the same.
- Review orders without invoices weeklyKeep a list of open orders not yet billed. It shows what you owe before the invoice arrives and catches bills that never come.
Where do-it-yourself stops
These steps make after-the-fact orders visible and easier to avoid. They do not bring the field purchase, the approval and the office record into one step, so the habit returns whenever the job gets busy. A lasting fix is a tool built around your own vendors, jobs and accounting system, so the order is recorded where and when the buying happens. That is what a Workflow Spec designs.
Questions people ask
Why do purchase orders get written after the invoice?
Because buying happens in the field, fast, and writing the order is an office step that nobody on site has time or access to do.
Is a backdated purchase order a problem?
It turns the order into paperwork instead of a control. Nobody checked price or need before the money was committed.
Should we refuse to pay invoices without a PO?
Only once getting a PO in the field is quick. Otherwise you punish vendors and crews for a process problem.
Do small purchases need purchase orders?
That is a policy choice for your owner or controller. Whatever the limit, write it down so the field knows where it sits.
What does this cost us?
Surprise bills, late job costs, cash you did not plan for and time spent writing orders backward. Count your own after-the-fact orders first.
Next step
Want this fixed for good?
This guide is how to find it and work around it. If it keeps coming back, the fix is usually a tool built around how your crew already works. Start with a free twenty-minute fit call.
Fox & Santiago, Genesee, Idaho. Home territory: the Inland Northwest, where we respond fastest. We fly anywhere in the United States for paid engagements.