Purchase order tied to Contract - issue with Contract Model filter

[Mickey_Cegon]

We are setting up Contracts for the first time, and want the ability to tie each PO to a Contract, but the Contract field on the PO is filtered to only show Contracts that are the model of Purchase Order. Why is that filter there? Is there a reason why we can't remove that filter and allow any type of Contract to be tied to a PO?

Any help or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

Mickey Cegon

[parag-mone]

Hi,

I think the purpose of the "Contract" field on the Purchase Order is to capture the procurement contract established with the supplier. You create contract purchase agreements with your suppliers to agree on specific terms and conditions without indicating the goods and services that you will be purchasing. You can later issue standard purchase orders referencing your contracts, and you can encumber these purchase orders if you use encumbrance accounting.

Thanks,

Parag Mone

[jillaaa]

Thank you!

I'd agree that is the intent of the contract field.  The problem, or question in this case, is that the field is filtered to reference ONLY contracts with a "Purchase Order Contract Model".  Hoping to understand why that is, or what the intent would be? 

Most of the terms we would capture in a PO "contract model" would be the same attributes already being captured in the Purchase Order itself, so it seems duplicative to enter both a PO contract model and a PO.  Instead, we would (ideally) be able to link ANY contract to a PO.  Whether it is a purchase agreement, services agreement, or otherwise.  Any additional thoughts on why that filter might be important?

[Deb Wall]

Could someone help me understand what a Purchase Order Contract Model is used for?  My question is mainly for quotes of licenses, subscriptions, and maintenance.  My feeling is all of these quotes should be loaded as the model type of what we are purchasing and populating the PO# in the PO# filed.  However is there a reason to load in as a purchase order to be referenced in Asset Management  I feel the contract model is very important to help locate agreements by type.  Please supply me best practices on purchase order, software license, subscription, and maintenance contract models.  

[akash_mehta]

There are a few questions so I will try to answer what i can:

1)  Why is it filtered to only Purchase Order contracts:  The intent (as stated previously) is to be able to identify the vendor contract (if established) that identifies the terms and conditions of purchasing via that vendor.  These types of contracts would be specific to only Purchase Orders, so to keep from other types of contracts from being selected, a reference qualifier (pre-filter) was added.

2)  The purchase order will have information related to the current purchase (PO Number, Vendor, Ship to, Initial Request).  The fields on a Purchase Order contract would have the Contract number, start date/end date, Terms and Conditions...so while some information may be duplicated (Vendor)...most of the data is specific to the process it supports.

3)  Contract models are used to just identify different types of contracts, similar to a Hardware model or Software model.  This allows the contracts to be separated and more focused.  Some contracts have additional fields that only are used for that specific contract model.

Hope some of this helps.

Regards,

Akash