Adding a PO number to a job

You can now record a purchase order number against a job at the point it is posted. The PO number then travels with that job all the way through, appearing on the timesheet and as a line item on the invoice. Finance teams can match an invoice to the right purchase order without emailing anyone to ask which job it relates to.

A quick reminder of how posting a job works

Posting a job takes three steps. The PO number sits in the second one.

Step 1: Job details Choose the site and the start date, then the worker type required. You can add a skill combination and a gender preference if the role calls for it. Underneath, set the shift itself with a start time and an end time. If the cover is split across the day, add a second block rather than posting two separate jobs.

Step 2: Job notes and other Add any notes about the job, then the PO number. Both are optional.

Step 3: Summary A read back of everything entered, including the site, times, duration, worker type, skills, notes and PO number, so it can be checked before the job goes live. Select Post Job to confirm.

Entering the PO number

1. Post a job as you normally would and complete Step 1: Job details.
2. Select Continue to reach Step 2: Job notes and other.
3. In the PO Number field, enter the purchase order reference for this job.
4. Select Continue and check the PO number appears correctly in the summary.
5. Select Post Job.

If you leave the field blank, the summary shows the PO number as N/A and the job posts perfectly well without one.

Where the PO number appears afterwards

Once the job is live, the PO number is visible in:

• The job list, so you can identify jobs by purchase order without opening each one
• The job detail view for the individual job
• The timesheet for that job
• The invoice, as a line item against the relevant charge

This is the point of the feature. Recording the reference once at the start means it is already sitting on the paperwork at the other end, rather than being added by hand or chased after the fact.

Changing a PO number

A PO number can be edited at any point up until the job is completed. This gives you room to correct a typing error or add a reference that had not been issued when the job was first posted.

Once the job is completed, the PO number is fixed, because at that stage it is feeding the timesheet and the invoice. If a completed job has the wrong reference on it, raise it with your usual contact rather than trying to amend it yourself.

It is worth building the habit of entering the reference at the point of posting. Adding it later works, but only if someone remembers before the shift is worked.

Turning PO numbers on or off by site

PO numbers can be switched on or off for each individual site. This matters because purchase order requirements are rarely consistent across an organisation. One site may raise a purchase order for every booking while another does not use them at all, and there is no need to prompt for a reference that will never be filled in.

If the PO number field is not appearing where you expect it, the most likely reason is that it has not been enabled for that site.

Good to know

• The field is optional throughout. It never blocks a job from being posted.
• There is no fixed format. Enter the reference exactly as your finance team issues it, including any prefix or dashes, so that it matches when the invoice is checked.
• Because the reference lands on the invoice as a line item, an incorrect number is more likely to delay payment than a missing one. It is worth a glance at the summary screen before posting.
• Where a client raises a job request themselves, they can enter their own PO number as part of that request, which means the reference comes from the person who issued it