Procurement Quick Start

Article
02/15/2022

To be able to buy products and services, you must first set up vendors. Once that is done, you can start registering purchase orders and receiving invoices.

Set up vendors

The following video shows you how to set up a vendor in Business Central.

Set up a new vendor

Choose the icon, enter Vendors, and then choose the related link.
On the Vendors page, Choose New.

If more than one vendor template exists, then a page opens from which you can select a vendor template. In that case, follow the next two steps.
1. On the Select a template for a new vendor page, choose the template that you want to use for the new vendor card.
2. Choose the OK button. A new vendor card opens with some fields filled with information from the template.
Proceed to fill or change fields on the vendor card as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.

For more information and additional things you can do when you register vendors, see Register New Vendors.

Create new purchase orders

When you buy something from a vendor you have two options. The first, and simplest, is to just create a purchase invoice. However, you must use purchase orders if your purchasing process requires that you record partial receipts of an order quantity, for example, because the full quantity was not available at the vendor.

The following video shows you how to create a purchase order in Business Central.

To create a purchase order

Choose the icon, enter Purchase Orders, and then choose the related link.
On the Purchase Orders page, select the New action to create a new Purchase Order.
In the Vendor Name field, enter the name of an existing vendor.

Other fields on the Purchase Header are now filled with the standard information about the selected vendor.
Fill in the remaining fields on the Purchase Order page as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.

You are now ready to fill in the purchase order lines with items or resources that you have purchased from the vendor.
On the Lines FastTab, in the Item No. field, enter the number of an inventory item or service.
In the Quantity field, enter the number of items to be purchased.

The Line Amount field is updated to show the value in the Direct Unit Cost field multiplied by the value in the Quantity field.
In the Order Discount Amount field, enter an amount that should be deducted from the value shown in the Total Incl. Tax field at the bottom of the order.
When you receive the purchased items or services, choose Post.

For more information and additional things you can do when creating a purchase order, see Purchasing.

Create a purchase invoice

You create a purchase invoice to record the cost of purchases and to track accounts payable. Creating a purchase invoice is similar to creating a purchase order.

How to create and post a purchase invoice

Choose the icon, enter Purchase Invoices, and then choose the related link.
On the Purchase Invoice page, select the New action to create a new Purchase Invoice.
In the Vendor field, enter the name of an existing vendor.

Other fields on the Purchase Invoice page are now filled with the standard information of the selected vendor.
Fill in the remaining fields on the Purchase Invoice page as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.

You are now ready to fill in the purchase invoice lines with items or resources that you have purchased from the vendor.
On the Lines FastTab, in the Item No. field, enter the number of an inventory item or service.
In the Quantity field, enter the number of items to be purchased.

The Line Amount field is updated to show the value in the Direct Unit Cost field multiplied by the value in the Quantity field.
In the Invoice Discount Amount field, enter an amount that should be deducted from the value shown in the Total Incl. Tax field at the bottom of the invoice.
When you receive the purchased items or services, choose Post.

The purchase is now reflected in inventory, resource ledgers, and financial records, and the vendor payment is activated. The purchase invoice is removed from the list of purchase invoices and replaced with a new document in the list of posted purchase invoices.

For more information and additional things you can do when creating a purchase invoice, see Record Purchases with Purchase Invoices.