Blanket Order Overview

  • Updated

The Blanket Order feature provides communities with a streamlined way to contract with a single supplier for the provision of unspecified products and services, over a specified time-frame. This process is designed to allow for convenient, pre-approved purchasing on demand.

 

Key Concepts

  • Pre-Approval: The blanket order is submitted and must first pass through the standard approval process.

  • Purchase-on-Demand (Draw Down): Once approved, products and services are procured as needed. Funds are drawn down from the blanket order's allocated amount each time a purchase (release) order is submitted, to the specified supplier.

 

Enabling and Managing Access

  • Community Activation: To enable Blanket Orders for your community, you must reach out to your Customer Success Manager.

  • Buyer Access Control: Community Administrators have the ability to enable/disable the feature for specific buyers within the community.

Note: For additional information on controlling buyer features, refer to the help article Editing a Supplier.

 

Note on Account Coding (Release Order Coding Controls)

The accounting flexibility on the Release Order is determined by the Release Order Coding Controls setting (managed by the Community Administrator):

  • All: Users can select any other account code they have access to, outside of the account code designated on the parent Blanket Order itself.

  • Limited: Users can only select from the account codes already established on the Blanket Order, but they can apply a different percentage split across those codes.

Note: For additional information on account coding, refer to the help article Release Order Coding/Release Coding Controls Settings.

 

Create/Edit Blanket Orders

Feature Description Key Details
Creating a Blanket Order Allows buyers to purchase goods and services without raising a new purchase order for every transaction. Requires pre-approval via the standard approval process.
Edit Blanket Orders Allows for modifications after the initial creation.

If Edit Blanket Orders is enabled, the Creator and Community Administrators can change the dates.

Editing access in the Available To field, does not require the Edit Blanket Orders setting to be enabled.
Copy a Blanket Order Allows authorized users to quickly duplicate an existing blanket order.  Eliminating the need to re-enter most details for a recurring order.

Release Orders

Feature Description Key Details
Create a Release Order against a Blanket Order Funds are drawn down directly by authorized buyers. Authorized buyers can create a release order, which draws down the allocated funds and does not require further approval.
Create a Retrofit Release against a Blanket Order Allows buyer to create a retrofit release order against a blanket order. A Retrofit Release Order is a feature that allows a user to create a release order after the fact. Meaning the items may have already been sent by the supplier and received by the buyer.

 

Create Invoice & Approve/Reject Invoice

Feature Description Key Details
Create an Invoice against a Blanket Order  Funds are drawn down automatically upon invoice approval. Supplier/community-submitted invoices are routed to delegated approver(s). Once approved, a matching release order is automatically generated to draw down the funds.
Approve/Reject an Invoice Submitted against a Blanket Order  Details who can view and approve invoices against the order. Users with access to the blanket order (including those in the Available To field) can view/approve invoices.

 

Blanket Order Credits

Feature Description Key Details
Blanket Order Credits Allows for applying credits against the blanket order.