Goods and/or services must not be provided on credit without a customer purchase order or the appropriate written equivalent contract. A customer purchase order provides written confirmation of the customer’s details (e.g., current address, contact details) and must be referenced on the invoice raised. Many organisations will not process payments without such documentation and may cause settlement to be unnecessarily delayed.
This is particularly important when arrangements may be informal, such as sponsorship. Formal written orders avoid problems at a later stage.
Purchase orders usually include reference to the customer’s standard terms and conditions. Therefore, it is essential the customer’s purchase order is accepted in writing to make it clear that the University’s STC will apply.
As many customers use a supplier portal (also known as a vendor portal), a PO number is essential to upload the resulting invoice. Refer to Making Sales, Supplier Portals to register on a customer’s portal.
Latest version 17 April 2024