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Electronic Purchase Order System

Maximize savings and speed
with online purchase orders

Streamline AP and automate
the entire purchasing process

By removing paper and manual handling from your purchase order processes, you can realize immediate, significant cost and time savings. But going paperless is a two-way street: even if you issue electronic POs in your ERP system, your suppliers must have a way to receive them.

Corcentric’s Electronic Purchase Order System makes it easy for you to send POs and for suppliers to not only acknowledge them, but instantly turn them into accurate electronic invoices. Best-in-class AP departments realize cost savings of up to 82% per invoice and cut processing time by more than 70% by leveraging AP automation solutions. Now you can do the same.

BENEFITS OF USING AN ONLINE PO SYSTEM

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Reduce
Payment
Delays

Elimination of paper and manual processes reduces processing time and leads to quicker payment.

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Strengthen
Supplier Relationships

Faster processing reduces payment delays and leads to stronger supplier relationships and less complaints.

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Save Time, Reduce Errors, and Reduce Costs

Electronic purchase orders reduce costs, reduce errors, and improve operational workflow.

Complete Collaboration

Your suppliers are provided with an online supplier portal giving them centralized access to view real-time purchase order status and send order acknowledgements. They can convert POs into accurate invoices at any time.

Total Flexibility

Create purchase requisitions with automatic
routing to approvers. No more time-consuming
manual purchase order management.

Pinpoint Accuracy

With configuration to meet your price, quantity, and freight thresholds, you can trust that invoicing is accurate and meets your compliance policies.

Maximum Efficiency

With less back and forth, less waiting for acknowledgements, fewer missed emails, and fewer inaccurate invoices, an online purchase order system significantly reduces the stress and strain on your buyers, sellers, and supply chain overall.

Simplify your electronic document distribution

ERP Integration

Our Purchase Order automation solution integrates directly into your ERP and uses your existing PO requisition and approval process to transmit electronic purchase orders to 100% of your suppliers. Suppliers can view POs and convert them into accurate electronic invoices. Suppliers can also view acknowledgment orders and send advance shipment notices (ASNs) instantly.

Did you know?

152%

Best-in-class organizations
are 152% more likely to
use a supplier portal.

49%

49% of respondents note that
eradicating tactical tasks is needed to achieve higher performance.

76%

More than 3/4 agree “smarter”
systems that drive more efficiencies are necessary to achieve higher performance.

Source: 2020 Ardent Partners AP Metrics that Matter

Online Purchase Orders are easy, efficient,
and automatic – for you and your suppliers:

Corcentric Purchase Order Process Flowchart

Corcentric’s Electronic Purchase Order Process

Step 1

The Buyer generates a PO in the company’s ERP which instantaneously goes through Cor360 Purchase Order and is then immediately sent to the Supplier through the Cor360 Purchase Order Supplier Portal.

Step 2

The Supplier acknowledges receipt of the PO and its content, including delivery date, PO number and any other relevant information.

Step 3

As soon as the order is fulfilled, the Supplier clicks on “Create Invoice” which flips the PO into an e-invoice. The Cor360 Purchase Order Supplier Portal will also validate the content of those invoices to match the client’s specific business rules.

Step 4

Corcentric then matches the e-invoice to the original PO and Receipt of Goods, completing the three-way match.

Step 5

If during the match, an error is discovered, or the e-invoice and PO do not match the Receipt of Goods, a message is sent as notification of the discrepancy.

Step 6

Once the match is complete, the invoice goes straight-through into the Buyer’s ERP for payment.

Electronic Purchase Order FAQs

What is an electronic purchase order?

An electronic purchase order (or e-PO) is a digital, legally binding document that performs the same purpose as a paper purchase order. It is from the buyer to the supplier and includes price, quantity, and description of the product or service being purchased. Digitizing the process by transforming Procurement’s functions to e-procurement processes streamlines and speeds up the transaction steps, including purchase orders.

What are the major steps in the purchase order process?

The purchase order (PO) process starts with a purchase order request (or requisition) to Procurement from an approved person within the organization. Procurement then creates that PO which has a unique purchase order number. Procurement then sends out RFQs (request for quotation) to a list of suppliers. Once a supplier has been chosen, Procurement negotiates contract terms with that supplier and sends them the PO which the supplier is obligated to honor.

Which steps are automated with electronic purchase orders?

Selecting the right digital purchase order system, one should always look at the functionality of an overall P2P solution. When it comes to e-POs, a robust online purchase order system should enable PO requisition, PO creation and approval, release of PO to the supplier, receipt of goods, and invoicing to all be handled in the same system.

How does electronic purchase order software work?

Corcentric’s software for invoices and purchase orders streamlines purchasing workflows by integrating directly into a customer’s ERP and using the existing requisition and approval process to transmit e-POs to 100% of that company’s suppliers. Suppliers can view POs in the supplier portal and then flip those POs into accurate e-invoices which comply with agreed-upon payment terms.

How will electronic purchase order software create efficiencies?

Our user-friendly purchase order automation software helps both the Procurement and AP departments achieve efficiency in a variety of ways. Eliminating paper and manual processes reduces processing time, including the time it takes to manage requisition approval. The errors inherent in manual and paper-based processes are significantly reduced, which also speeds up payment. The ability for a supplier to flip an e-PO into an accurate e-invoice translates into faster payments, resulting in improved DPO. And 100% visibility into invoice status means less time spent on phone calls and emails with suppliers searching for information on payments.

Maximize Accounts Payable process efficiency with paperless POs

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