Creating Purchase Orders

The purchase order record contains instructions, cumulative totals, and notes that pertain to the order as a whole, as well as line items for the titles being ordered. Each line item is a distinct record that contains unique information about a title. Within each line item, the segments contain distribution and fund information for copies of the title. You can create purchase orders using various methods in Polaris.

See also:

• Order Types

• Order Types, Payment Methods, and Fund Types

• Create a Purchase Order by Bulk Adding Titles

• Create a Purchase Order with a Template or Workform

• Create a Purchase Order by Copying a Purchase Order

• Add or Change General Purchase Order Information

• Add or Change Claiming Information for an Order

• Add or Change Supplier Instructions for a Purchase Order

Order Types

Depending on the funding source, the supplier’s arrangement with your library, and the materials being ordered, you can select from the following order types in Polaris:

• Firm orders are used for ordering specific titles that are not published serially. When the order is released, the funds are encumbered. When the items come in, they are received and the line items are copied to the invoice. When the invoice is paid, the funds are expended.

Tip:
For most orders, you select the type in the Order type box in the Purchase Order workform. However, for blanket orders or approval plans, no order is used, and you select the type in the Type box on the Invoice workform.

• Donation orders are for ordering items using donated funds. The fund type must be Donation in the Fund Record.
• Gift orders are used when the items are free, and the order is for tracking and reporting purposes. No funds are selected with a gift order, and a gift order cannot be copied to an invoice.
• Standing Order is the order type used exclusively for ordering parts in a monographic series A group of monographs with a collective title in addition to their individual titles. The individual titles may or may not be numbered. The collective title is generally found on the title page or the cover of each monograph. for which there is an overall title, but each volume has its own title. A purchase order line item is linked to the series as a whole. When the purchase order is released, the funds are encumbered for the series as a whole. Or, a standing order An order placed with a vendor or the publisher directly for all publications in a series, all volumes in a set, or all publications of a single publisher. can be prepaid. A Serial Holdings Record represents the overall title of the series. When standing order parts come in, they are checked in via Serials, not by receiving in Acquisitions. Each standing order part is linked to a bibliographic record when it is checked in.
• Subscription orders are for paying subscriptions with issues that can be predicted. When subscription issues arrive, they are checked in via Serials, and item records can be generated at check in.
• Blanket Order and Approval Plan types are used when the supplier automatically ships titles under a specific program. For these types, no purchase order is created, and the information is entered in the Invoice workform. For more information, see Invoicing.

Order Types, Payment Methods, and Fund Types

The following table shows the combinations of order types, payment methods, and fund types that can be used in Polaris.

Order Type	Payment Method	Available Fund Types
Firm Subscription Standing Order	Purchase	Regular Donation
Firm Subscription Standing Order	Depository Agreement	Deposit Account
Subscription Standing Order	Free	None
Gift	Free	None
Donation	Purchase	Donation