Purging Purchase Orders & Invoices
You can set up purge criteria and schedule the Purge Acquisitions Records SQL job to automatically delete purchase orders and invoices for a library organization (or organizations) based on the age of the records. When the job is run, the Acquisitions records that meet the specified criteria are removed from the database permanently, and the data cannot be recovered. Data from the deleted records no longer displays in other records, such as item records, and it is not available for reports or other functions.
To specify the job criteria and schedule the job, you must have the Purge purchase orders and invoices: Allow permission for at least one library organization. This permission can be set at the System and Library levels in Polaris Administration. For instructions, see Purge Purchase Orders and Invoices.
Note:
The permission to purge purchase orders and invoices must be granted for each organization separately because granting the permission at the System level does not filter down to the Library levels.
Purge Acquisitions Records Job
When the Purge Acquisitions job runs, it purges the selected organizations’ invoices of any type with an invoice status date of paid, prepaid, or credited, and a status date less than the date in the Purge purchase orders and invoices before field. Invoices are deleted before their linked purchase orders.
Invoices that meet the criteria for deletion, based on the specified organization and date in the Purge Purchase Orders and Invoices dialog box, will be skipped in the purge process if:
- The invoice has a status of Open or PartPaid
- The invoice is linked to a purchase order with a status that prevents deletion.
- The invoice is linked to a purchase order with a status that allows deletion, but the purchase order is also linked to another invoice (or invoices) with a status that prevents deletion.
It also purges the selected organizations’ purchase orders of any type with an order status of Canceled, Closed, or Received, and a status date less than the date in the Purge purchase orders and invoices before field.
Purchase orders that meet the criteria for deletion, based on the specified organization and date criteria in the Purge Purchase Orders and Invoices dialog box, will be skipped in the purge process if:
- The purchase order has any line items with a payment status of Open.
- The purchase order has a status of Pending, Released, Partly Received, or Continuing.
When a purchase order or invoice is deleted, any links to other records are also deleted. The links that may be deleted are listed below.
|
Invoice Deleted |
Purchase Order Deleted |
|---|---|
|
Bibliographic records |
Bibliographic records |
|
Funds (header and line item segment funds) |
Claims |
|
Fiscal years |
Funds (header and line item segment funds) |
|
(Other linked) Invoices |
Fiscal Years |
|
Item records |
Invoice lines, Invoice line segments |
|
PO lines, PO line segments |
Invoices |
|
Purchase Orders |
Item records |
|
Serial Holdings Records |
Selection Lists |
|
Standing Order parts |
Selection List Lines, SL line segments |
|
Subscription records |
Serial Holdings Records |
|
Suppliers |
Subscription records |
|
|
Suppliers |
Transactions Logging
When an invoice is purged, an Invoice Deleted transaction is logged. When a purchase order is purged, a Purchase Order Deleted transaction is logged.
Acquisitions Data in SimplyReports
Since all data in purged invoices and purchase orders is deleted, you may find unexpected results in reports that contain data from records linked to the purged records. For example, a fund report may show money encumbered and expended, but the data from the linked purchase order or invoice cannot be retrieved in a purchase order or invoice report.
Selecting the Organization Level for the Purge
Before specifying the purge criteria and scheduling the job, ensure that the settings reflect how your library system orders and invoices materials:
- If your library uses centralized processing, grant the Purge purchase orders and invoices: Allow permission to staff members at the System level in Polaris Administration. When an authorized staff member sets up the purge criteria in the Purge Purchase Orders and Invoices dialog box, only the System organization will be available to select, so the purge criteria will apply to all organizations in the library system.
Tip:
Although invoices and purchase orders are “owned” at the Branch level, purging is done at the Library level.
- If your library uses de-centralized processing or a combination of centralized and de-centralized processing, grant the Purge purchase orders and invoices: Allow permission to staff members at the Library level in Polaris Administration. When an authorized staff member sets up the purge criteria in the Purge Purchase Orders and Invoices dialog box, only the Library organization will be available to select, so the purge criteria will apply to the Library organization and all its associated branches.
Note:
The job looks at any saved entry at the Library level, with object locks honored. If, for some reason, the SQL job fails to purge an invoice or PO, the deletion of that record is reversed, the transaction is rolled back and the job continues. If one or more purchase orders cannot be deleted, the invoice deletion fails.