Understanding PO Statuses & Permissions

Created by Uroosa Anwer, Modified on Thu, 9 Jul at 8:09 PM by Uroosa Anwer

Status of Purchase Order (PO)

A Purchase Order (PO) is generated and then moves through different stages during its lifecycle. As the PO progresses, its status changes to reflect its current stage in the approval, ordering, delivery, and invoicing process. The table below provides a brief explanation of each PO status.

Status	What It Means	Can It Be Edited?	What Happens Next
Draft	PO is being created by the user. Nothing has been submitted yet.	Yes – lines and notes can be changed freely.	Submit for approval or cancel the PO.
Issued	PO has been submitted and is awaiting approval.	No – locked while waiting for approval (an approver can amend it).	An approver approves, rejects, or cancels it.
Ordered	PO has been approved and is now an official order.	No – approvers can amend it, which sends it back for approval.	The work order was sent to the vendor, the vendor started the work, and it was subsequently marked as Completed.
Completed	Vendor has completed the task.	No – same amendment rule as Ordered.	Record vendor invoices against the PO.
Invoice	Every PO line has been fully invoiced under Invoice section.	No – final state.	Nothing. View-only status.
Rejected	An approver rejects the draft of the PO submitted by the user for approval.	Yes – becomes editable again, similar to Draft.	Correct issues and resubmit, or reject the PO.
Cancelled	PO has been cancelled and closed.	No – final state.	Nothing. View-only status. Charge lines become available for a new PO.

Normal PO Lifecycle

Draft → Issued → Ordered → Completed → Invoice

Every PO screen shows this path as a progress bar, with the current step highlighted, so you always know

where the PO stands. If a PO is rejected or cancelled, the progress bar shows that ending instead.

User Access Levels

The system provides two levels of access, each with different permissions and responsibilities.

Standard User

Standard Users can:

View Dashboard, Purchase Orders, and Invoices
Create Purchase Orders
Edit Draft and Rejected Purchase Orders
Submit Purchase Orders for Approval
Record Vendor Invoices

Approver

Approvers have all Standard User permissions, plus the ability to:

Approve Purchase Orders
Reject Purchase Orders
Amend Submitted or Approved Purchase Orders
Cancel Issued, Ordered, and Completed Purchase Orders
Mark Purchase Orders as Completed
Mark Purchase Orders as Invoiced
Approve Vendor Invoices
Reject Vendor Invoices

Access Level	What You Can Do
Standard User	Create Purchase Orders (POs), submit POs for approval, record invoices, cancel draft POs, and send PO emails to vendors.
Approver	Includes all Standard User permissions, plus the ability to approve or reject POs, cancel submitted or approved POs, amend approved POs, mark POs as Completed or Invoice, and approve or reject invoices. Only ROLE_PO has the approver rights.

Note: If you do not see a button referenced in this guide (for example, Approve), your account most likely has Standard User access. If you believe you require additional permissions, please contact your system administrator to request Approver access.

Assigning Approver Access (ROLE_PO)

To grant Approver permissions, the administrator must assign the ROLE_PO role to the user by following these steps:

Navigate to Security.
Select View User.
Search for and open the required user's profile.
Go to the Assign Roles section.
Assign the ROLE_PO role to the user.
Save the changes.

Once the ROLE_PO role is assigned, the user will have access to approver functions such as approving or rejecting POs and invoices, amending approved POs, and updating PO statuses.