Purchase Orders

Email a Purchase Order

Easily share Purchase Orders with subcontractors, vendors, suppliers, or other project team members via email

BACKGROUND

Designed to streamline communication across construction teams, ConstructionOnline™ makes it easy to communicate pertinent project data to stakeholders through various methods. Within OnCost™ Purchasing, construction companies have the ability to share Purchase Orders directly to subcontractors and vendors through its built-in email feature. During email creation, Company Users are provided with tools to customize what Purchase Order information is shared, choose how information is displayed, include any necessary attachments, adjust default text and headers & footers, and tailor the email message to ensure critical financial information is communicated through a professional and organized approach. 

This article contains the following sections:

  1. Step-by-step instructions
  2. Video walkthrough
  3. Additional information

STEPS TO EMAIL A PURCHASE ORDER

  1. Navigate to the desired Project via the Left Sidebar. 
  2. Select the Financials tab and choose the Purchasing category. 
  3. Within the Purchasing pane, locate the Purchase Order you wish to email.
  4. Right-click on the Purchase Order and select the "Email" option.
  5. Within the "Email Purchase Order" window, choose from the following details to customize the Purchase Order - 
    1. Within the Choose Purchase Order tab
      1. Select Project: Choose the Project that contains the Purchase Order you wish to email 
        1. The current Project is selected by default. 
      2. Purchase Order: Select the individual Purchase Order you wish to email
        1. The Purchase Order selected in Step 4 is populated here automatically. 
      3. Display Columns: Specify what information you wish to show on the generated Purchase Order by selecting the checkbox ☑️ next to the desired options 
        1. All columns display by default. 

          ☑️ Classification
          ☑️ Cost Code
          ☑️ Quantity 
          ☑️ Unit Cost 
          ☑️ Unit 
          ☑️ Total Cost 

      4. Report Options: Choose from other report customization options by selecting or deselecting the ☑️ checkbox beside the corresponding option. 
        1. All options are selected by default.

          ☑️ Show Subcategory Totals
          ☑️ Include Item Descriptions
          ☑️ Include Item Images

      5. Document Density: Adjust row density depending on the amount of information displayed or your preferences 

        🔵 Default - Standard Row Density
        ⚪ Comfortable - Row Density is increased
        ⚪ Compressed - Row Density is increased further 
    2. Within the Email Attachments tab 
      1. Choose which existing Attachments are included in the email 
        1. Only Attachments that have been previously uploaded to the Purchase Order will appear within this tab.
        2. New Attachments cannot be added when emailing a Purchase Order; however, ConstructionOnline does provide preview and download options for existing Attachments. 
        3. To include all existing Attachments, mark the checkbox next to ☑️ Select All.
    3. Within the Default Text tab
      1. Choose to insert any Default Text Block onto the Purchase Order. Select from Default Text Blocks already saved to the Company Account, or create new Default Text Blocks directly from within the Print Purchase Order modal.
        1. Upper Default Text: Text will appear above the main document content.
        2. Lower Default Text: Text will appear below the main document content. 
    4. Within the Header & Footer tab:
      1. Default Header & Footer Settings will apply for companies with Team Plans. 
      2. Companies with Business or Enterprise Plans can choose to apply custom Header & Footer sets to the document.
        1. Headers & Footers are managed at the Company level. 
        2. To manage Header & Footer sets, click on the Manage Header & Footer Sets hyperlinked text.
  6. Once you have finalized the details of your emailed Purchase Order, click the blue "Print" button. 

    ⚠️ The Purchase Order has NOT been sent yet. Please continue with the following instructions to ensure your Purchase Order is successfully emailed.

  7. The Purchase Order will open in a new browser tab where you can review & edit the document (using the built-in text editor), print, download (as a PDF), save (to ConstructionOnline Files), and/or continue with the email preparation.
  8. Once you have reviewed the generated Purchase Order, click the green "Finalize And Prepare Email" button at the top center of the screen.
  9. This will open the email preparation window where you should fill in the following details: 
    1. Send To: Specify the primary recipients of the Purchase Order 
      1. This field is required.
      2. By default, any Contact added to the Subcontractor/Vendor field for the Purchase Order is automatically included, but can be removed.
      3. Contacts that populate within the "Send To" dropdown are pulled from your ConstructionOnline Company Contact List. New Contacts must be added through the Company Contacts page and cannot be added when emailing a Purchase Order.
    2. CC: Include other recipients who should receive a copy of the email but are not the primary recipient, such as additional team members or stakeholders 
    3. Email Subject & Content
      1. Email Subject: Define the title or subject line of the email 
        1. If no email subject text is entered, the default subject formatting will be applied. The default subject formatting includes the PO Number and your Company's Name. For example, "PO #1234567-001 from ABC Construction".
      2. Email Content: Detail any additional information, instructions, content, or messaging related to the Purchase Order that you wish to appear in the body of the email alongside the Purchase Order document.
  10. Once you have finalized the details of your Purchase Order email, click the blue "Send Email" button to deliver the Purchase Order to the specified recipients. 
    1. Only one email batch can be created per generated Purchase Order. If you wish to send additional emails for the same Purchase Order, you must re-start the instructions listed above. 

VIDEO WALKTHROUGH 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • Subscription Level: ConstructionOnline's Purchasing module is available for companies with current ConstructionOnline subscriptions at the Team, Business, and Enterprise levels.
  • Permissions: ConstructionOnline Company Users must have Purchase Orders, Bills, and Payments permissions set to "Can Create & Edit" or "Can Create, Edit, & Delete" to email Purchase Orders.
    • Purchase Orders, Bills, & Payments permissions are set and managed at the Company level. For more information on editing Company-Level permissions, visit this FAQ.
  • ClientLink™/TeamLink™ Access: ClientLink and TeamLink Users do not have access to the Purchasing feature via the Project Portal.
  • CO™ Mobile App: The Purchasing feature is exclusively available via browser access to ConstructionOnline. 
    • The Purchasing feature cannot be accessed through the CO Mobile App.

HAVE MORE QUESTIONS? 

  • If you need additional assistance, chat with a Specialist by clicking the orange Chat icon located in the bottom left corner or visit the UDA Support Page for additional options.