Update the Approval Status of a Purchase Order

Document approvals directly within ConstructionOnline™ for accuracy and transparency

BACKGROUND

As a leader in construction management software for over two decades, ConstructionOnline recognizes the importance of maintaining accurate records, preventing unauthorized purchases, and ensuring proper oversight of project financials. Because of this, OnCost™ Purchasing—ConstructionOnline's solution for complete financial transaction management— is designed to streamline the approval process for Purchase Orders while supporting companies with safeguards to ensure every transaction is tracked meticulously. By enforcing approval workflows, construction teams can confidently manage financial commitments while upholding company policies and improving transparency and accountability across projects. 

ConstructionOnline requires, at the minimum, that Purchase Orders be "Approved" before Bills and Payments can be created; however, construction companies have the ability to further customize their approval workflow with designated approvers and work verification mandates via their company's Purchase Order & Bill Settings.

This article contains the following sections: 

1. Prerequisites
2. Step-by-step instructions
3. Next actions 
4. Additional information

PREREQUISITES

Depending on your company's Purchase Order & Bill Settings, certain user(s) may be exclusively designated to review and approve Purchase Orders. If you're unable to edit the "Approval Status" field of a Purchase Order, check with a Company Administrator to confirm your company's settings and designated approver(s). For more information on Purchase Order & Bill Settings, visit this article.

STEPS TO UPDATE THE APPROVAL STATUS OF 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 "Active" Purchase Order you wish to edit the Approval Status of. 
   1. Purchase Orders must have an "Active" Status in order for their Approval Status to be updated. 
4. Using one of the following methods, update the Purchase Order's Approval Status -
   
   1. The Dynamic Table 
      1. Locate the "Approval Status" column on the dynamic table, then click into the Purchase Order's cell and choose one of the following options from the dropdown menu, depending on the Purchase Order's status - 
         1. Declined
         2. Pending Approval 
         3. Approved 
      2. All Purchase Orders are given a "Pending Approval" status upon creation. 
         
         
   2. The Blade Extension
      1. Right-click on the Purchase Order you wish to update, and select "Edit" from the dropdown menu. Within the Purchase Order's blade extension, utilize the Timeline (which opens by default) to mark the Purchase Order as "Approved", if appropriate. Alternatively, you can navigate to the Details tab, locate the "Approval Status" field and choose from one of the following options, depending on the Purchase Order's status - 
         1. Declined 
         2. Pending Approval 
         3. Approved
      2. Once you've made the desired edits to your Purchase Order, click the blue "Save" button.
         
         

NEXT ACTIONS

Once Approved, Company Users can create Bill(s) from Purchase Orders and log any number of full or partial Payments towards the Purchase Order. To learn more about creating Bills and/or Payments from Purchase Orders, visit the following articles: 

• Create a Bill from a Purchase Order
• Record a Payment for a Purchase Order

Please note that the recommended OnCost Purchasing workflow encourages the creation of Bills and Payments from existing Purchase Orders for seamless financial management. Any number of Bills may be linked to the Purchase Order from which a Payment is generated, depending on your company's use of the system. However, recording a Payment directly from the Purchase Order will not automatically update any of the linked Bill's Payment Statuses—it must be manually updated.

If you have a Bill attached to your Purchase Order and would like to ensure both the Purchase Order and Bill are updated with the Payment information created, the Payment must be created from the Bill. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• The "Approval Status" of a Purchase Order can be updated or reverted at any point. 
  • If you choose to revert the Purchase Order from "Approved" to a "Pending Approval" or "Declined", you will be prompted to confirm that any existing work verifications, Bill(s), and/or Payment(s) will be reverted and unlinked from the Purchase Order. 
    
    

• Purchase Orders can be grouped by the "Approval Status" field in the Group By View. 
  
  
  
  
• 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 update the Approval Status of a Purchase Order. Additionally, depending on your company's Purchase Order & Bills Settings, certain user(s) may be exclusively designated to review and approve 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.
  • Purchase Order & Bill Settings are set and managed at the Company level and apply for all Company Employees within the Company Purchasing feature and any Project Purchasing feature. To learn more about Purchase Order & Bill Settings, visit this article. 

• 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.