What is a Purchase Order?

A purchase order is a document sent by the buyer(MSP, in this case) to a supplier/distributor with a request for products or services as an order. A purchase order usually includes product details (including item type, quantity & price), client details, shipping details, a sales order number(generated by the distributor), and an order tracking number (produced by the distributor). 

With the ability to create purchase orders within Zomentum, we help you save time from the effort of having to leave the product to place & track orders. We now enable you to perform the same actions within our platform. Besides, because we also have quotes(and other documents), the process becomes more accessible by importing products directly from documents to create the Purchase Orders (PO). 


How to Create Purchase Orders from Zomentum?

Note: Currently, we only support POs for Ingram Micro and Synnex. The PO creation for other distributors is currently work-in-progress.

I. From the Purchase Order module



  1. Navigate to the PO module from the left-hand bar 

  2. Click on Create Purchase Order

  3. Select how you would like to create the purchase order from an existing document or using products from the self-catalogue. 


  4. If you opt to ‘Add Products from Documents’, the system will display a window pop-up with the list of documents currently available on the platform. Select the document for which you want to place the order and click ‘Next’. 


    OR


If you choose to add products from the Self-Catalogue, the system will select the products and related distributors for each product. Please select the connected Client, the shipping address, and the contact name to which the products will be shipped on the next screen. 






  1. You will then see the list of products available within the selected document. Choose the products you would like to place the order and click ‘Next’ to create the PO. 


    Note: You may see certain products are disabled, and it is because the product is missing the ‘Mfg Part No’ or the ‘Vendor SKU’ details. It is mandatory to add either of the two before placing the order with your preferred supplier. 

  2. Zomentum will direct you to the PO Builder page, where you can see the list of PO’s created within Zomentum. The list of Distributors segregates the page. Users can compare prices, assign a contact for the PO, view the stock availability of products from different warehouses, change the quantity, verify the unit price and add the correct shipping address. 


  1. Once done, click on ‘Create PO’. The system will allow you to review the PO before finalising it. 


  2. The system will electronically connect to the selected distributor to place the order. 

  3. Once an order has been placed successfully, you will see the list of orders on the module Dashboard. 


Note 1: if you have any unfinished PO’s, the system will give you a warning sign on the PO Dashboard. You can either click on ‘remind me later’ or take action immediately by selecting ‘Check them now’. The ‘Remind me Later’ option is for every 30mins. 

Note 2: You cannot save a PO in the ‘Draft’ stage. The system will give you the warning only for the last unfinished PO.

If you have any incomplete PO’s and try to ‘Create Purchase Order’ newly, the system will prompt you to ‘complete the unfinished order’ or ‘proceed with new’. 



III. From the Document Module


i. From the document dashboard, click on ‘More’ against the preferred document and select ‘Create Purchase Order’. 


OR 


ii. Open the document and click on three vertical dots next to the ‘Send Email’ Option and select ‘Create Purchase Order’. 


You may then continue selecting the products and placing the PO with the related distributors based on the workflow mentioned above. 




Steps to Troubleshooting

  1. Check the available quantity of the warehouse and the quantity you have opted for. The system will prompt the available quantity and need your confirmation before placing the order. 



    FAQs related to Purchase Orders
    1. Unable to connect Purchase Orders and/or cannot link to Ingram?
    Sometimes a few of our customers are unable to:
    1. Create Purchase Order
    2. Connect to Ingram
    3. See prices from Ingram

    For the above scenarios, they see a common error:
    "Could not establish an Ingram connection. Invalid customer number. The customer number provided does not match the registered customer number."

    To resolve the errors, customers must check if they have enabled appropriate Ingram APIs from the settings given under their account. Two API calls are mandatory for such issues:

    1. Order Management V5

    2. Product Catalog V5




      If these are disabled, customers need to enable it, requiring approval from Ingram. Please feel free to reach out to us for any further queries.


      2. Are we releasing Purchase Orders for other distributors?
      You can directly place POs for Ingram Micro on Zomentum. We are releasing PO for all distributors soon.

      3. How would the PSA know that the PO has been placed from Zomentum? 
      You will receive a success message once you submit the PO: "Your PO has been successfully submitted to <<Distributor>>." Any further updates will be notified too. 

      4. How would we accommodate Shipping and Order fees related to the distributors in the PO?
      We are not showing Shipping or Order fees. However, we are working to include the charges in our PO invoice. Updates coming soon.