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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-03-13
Create Purchase Orders

Create Purchase Orders

  • Create spend categories for purchase orders. See Create Spend Categories.
  • Specify the purchase order
    Issue Option
     on the
    Create Supplier
     task for each supplier.
  • Configure the
    Purchase Order Event
     business process and security policy in the Procurement functional area.
  • Security:
    Process: Purchase Order - Create/Edit
     domain in the Procurement functional area.
You can create purchase orders for issuing to suppliers.
To track purchase orders by purchase order types, create purchase order types on the
Maintain Purchase Order Types
 task.
  1. Access the
    Create Purchase Order
     task.
  2. As you complete the
    Summary
     section, consider:
    Option Description
    Order-From Connection
    Select a specific supplier site where you want to issue purchase orders. Workday automatically populates options from the
    Edit Order-From Connections
     task and these fields, based on the order-from connections, instead of the supplier:
    • Default PO Issue E-mail
    • PO Issue Option
    • Shipping Method
    • Shipping Terms
    Freight Amount
    Other Charges
    You can automatically populate these landing costs from the document header to the lines. Add a spend category that's eligible for allocation of freight and other charges to at least 1 line, as set up on the
    Maintain Spend Categories
     task.
    Example: You purchase a large piece of equipment and have 1 line for the equipment itself and another for installation.
    Acknowledgment Expected
    When you configure the supplier to expect POAs automatically, you can clear this check box for individual purchase orders.
  3. As you complete the
    Terms and Taxes
     section, consider:
    Option Description
    Payment Terms
    Default Payment Type
    Automatically populates from the Purchase Order Defaults and Payment Defaults sections on the
    Create Purchase Order Schedule for Supplier Contract
     task.
    Due Date
    Select the due date for order fulfillment.
    Shipping Terms
    Shipping Methods
    Shipping Instructions
    Workday displays shipping information based on how you set it up in the
    Maintain Shipping Information
     task. Workday selects the source of shipping information in this order of precedence:
    • Order-From Connection
    • Supplier
    • Company
    • Tenant
    You can specify a shipping method when issuing purchase orders with EDI 850 to help facilitate rush orders. Use the
    EDI Code
     field to specify a shipping method to your supplier through EDI 850 transactions.
    Supplier Contract
    Select a supplier contract to apply this purchase order to.
    When a requisition specifies a supplier contract and is the basis for sourcing this purchase order, the supplier contract information automatically populates to the purchase order.
    Default Supplier Contract
     displays if you select the
    Enable Consolidation of Requisitions Across Supplier Contracts
     check box during tenant setup.
    Default Tax Option
    Workday automatically populates this value from the supplier. If the supplier profile doesn't have a defined tax option or to override it, select a tax option.
    Workday automatically populates the tax option at the line from the header, but you can override it at the line level.
    Default Tax Code
    Automatically populates from the supplier. If you don't define the default tax code or to override it, select a tax code.
    The header tax code automatically populates to procurement document lines, which you can override.
  4. As you complete the
    Contact Information
     section, consider:
    Option Description
    Issue Option
    If you didn't specify an issue option, Workday populates the
    Print
     issue option, which requires a print layout.
  5. As you complete the
    Goods Lines
     tab, consider:
    Option Description
    Tax Applicability
    Automatically populates from the item-specific tax rule based on ship-to address, first by purchase item and then by spend category.
    Tax Code
    If the item is taxable, the code automatically populates from the
    Default Tax Code
     on the header, which you can override.
    If you configured it on the
    Create Transaction Tax Rule for Country
     task, Workday automatically populates it here.
    Tax Recoverability
    Workday automatically populates the recoverable percentage on the transaction line based on the specified tax applicability and tax code. You can override this selection. When you specify the tax recoverability, Workday applies the recoverable percentage and the allocation method to the tax amount for tax rates within a tax code.
    Use the
    Maintain Tax Recoverabilities
     task to specify the tax recoverability of multiple tax rates for each tax code.
    Tax Option
    Select
    Calculate Self-Assessed Tax
     when suppliers or payees won't charge tax. Otherwise, select
    Calculate Tax Due to Supplier
     when a supplier or payee will charge tax. The tax option you select applies to certain documents that Workday generates from the purchase order.
    Requested as No Charge
    We display a
    Requested as No Charge
     field on:
    • Purchase order lines created from requisition lines marked as no charge.
    • Change orders for purchase orders that have a related no charge goods line.
    The
    No Charge
     field isn't valid for standalone purchase orders, since you can only select the field on the requisition.
    Delivery
    Delivery Type
     automatically populates when you enable stock items on the spend category.
    Enter a Delivery Type of:
    • Inventory Replenishment
       to put away goods into an inventory site.
    • Par Replenishment
      when restocking a par location.
    Don't enter a
    Delivery Type
     if the goods go directly to a user.
    Delivery Type
     impacts the accounting for the purchase order and the ability to track the item through Inventory.
    When sourcing requisitions, the
    Delivery Type
     automatically populates based on the requisition type you configured on the
    Maintain Requisition Types
     task.
    When creating new purchase orders, the
    Delivery Type
     populates as
    Inventory Replenishment
    .
    For JIT items, the purchase order due date populates from the just-in-time lead time on the supplier catalog.
    Prepaid
    Select the
    Prepaid
     check box to identify this line as prepaid.
    Workday automatically selects the
    Has Prepaid Line(s)
     check box in the
    Prepaid Details
    tab and populates related supplier invoices with prepaid details from the purchase order.
    Spend categories for prepaid lines must be:
    • Non-trackable.
    • Trackable with the
      Expense
       accounting treatment.
    When tax isn't allocated on a prepaid line, it won't be included in the prepaid accounting in related invoices. Instead, it uses the
    Transaction Tax
     account posting rule.
    Ship-To Contact
    If the purchase order line originates from a requisition, Workday populates the corresponding requisition line ship-to contact.
    Ship-To contacts on purchase order headers populate from requisition lines when you create a purchase order from a requisition because you can’t specify a Ship-To contact at the requisition header level.
    Deliver-To
    The deliver-to location is:
    • A par location for par replenishment types of requisitions.
    • An inventory site or stocking location for inventory replenishment types of requisitions.
    • Any location, for nonreplenishment types of requisitions.
    When you enable multicompany, if the
    Delivery Type
     is
    Inventory Replenishment
    , the
    Deliver-To
     value must correspond to the inventory company and the correct PO line company.
    Supplier Contract
    Displays if you enabled consolidation of requisitions across supplier contracts during tenant setup.
    Item Identifiers
    Alternate item identifiers for the catalog item, punchout item, or purchase item.
    When you configure purchase orders with primary item identifiers on the
    Maintain Item Identifier Type Display Options
     task, Workday displays up to 3 item identifiers. You can select the remaining items that aren’t marked as primary item identifiers in the
    Additional Item Identifiers
     column.
    Location
    If you register and track the items as business assets, select the location to store and use the items.
    Worktags
    Use worktags as keywords to more easily classify and find transactions. Configure the allowed worktag types on the
    Maintain Worktag Usage
     task. When you select a worktag type that has related worktags, Workday automatically populates transactions with the related worktag values.
    When you enable optional worktag balancing on the
    Maintain Worktag Balancing Configuration
     task, Workday fully balances journal lines by optional balancing worktags. Journal lines automatically:
    • Inherit optional balancing worktags based on the worktag types selected.
    • Generate due to and due from entries to balance transactions.
  6. To specify a purchase order as prepaid, access the
    Prepaid Details
     tab.
    As you select a Prepaid Amortization Type, consider:
    Option Description
    Manual
    Select to manually amortize the prepaid spend amortization on a future date.
    (Optional) Enter the
    Expected Amortization Date
     for tracking and reporting purposes.
    You can use the
    Expected Amortization Date
     for reporting and creating custom alerts, but Workday doesn't validate against this date.
    Settle and pay manual prepaid amortization type payments before you can amortize spend.
    Receipt
    Select to amortize prepaid spend after the
    Receipt
     business process completes for:
    • Purchase orders.
    • Supplier invoices generated from POs or supplier contracts.
    Schedule
    Define a schedule for amortizing prepaid spend after purchase order approval.
  7. (Optional) Complete the
    Attachments
     tab to add files to the purchase order.
    Select attachment categories to specify the type of document. You can define a business process step to route the purchase orders with a specific attachment category to an alternate approver.
    Select the
    External
     check box to include the attachment with the .PDF business document you send to your supplier. If you don't select this option, the attachment is available only to workers in your organization.
Workday initiates these business processes when you submit purchase orders:
  • Purchase Order Event
  • Purchase Order Issue Event.
  • If you're using the
    XML Auto
     issue option, the
    Purchase Order XML Issue Event
     business process automatically issues XML purchase orders. You don't issue purchase orders in Workday.
  • If you defined purchase order prepaid details, they automatically populate prepaid supplier invoices, which you can modify as needed.
  • When you view the transaction:
    • Line Details
       display the accounting distribution of any landed cost amounts allocated from the header to the lines and the total
      Gross Amount
       (net extended amount plus allocated tax, freight, and other charges). Workday uses the gross amount for:
      • Debit entry of spend accounting.
      • Receipt accruals.
      • Budget checking of spend transactions.
      • Default acquisition cost during asset registration.
    • The
      Tax
       tab displays the recoverable percent and distribution of recoverable and nonrecoverable tax amounts based on the:
      • Tax applicability.
      • Tax code.
      • Taxable amount.
  • The most recent expected ship date from the purchase order acknowledgment (POA) line on the related purchase order and change order lines.
  • On the
    View Purchase Order
     report, Workday displays:
    • The quantities ordered, received, and invoiced on the
      Goods Lines
       tab.
    • The amounts ordered, received, and invoiced on the
      Service Lines
       tab.
    • The
      Expected Ship Date
       on all acknowledged purchase order lines
  • For already invoiced quantities and amounts, Workday includes invoice adjustments values.
  • When procurement card verification or supplier contract lines refer to purchase order lines, they display in the
    Business Document Lines
     column.
  • If the requisition includes external attachments, they're available to suppliers:
    • When you issue PDF purchase orders using the email issue option.
    • From the supplier portal view of the purchase order.
  • Select
    Printable Version
     from the related actions menu of the PO to view a printable version in
    Approved
     or
    Issued
     status. This is regardless of the issue option you used.
  • You can create prepaid spend amortization schedules for a purchase order if it has prepaid lines and a
    Schedule
     amortization type.
  • If the purchase order includes external attachments, the attachments are available to suppliers:
    • When you issue PDF purchase orders using the email issue option.
    • From the supplier portal view of the purchase order.