In production and project management, keeping track of spending commitments is crucial. A Purchase Order (PO) is your primary tool for managing these commitments before any money changes hands. It's an official document that spells out exactly what you're buying, how much it costs, and what terms apply to the purchase.

Purchase orders serve as a legal agreement between your production company and vendors, creating a clear paper trail for every transaction. This documentation is essential for accounting, budgeting, and maintaining strong vendor relationships. With a proper PO system, you can prevent unexpected costs, maintain budget control, and keep all stakeholders informed about spending decisions.

Key benefits of using purchase orders include:

Managing purchase orders in spreadsheets or separate systems creates unnecessary work and introduces room for error. Saturation brings your entire PO workflow into the same platform where you manage your budgets and payments. This integration means you can create a PO and instantly see how it affects your bottom line.

Saturation's PO system connects directly to your budget, approval workflows, and payment systems. When you submit a PO, it automatically updates your budget projections. When you pay a vendor, the system automatically moves the cost from committed to actual spending. This automation saves time and reduces errors that come from manual data entry.

With Saturation's PO system, you can:

Purchase orders in Saturation live where you need them - right alongside your project budgets and payments. When you open your project, you'll find the Purchase Orders section in the left menu bar. This takes you to a comprehensive dashboard where you can view, create, and manage all POs related to your project.

The PO dashboard gives you a bird's-eye view of all purchase orders, their status, and their impact on your budget. You can sort, filter, and search POs to find exactly what you need. For new projects, this table starts empty, ready for you to create your first PO.

Creating a purchase order in Saturation is straightforward but thorough. When you click the "Create" button, you'll see a form designed to capture all essential information while keeping the process simple. Think of this form as your blueprint for clear vendor communication and accurate budget tracking.

The form breaks down into three main sections that help you build a complete and professional PO:

Basic Information: This section establishes the fundamental details of your purchase order. Each field serves a specific purpose:

Additional Details: Use this section to add context and supporting information:

Line Items: This is where you detail exactly what you're ordering. Each line item needs:

A robust approval system keeps spending in check while maintaining project momentum. Saturation's approval workflows adapt to your organization's needs, letting you set up approval chains that make sense for your team structure and project requirements.

Workspace owners and admins can create approval workflows that match their organization's needs. The system is flexible enough to handle simple approvals and complex multi-step processes. You can set different approval requirements based on project type, dollar amount, or department.

To set up approvals:

Once you submit a PO for approval, Saturation keeps everyone in the loop automatically. Approvers receive notifications both in their email and within Saturation, allowing them to take action quickly from wherever they are.

The approval process works like this:

Understanding how purchase orders affect your budget is crucial for project management. Saturation's PO phase feature gives you real-time visibility into committed spending, helping you make informed decisions about future purchases.

The PO phase in your budget acts as a living document of your spending commitments. To add your PO data as a phase in your budget:

If you want to rename this phase:

The PO phase transforms your budget into a powerful forecasting tool. You can see not just what you've spent, but what you're committed to spending. This visibility helps prevent over-commitment and keeps your project financially healthy.

Key features of the PO phase include:

Turning purchase orders into paid expenses should be simple. Saturation connects your POs directly to your payment and expense tracking systems, creating a seamless workflow from commitment to payment.

When you're ready to pay a vendor, Saturation's built-in payment system makes it simple. The process maintains the connection between your PO and the payment, keeping your records organized automatically.

Steps to send payment:

Sometimes you'll need to connect a PO to an expense that's already been paid or that needs special handling. Saturation's linking feature keeps your records accurate in these cases.

To link a PO to an actual:

Your purchase orders represent your company to vendors and partners. Saturation helps you maintain a professional image with customizable PO documents that include your branding and required information.

Start by setting up your company's identity in the system. These details will appear on all your POs, creating a consistent, professional look:

Saturation makes it easy to share professional PO documents with vendors and team members. You can generate PDFs in two ways:

From a single PO:

From the PO list:

Managing purchase orders effectively requires good habits and consistent practices. Here are key strategies that successful teams use in Saturation:

Organization:

Best Practices:

Purchase Orders are available as part of Saturation's Production plan. To start using POs for your productions, make sure you're subscribed to the Production plan or contact our sales team to upgrade your subscription.