Skip to main content
Use a purchase order commitment when the project needs to issue a PO for materials, equipment, or vendor services and track that commitment inside the project budget. A purchase order (PO) is a commitment between your company (the buyer) and a vendor (the seller) for specific goods or services at agreed prices. Reach for a PO when you’re ordering materials, equipment, or one‑off vendor services; use a subcontract instead when you’re contracting trade labor. Both are commitments and both roll up into your project budget as committed costs.

​
Before You Start

Who can do this: you need access to the project’s Commitments tool. Entering or viewing Schedule of Values amounts requires the appropriate commitment permissions on the project. Have these details ready:
  • The project you are working in
  • The vendor or contract company
  • The PO title and PO number
  • The line items you need to add to the Schedule of Values
  • Any supporting files, such as a quote, proposal, or signed PO backup
If the vendor is not available in the contract company search, add the company in Company Directory first.

​
Create the Purchase Order

  1. Open the project.
  2. Select Commitments from the sidebar.
  3. Select Create and then choose Purchase Order.
The purchase order form opens at /[projectId]/commitments/new?type=purchase_order.

​
Complete General Information

Fill in the fields in General Information. Title, Contract #, and Status are required — the rest are optional.
  • Title (required): Enter a short name for the PO.
  • Contract # (required): Enter the PO number. Alleato prefills a draft number you can keep or replace; it must be unique within the project.
  • Status (required): Choose the current workflow status (defaults to Draft). Options are Draft, Out for Bid, Out for Signature, Approved, Complete, and Terminated.
  • Contract Company: Select the vendor. Optional on a PO, but recommended so the PO ties to a company.
  • Default Retainage (%): Enter retainage only if this PO should hold back a percentage of each payment.
  • Assigned To: Select the internal Alleato owner responsible for the PO.
  • Description: Add scope notes, delivery notes, or quote context.
  • Executed: Turn this on only if the PO is already fully signed.

​
Enter Bill To and Ship To Details

In Bill To / Ship To, complete the purchasing and delivery information:
  • Bill To: Select the billing company and billing contact, then confirm the address fields.
  • Ship To: Select the receiving company and receiving contact, then confirm the delivery address fields.
Review the auto-filled address details before saving. Update them if this order should bill or ship to a different address than the default company record.

​
Add Payment and Shipping Details

In Payment & Shipping, enter:
  • Payment Terms such as Net 30
  • Ship Via for the delivery method or carrier
These fields help accounting and field teams understand how the PO should be processed and delivered.

​
Attach Backup Files

In Attachments, upload the files that support the PO, such as:
  • Vendor quote
  • Signed purchase order
  • Proposal or scope sheet
  • Delivery or equipment backup
Add attachments before you save so the record is auditable from the start.

​
Add Contract Dates

In Contract Dates, fill in the dates your team needs for tracking:
  • Contract Date
  • Delivery Date
  • Signed PO Received Date
  • Issued On Date
Only enter the dates that are relevant to this purchase order.

​
Set Privacy and Contacts

In Privacy & Access:
  • Add Invoice Contacts if vendor billing should route to specific people.
  • Add Access for Non-Admin Users only if this PO is private and specific users need access.
  • Turn on Private if the PO should not be visible to all project users.
  • Turn on Allow these non-admin users to view the SOV items only when those selected users should also see line-item values.
Use these settings carefully. A private PO stays hidden from most users unless they are explicitly added.

​
Build the Schedule of Values

​
Set the accounting method first

At the top of the Schedule of Values, Alleato shows the PO’s accounting method — unit/quantity by default. Click Change to Amount-based if you’d rather enter lump-sum amounts than quantity × unit cost. Set this before you add any line items. The accounting method also applies to the PO’s change orders and invoices, and it can’t be changed once line items exist.

​
Add the line items

In Schedule of Values, add the line items that make up the PO total. For each line item, enter:
  • Budget Code
  • Description
  • Qty, UOM, and Unit Cost when using unit/quantity accounting
  • Amount
The form calculates totals as you build the line items. Use Add Line Item until the full PO scope is represented. Before saving, confirm:
  • Every line item is assigned to the correct budget code
  • The total matches the approved PO or vendor quote
  • Any warning about unbudgeted line items has been resolved or intentionally reviewed

​
Save the Purchase Order

  1. Review the full form one more time.
  2. Select Create Purchase Order.
  3. Return to the Commitments list and confirm the new PO appears with the correct vendor, title, number, status, and total.

​
After You Save

Open the new purchase order and verify:
  • The header information matches the source document
  • The Schedule of Values total is correct
  • The attachments are present
  • Privacy and invoice contacts are set correctly
If the PO should affect committed costs immediately, make sure its status and execution state match your project workflow.

​
Common Issues

  • Vendor not found: Add or activate the vendor in Company Directory, then return to the PO form.
  • Budget code warning: The line item is not mapped to the current project budget. Update the line or add the needed budget code before approval.
  • Wrong bill-to or ship-to address: Update the address fields on the form before saving.
  • PO total does not match the quote: Review the SOV line items and confirm quantity, unit cost, and amount on each row.