Subcontractor Summary and POs

The Subcontract Summary lists every subcontracted job that has not yet been put on a purchase order, so you can check the figures and raise POs for your subcontractors in bulk. Setting rates, confirming work and emailing job details to the supplier happens on the Scheduler when you allocate the work - see Allocating work to a subcontractor.

The summary screen

Open Purchase Orders from the sidebar and choose the Subcontract Summary tab in the header bar.

Dates - the From date defaults to the Monday of last week and To defaults to today. Change them and click Filter to look further back.
The strip above the list totals things up: how many jobs are awaiting a PO, across how many suppliers, and the total value left to commit.
Each supplier row shows their Code, name, number of jobs, the Customer revenue (what you are charging your customers for those jobs) and the Rate to pay (what you have agreed to pay the subcontractor).
Click a supplier's row to expand it and see the individual jobs - status, customer, date, collection and delivery points, products, POD, rate and charge.

Only jobs that are not yet on a purchase order appear here. Once you generate a PO for a job, it leaves the summary.

Checking and adjusting the figures

Before raising POs, you can correct either side of a job's finances from the expanded list:

Rate - what you are charging your customer. Clicking it opens the consignment rate window where you can change the sales rate (a reason may be required, depending on your company settings).
Charge - what you are paying the subcontractor. Clicking it opens the Set Rate window: enter the rate and choose the method - Fixed Rate, CPT Rate (per tonne) or Percentage (of your customer revenue). If the supplier has done the same route before, the previous rate is shown - click it to reuse it.
Leaving Continue to confirmation actions ticked opens the subcontract actions window after you set the rate, where you can confirm the work and email the details to the supplier - see Setting subcontractor rates when allocating work.

Changing a charge updates the load costings on the scheduler straight away. Jobs that are already on a supplier bill are locked and their figures cannot be changed.

Generating subcontractor POs

When you are ready to commit the costs, click Generate PO's at the top right of the summary.

The date range carries over from the summary - adjust it and click Refresh loads if needed.
Choose the VAT code and Nominal code to apply to every PO created. Left alone, each supplier's own defaults (or your company defaults) are used - see Accounts Integration for Purchase Orders.
Optionally add a surcharge - a percentage or a fixed amount. It appears as its own Purchase Order Surcharge line on each PO.
Tick the jobs to include. You can select a whole supplier at once, and the totals update as you tick.
Click Create POs. One PO is raised per supplier, and each appears with a link straight to its PDF.

A supplier whose selected jobs total zero or less cannot be committed - set the rates first.

About the POs it creates

They appear in the Open list with the Subcontract PO type.
They are approved automatically - approval limits do not apply - and emailed straight to the supplier's accounts email address with the PDF attached. To resend one, open it and choose Send Email from the three dots menu.
Each job becomes a line on the PO. Editing a line's cost afterwards updates the load costings on the scheduler too - but note it converts that job's rate to a fixed amount.
Once a line is matched to a supplier bill it locks, and the rate can no longer be changed anywhere.

Next step: the supplier's invoice

When the subcontractor sends you their invoice, record it under Accounts > Bills and match it to the PO you generated. See Recording Supplier Bills.

Common questions

A job I expected is missing from the summary. Check the date range, and check the job has not already been put on a PO - jobs leave the summary once committed. The job also needs to be allocated to a subcontractor on the scheduler.
Why can't I change a charge? A padlock means the job is already on a supplier bill, so the rate is locked.
What is the difference between this screen and the rates window on the Scheduler? The Scheduler window is for the day-to-day work: setting rates, confirming jobs and emailing instructions when you allocate. The Subcontract Summary is the accounts end: reviewing everything not yet committed and turning it into purchase orders.