The Purchase Order (PO) Kanban is an interactive tool you can use to review your open purchases and update their progress from initial creation to Costed status. Use the PO Kanban to identify which of your PO's are still in progress, mitigate potential bottlenecks at each purchasing stage, and effortlessly update PO statuses from an easy-to-view page.

To open and use the Purchase Order Kanban, head to the main menu and select Purchases > Purchase Order > Purchase Order Kanban.

Each open PO that's shown in a PO Kanban is represented by it's own card, with a summary of the individual PO's transaction details. PO cards will be displayed on boards (columns) defined by their PO status, including custom PO statuses. Simply drag and drop POs, one at a time, from one board to another to update the PO's status in line with it's new board. Once a PO's card has been moved it's status will be updated immediately.

In the header of each board on the PO Kanban you'll see the PO status the board is for an a count of the number of POs currently saved with that board's status. You can click on a PO card to open the PO in a new tab, or move POs vertically within the same board to temporarily re-position them in your preferred order. If you leave the PO Kanban page or refresh it after moving a PO card within it's current column the PO Kanban will revert the board's order to it's filtered "sort by" order.

In the top right corner of the PO Kanban, you'll see three functional buttons:

The PO Kanban board will, by default, display an unfiltered view of all PO's currently in your account. At the top of the page you'll find the filtering options available to further refine your Kanban view. As soon as the filter's entered or select the PO Kanban will update the populate the POs that match the criteria. Click on the Clear Filter button to remove any filters that have been applied.

Create PO Kanban layouts specific to your various processes and workflows and ensure you're seeing all the information you need quickly and easily. Share the layouts with other users on your account to make sure your teams are aligned and updated accurately and in real time.

Initially, the PO Kanban will use your account's Purchase Order statuses, including custom Purchase Order Statuses, to establish a default layout. Each existing status will be a board (column), and any open POs in your account will be displayed as a card on the board with a matching status. By default, the boards will be organized from left to right in the following order:

The custom PO statuses that can be made via the Settings > System > Purchase Order Statuses page are designed to be an extension of the purchasing "Placed" status, and are ideal for helping you further specify where each PO is in your purchasing process. Create statuses such as "Supplier Confirmed", "In Transit", or "On site" to more easily track their progress before receipting.

You can temporarily customise the layout of your PO Kanban, or save and share it for future use using the options available in the Edit Layout button.

When you click Edit Layout, a sliding panel called "Kanban Layout" will be displayed on the right side of your page. From here, you can use the drop down menu available to switch between layouts and further edit the layout currently selected.

The Kanban Columns section will display all available boards, based on PO statuses, that can be included in a layout. You can use the checkboxes displayed per column option to select the boards you want to include on the layout and use the six-dot icon to rearrange the boards into your preferred position. Click on the "Add/edit custom statuses" hyperlink and you will be taken to the Purchase Order Statuses page in your settings, where you can manage your account's existing statuses.

You can decide how you want the POs in the selected layout to be sorted by default using the Default Sort Order section. Use the available drop down menu to select either Order Number or Delivery Date, then use the arrow icon next to the menu to determine whether they'll be sorted in ascending or descending order.

Customise how much detail's shown per PO card in the selected layout using the Additional Card Content drop down menu available. Use the checkboxes in the menu to display any of the following PO details :

Once you've created a unique view for your PO Kanban, you can save it for future use by selecting New at the top of the panel. In the "Add New Kanban Layout" pop-up window, you'll be asked to provide a Layout Name, then you can click Add. The new PO Kanban Layout will then be saved against your user profile as a selectable option from the Kanban Layout menu.

To make changes to an existing layout, select the layout in the Kanban Layout panel's drop-down menu first, make the necessary updates and then select Save.

Whenever you navigate the PO Kanban, your chosen default layout will be the view that populates. You can decide which should be your default layout using the Default checkbox available in the Kanban Layout panel. Use the drop-down menu to select the appropriate layout, tick the Default checkbox, and select Save.

If you've created a Kanban layout that other users in your account would benefit from using, you can share them by selecting the layout in the drop down menu, ticking the Shared checkbox and clicking Save. Other users with access to the PO Kanban will then be able to select the layout from their Kanban Layout panel's menu.