PURCHASING > Releases >
A Release document is used to inform a supplier that you wish to receive a portion of one or many items on a Blanket Purchase Order. For example, you might place a Blanket Order for a year's worth of, say, 500 widgets and then send the supplier a
Release to receive 100 of the items, leaving 400 available on the Blanket PO.
You can create new Releases in your Release Work Area, provided you have enabled the applicable setting in Receiving Options.
As you release against a Blanket PO, the available/remaining quantity on the Blanket PO will decrement. Once the limit of the Blanket PO has been reached, you will no longer be able to enter Releases for the PO.
SpendMap will keep track of how much has been released against a Blanket PO, which you can see in View PO Status, on the Blanket Order Status Report and on various other screens and reports.
Like Purchase Orders, you can send Releases to your suppliers electronically (e.g. by e-mail) and you will have the option to print hard copies as well. For details, see Sending Documents Electronically and Document Forms.
Releasing adds a step to the typical procurement process. That is, without Releases, the typical procurement process is Purchase Order > Receive > Approve Invoice. If you use Releases, the process will be Purchase Order (Blanket PO) > Release > Receive > Approve Invoice.
That said, releasing is an optional feature in SpendMap. Even if you use Blanket POs, you do not have to enter Releases. You can skip the Release step and simply match receipts or invoices directly to the Blanket PO, just as you would any other PO. For example, you may prefer to just call the supplier or otherwise request that they send you some of the items on the Blanket PO, rather than processing Releases in the system. However, you would lose the ability to track open release quantities (although, when the items are finally received, the receipts will then update the status of the Blanket PO).
