Entry of Purchase Invoice without PO details, How to link

ERPNext
1

What if we have made a purchase order in ERPNext, the material is received, and we create a new invoice manually in spite of creating an invoice via e purchase order? How can we track that the material that the the material received is against the same purchase order?

How to reduce this type of work, where few materials come without PO and few come with PO.

How to map in ERPNEXT

2

ERPNext tracks the link through reference fields on each line item. A manually created Purchase Invoice has no PO reference, so the system can’t tell that the goods were ordered.

The result:

  • The PO stays “To Receive and Bill” or “To Bill” and never closes.
  • The PO’s billed_amt and per_billed stay at 0%.
  • The Purchase Receipt (GRN) and the invoice aren’t connected, so billing shows up twice.

How to track it

Option 1: Fix the link after the fact.
Open the manual Purchase Invoice (it must be in Draft) and set Purchase Order and PO Detail on each item row. Better still, cancel it and recreate it with Get Items From → Purchase Receipt or Purchase Order.

Option 2: Check the connections.

  • In the PO, the Connections panel shows the linked Purchase Receipts and Invoices.
  • Use the Purchase Order Analysis report, or the “Purchase Receipt Items to Be Billed” and “Purchase Order Items to Be Received” reports. These reports flag POs that were received but not billed.

How to prevent manual invoices

Follow one standard flow: PO → Purchase Receipt → Purchase Invoice.

  1. Create the invoice from the receipt. On the Purchase Receipt, use Create → Purchase Invoice. All references carry over automatically.
  2. Enforce it in Buying Settings:
    • Set Purchase Order Required to Yes, so a PO is mandatory.
    • Set Purchase Receipt Required to Yes, so a receipt is mandatory before an invoice.
    • Turn on Maintain Same Rate Throughout Purchase Cycle, so rates can’t drift between documents.
  3. Restrict permissions. Use Role Permissions so that users who handle invoices can’t create a Purchase Invoice without a source document.

Material that arrives without a PO

Keep two flows and separate them by item or supplier type.

With PO : PO → Purchase Receipt → Purchase Invoice

Without PO: Leave Purchase Order Required off, or turn on Allow Purchase Invoice Creation Without Purchase Order (and the matching Purchase Receipt option) in Buying Settings. Then use Purchase Receipt → Purchase Invoice.

Per supplier: On the Supplier master, use Allow Purchase Invoice Creation Without Purchase Order or Without Purchase Receipt. This lets you require POs for regular vendors and relax the rule for ad
hoc suppliers.

For unplanned purchases: Create a quick PO after the fact from the receipt, or use a y buying, so everything has a document trail.

Controls to add

  • Tolerances: Set Over Receipt/Billing Allowance in Stock Settings and Accounts Setti
  • Three-way match: Use the reports above, plus a regular review of the Purchase Receipt Items to Be Billed report.
  • Approval workflow: Add a Workflow on Purchase Invoice that blocks submission when tt reference.