Tracking client purchase orders against approved contractor time

Many clients only pay for contractor time that is covered by a purchase order. The PO sets a value, a currency and a date range, and invoices that go over it, or fall outside it, tend to come back unpaid. The risk is rarely a single big mistake. It's a PO quietly running down week by week until an invoice goes over the limit.

This guide covers how to keep purchase orders in step with approved work, and how JN Tempo does it.

What to record for each purchase order

At a minimum, keep:

• the PO number exactly as the client issued it,
• the client it belongs to,
• the currency and authorised value,
• the start and end dates it covers,
• and the placements it pays for.

Keep a copy of the PO document itself. When a question comes up months later, the original is what everyone checks.

Count approved work, not submitted work

A PO is used up by work the client will be billed for. That normally means approved timesheets, not drafts or submissions that may still change. Counting approved work only keeps the figure stable: it moves when a manager approves a timesheet, and only goes down again if that timesheet is reopened.

Value each timesheet at the rate that applied when it was approved. If a placement's rate changes later, work that was already approved shouldn't change value.

Watch the limit and the end date

Two things end a purchase order: the value running out, and the end date passing. Decide in advance when you want a warning, such as at 80% of the value, so there is time to ask the client for a new PO or an extension before work goes uncovered.

Make sure nothing is counted twice

If two purchase orders cover the same placement for the same dates, approved time can end up counted against both. Give each placement one PO for any given date. When a PO is replaced, end the old one the day before the new one starts.

How it works in JN Tempo

In JN Tempo, admins record purchase orders under Finance → Purchase orders:

1. Choose New purchase order and enter the PO number, client, currency, authorised value and dates. Set the warning threshold you want.
2. Attach the PO as a PDF if you have one. JN Tempo can suggest the number, value and dates from the PDF's text. Suggestions are never saved on their own: you check them and confirm before saving.
3. Link the placements the PO covers.

JN Tempo then shows:

• Committed: the value of approved timesheets on the linked placements whose work period starts within the PO's dates and that were approved in the PO's currency, at the rate recorded on approval. Day rates are valued as hours ÷ 8 × day rate.
• Remaining: the authorised value minus committed. Expenses aren't included.
• Not counted: approved timesheets on linked placements that don't count, with the reason, such as dates outside the PO or no rate recorded.
• Warnings when usage reaches your threshold, goes over the authorised value, or the end date is within 30 days or has passed.

A placement can only be linked to one purchase order for any date, so no timesheet is counted twice. Every change to values, links, documents and access is kept in the PO's history.

Sharing purchase orders with managers

Managers often need to know whether their contractors' work is still covered. In JN Tempo, an admin chooses, for each purchase order and each manager:

• No access: the manager doesn't see the PO.
• View only: details, usage and documents.
• Can update: also edit details, link placements for their own contractors and manage documents.

Managers see the PO's full totals but only their own contractors' placements in the breakdown. They can't change their own access, and only admins can cancel a purchase order. PO documents are stored privately; opening one creates a download link that works for 60 seconds.

A simple routine

1. When a client issues a PO, record it the same day and link the placements.
2. Check the purchase order list weekly, after approvals, for anything near its threshold or end date.
3. Ask the client for a new PO or an extension as soon as a warning appears.
4. When a new PO replaces an old one, end the old one the day before.

JN Tempo's purchase order tracking is included in every plan. See what's included or read how contractor billing uses the same approved timesheets.