Review Compute purchase-order requirements
How to carry your approved purchase-order reference from procurement onto the invoice, whether your account requires, allows or forbids one.
Mapping guide · Not a Lithi-hosted connector
Carry the approved reference through procurement
Use this sequence:
- Confirm the Compute account, legal entity and account PO policy.
- Obtain the approved PO reference and any required evidence.
- Keep the PO with the invoice and any cost-center or project mapping.
- Reconcile the issued invoice through your customer-owned accounting process.
A purchase order records your organization's purchasing approval and reference. It is not a Compute quote, job admission, invoice or bank-payment authorization. Ask the authorized procurement or billing owner which policy applies before you approve paid work.
Use an existing approved PO where required. Do not ask an ordinary work agent to invent a PO number, approver, legal entity or approval record. A reference copied from another account or a prior period may not cover this purchase.
| PO requirement | What you do | What you must not infer |
|---|---|---|
| Required | Supply the approved PO reference and the evidence requested by the account's policy. | A missing or guessed reference satisfies procurement. |
| Optional | Include a valid reference when your process uses one. | An optional PO removes work-approval or payment requirements. |
| Forbidden | Do not attach a PO under that policy. Resolve a conflict with procurement before proceeding. | You may override the account policy by adding a reference in free text. |
Check the policy and the period
Confirm the PO's legal entity, applicable period, USD currency context and intended work. Keep any required cost-center or project reference with the account's approved allocation. The policy distinguishes no allocation, cost center and project; it does not turn an arbitrary accounting label into a new account or access grant.
The PO approval and Compute spending approval remain separate. A PO does not raise an account limit, and a signed quote does not prove procurement has approved it. Review the quote's scope and maximum against the actual purchasing authorization. If they disagree, obtain the correct approval or a revised quote before paid admission.
Carry the reference into your accounting process
When reviewing an invoice or customer-payable mapping, preserve the Lithi invoice number and use the PO as an additional reference. Do not replace the invoice identity with the PO number or import the supporting statement as another supplier bill. Your accounting team confirms the supplier, legal entity, expense treatment and required destination fields.
The presence of PO fields in a mapping or document does not prove automatic transmission to every accounting product or invoice format. Check the actual issued invoice and permitted mapping. A dry run inspects information; it does not create a PO, approve a bill or submit payment. Use finance mappings and dry runs for that inspection.
Recover a missing or rejected reference
For a missing PO, return to the procurement owner with the account, intended period and quote reference. For a wrong entity, expired period or unproven approval, stop the affected submission or external posting and obtain the correct record. Do not amend issued invoice bytes yourself or reuse another team's PO just to satisfy a field.
If work has already been admitted or an invoice issued, ask billing support how the reference or discrepancy should be handled on that existing record. Do not assume the PO problem cancels accepted usage, voids the invoice or pauses the due date. A complete review leaves one verified purchasing reference, the correct invoice relationship and an explicit decision about any unresolved mismatch. Read cost allocation when the expense also needs an internal code or split.