Use purchase order number rules to give new POs a consistent format. You can let your finance system assign the numbers or have Drum generate them and send them to your finance system.
Before you start
Decide which numbering convention you need and whether your account uses MYOB. The numbering screen checks the longest number your rule can produce, which matters for MYOB’s 13-character limit.
Configure the numbering rule
Open Settings → Finance Settings → Purchase Order Numbering.
Turn on Drum generates purchase order numbers. Leave this off if you want your finance system to continue assigning numbers.
Enter an optional Purchase Order Code Prefix and Purchase Order Code Suffix.
Choose the First Part, Second Part and, if needed, Third Part. Choose at least one part. Leave unused parts set to None.
If you use a sequential number, set Number Padding if you want leading zeroes. For example, 3 displays a sequence value of 1 as 001.
Set a Code Separator, such as a dash, or leave it blank for no separator.
If you use the all-time sequence, optionally set Purchase Order Numbering Start (if all time sequence used). The field’s help text says to leave it blank to start from 1.
Check Next Number, Longest this rule can produce and any validation messages.
Select Save Purchase Order Numbering.
Example: project-based numbers
This example uses prefix PO, first part Project Number, second part Sequential Number (Project), third part None, padding 3 and separator -. Your preview uses your own project numbering, so check the displayed result rather than copying the example number.
Check the project-based numbering format, padding, separator and length warning in this example.
If the rule shows a warning
A prefix, suffix or separator cannot contain an asterisk (*) or apostrophe ('). For MYOB, keep the longest possible number within 13 characters. An overlong rule can be saved for Xero, but an account connecting to MYOB will retain MYOB-assigned PO numbers until the rule fits.
Existing numbers
Numbers Drum has already issued keep their number whether generation is switched on or off.