Link a replacement purchase order to a claim

When a supplier agrees to replace defective material, they usually send the units free of charge on a new purchase order priced at zero. Linking the order to the claim tells StockBold the two belong together.

When you receive against the linked order, the replacement units enter inventory at the unit cost the claim inherited from the original delivery, rather than the zero price on the replacement document. What the claim still has to resolve goes down by what arrived.

Until you link an order, nothing connects the claim to the incoming goods: the claim stays open, the replacement would enter stock at zero cost, and the claim can never settle.

Claims holding defective units

Everything above is the picture when the defective units have left your stock. If the claim is still holding the defective units on your shelf, nothing has left yet, so there is no value to restore. The part of the replacement that stands in for the held units enters at no cost. Once it has arrived, record what happened to the held units: returned to the supplier, scrapped or kept.

A held claim also has exits that need no replacement: clear it if the material turns out to be fine, or record that the units already left.

Link the order

1. Open Inventory, then Supplier Claims.
2. Find the claim. The Open tab lists every claim not yet finished, and the Supplier picker narrows the list.
3. Open the actions menu at the end of the claim's row. If the claim is still holding its defective units, Link replacement PO appears below the exits for held stock.
4. Choose Link replacement PO. If an order is already linked, the entry reads Change replacement PO.
5. Pick the order under Replacement purchase order. The list shows only this supplier's orders that can carry the claim, with their number and date.
6. Choose Save.

After saving, the claim's row shows Replacement: followed by the order's number beside the status. The number opens the order.

A claim that was Open moves to Accepted, recording that the supplier has committed to replacing the units. A claim already past Open keeps its status. The claim's history records Replacement PO linked, with the date and who did it.

Which orders can be linked

An order appears in the list only if it has a line for every product still open in the claim, and every line on the order for those products is priced at zero. Lines for other products can carry prices.

Each of those products must still have units to come on the order, and no other open claim can already be linked to it. If an expected order is missing, one of these conditions is the reason. An order with nothing left to receive cannot carry the claim because the cost is applied when goods are received.

The link can still be refused when you save if replacement units of the same product have already arrived on that order for another claim, at that claim's cost. Linking would change the value of those units, so use a separate order for this claim.

Receive replacement units

If the supplier has put the free replacement and a priced reorder of the same product on one order, ask them to split it, or raise a separate zero-value order for the replacement.

If the order brings more units than the claim still owes, the units owed enter at the claim's cost and settle it. The excess enters at no cost on a line of its own on the same order, with a message saying so when you save the delivery.

Only one open claim can point at a given replacement order, and that order must carry a line for every product still open in the claim. While an order is linked, no product can be added to the claim: Add product is greyed out, and another product goes in a new claim. When goods arrive, StockBold matches the order and product to the claim linked to them and draws it down.

Change or remove the link

To change the order, open the actions menu again, choose Change replacement PO, pick the right order and save.

To remove the link, clear the selection and save. The removal is recorded in the claim's history, and a claim with nothing received goes back to Open. Once units of the linked order have arrived, the claim can move to another order but cannot be left without one; the dialog says so.

While a replacement order is linked to a claim that holds units, Delete is not offered. If such a claim should never have existed and nothing else has happened to it, remove the link first and Delete becomes available again.

Permissions and closed claims

Linking requires the Manage Supplier Claims permission. Organisation owners always have it, and it comes by default with the Admin, Organization manager and Purchasing roles.

Without the permission, the actions menu still opens because anyone who can view claims can read a claim's history, but Link replacement PO is not in it. The entry is also absent on a claim that is already settled, rejected or withdrawn, because a closed claim cannot take a replacement.