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Currently just moved over from QB to Xero - on QB you can assign a PO to the Project and I noticed this wasn't available so I reached out to Xero Support. The below is the conversation:

Hi, I have just moved from Quickbooks to Xero and I am currently setting up my processes. I have three issues, which I'd be grateful if you could help me with them? I have also attached some screenshots to help better understand what I am seeing on my screen

PROJECTS -

I have set up two projects called Everard's Extension and Axis 32, Cardiff. In both of these I am unable to find where I can add the project address - lots of information online suggests that I should be able to do this, but currently under every tab/drop down box/setting, I cannot find this to input the project addresses. This would be extremely useful as it would prevent the need of setting up another contact and could be linked to the Client i.e. on QuickBooks when creating a Project, we assign the customer, then the address of the project shows in the Purchase Orders (I have attached a PDF PO for your reference) and reads like this under the 'Customer/Project' section (screenshot also attached) Hinton Design & Build:Axis 34, Cardiff

Can you please advise if I am able to add a project address to the projects I create and if so, instructions on how to do this?

PURCHASE ORDER - LINK TO PROJECT

As above, when I am creating a Purchase Order I see no option to link or assign this to a project. In the bottom right corner under 'Delivery Address' I have 5 Options: Add new address, Add one-off address, Search from contacts, Postal or Physical (from settings). Is there an option that on this drop down box section you can select 'Address from Project' which then you can select a project and this updates accordingly? This would then also link the PO to the Project/Client and would be much better overall for the experience

PURCHASE ORDER TEMPLATE

I have uploaded an advanced template called 'POwithCCbackground.dox' for the Purchase Order template however, when I create a Purchase Order in the top right hand section under 'Theme' it only shows 2 items: 'Standard' & 'Crowclad Roofing Invoice'

I have not yet saved or finalised a Purchase Order, so the Crowclad Roofing Invoice theme may be correct. But whilst you are reviewing these issues, I thought I'd bring it up in the event I am missing something and it can be corrected

I'd be most appreciative if you could guide me in achieving the above, or as near to as possible, and if some of the features are not available as described, could this be requested with the development team? I believe this would be a massive improvement in ease of projects and purchase orders and it would be excellent seeing under your project management exactly what has been issued a PO, what has been invoices

Thank you for your time and I trust we can find a solution to the above

Luke

Response from Xero:

Hi Luke

Thanks for inviting Xero Support into the organisation.

It's not possible to link purchase orders to projects in Xero. Thanks for your feedback and insight into how this works in your previous software.

In Xero, when you create a new project, you need to assign this to a contact. The address for the project on project invoices, is drawn from the contact's record. It's not possible to change this for invoices generated from the project, if you're trying to use an address which is different to the contact's delivery or billing address you would need to create a new contact in Xero for this address.

If you don't need to include the address as the customer's invoiced address, then you could include the address details in the project name or under tasks you assign to the project.

These are ideas that have been submitted to our developers already and I've included the links to Xero's Product Ideas website below where you can add your vote and any additional feedback for our Product teams to review.

Lastly, we can see that the docx templates are named Crowclad Templates and this theme has been selected in PO-2296 so this template will be used for this Purchase Order.

Xero Product Ideas:

Projects - Assign a Purchase Order to a Project

Invoice - Project address appears on invoice

Xero Projects - Add separate field for Project Number

Please let me know if you have anymore questions.

Kind regards

Kierron

I have requested that this is submitted to the software developers to review, but having been sent the link to this thread and because it is an ongoing issue since 2017 (at least this is how far back this goes) I am doubtful any action will be taken

We have been using Xero Projects since 2019 and have been waiting for this functionality. We need two Purchase Order numbers per project. Most importantly Customer PO, that then automatically fills the reference field on the invoice. At the moment we have to retain this separately at the end of the project name and remember to cut and paste post invoice creation. This is easy to miss.
There can't be many businesses small or large that dont need to quote their customer PO on invoice. Secondary it would be useful to have a field for our PO per project to link supplier bills. I can't believe that 5 years later we are still waiting and that a year ago Xero comment above that they are not hopeful of providing. As a minimum give us two extra reference fields in projects one that transfers to the invoice. We can then use reporting for linking our own PO to bills. This minimum change does not require any changes to the PO so should be higher on Xeros list, or give up on Xero project and integrate fully with a new partner offering a full projects, time and expense module.

This started in 2017, now we are at the end of 2024 and still nothing? Seriously? What are the projects for if they are not integrated with the accounting part of Xero? It's just doubling the work. This should be your priority, Xero dev team!

So we are almost a year past your update - is there any further update? This causes us issues on both sides - one being able to track our own PO's/spending on projects - but also in invoicing having a specific PO field to enter client purchase orders in - I would also suggest that on a project level you have an element (like you do on client set up) that lets you put in a PO number and it's value and then you could draw down against this with alerts when nearing the end etc. this really shouldn't be too difficult for you to implement

Just saw the "How important is this to you? Voting lozange

Hi There are 411 votes for Purchase Orders to be added into Projects (or actually Projects to be an Option when raising Purchase Orders).

Last update was Nov 16, 2023

Surely if we have Clients that wish to use Projects it is entirely possible that they would wish to have Purchase Orders linked to those Projects.

Can I add my Vote to this, as we have Clients asking us this question.

Regards,

Shaun Ellis
SA Ledgers Ltd

Hello,

Attaching purchase orders to projects is very important for us to track what has been sent out. I would like to suggest a feature that allows us to manage multiple purchase orders from different suppliers under each project.

Ideally, under the Projects section, we should be able to see a list of suppliers for a project, and beneath each supplier, the various purchase orders sent to them. This would make it much easier for me to track orders by supplier, rather than having to search through the purchase order section or maintain a manual log, which is inefficient.

If we manage 5 to 10 projects at a time, and send out multiple purchase orders daily. Having this feature would save time and help with better organization.

Are there any plans to develop this functionality? It would be incredibly useful for users like us who rely on Xero Projects to streamline our processes.

On that note, I was watching a YouTube video and noticed that the Projects option appears under the purchase order, as shown in the video. Could this be a regional setting?

Link to the video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxV0lVpH1Ec&t=249s

Looking forward to your response.

Best regards,
Sarita

Projects is in your top tier pricing. Surely this means we should get a few updates over 2 years. Come on Xero, Project users have been making do and finding work arounds for crucial improvements for too long.

Hi Xero Team
Yes please, this would be a great improvement and very useful tool for project management.

From the Project view we need to see all associated Purchase Orders so we know if material has been ordered. It will also help us verify if project bills are legitimate.

Hi Xero Team - Its very important for the most of the companies to allocate project to purchase order and its very basic function. Most of the accounting software has this option. please can Xero also work on this and will help alot of the companies and will reduce the ratio of switching from Xero to another software. we hope that Xero team will work soon on this.

Is there a work around to connect a PO to a project at source rather than having to assign at the billing stage?

Any update on this?

This is an important part of our daily struggle. If we raise a PO for materials on a certain project we need to be able to attach it to that project so we are not forever searching for it. If we had a list of POs on each project it would make life much easier. Also a way to mark a PO as received woulf be great.

I have several clients that need to be able to raise purchase orders within a job so that they can track their orders better

Hi Hannah,

when will works on the purchase order platform be completed?

thanks
Leanne

I've come from using Workflow Max and other solutions, and now just need a simple solution. Whenever I've created a project in the past, I've added a PO number at creation time. Every client I work with demands this.

Now I've moved to Project Tracker I have to type in the PO number each time I raise an invoice. It's likely to introduce human error, get missed, and lead to unpaid or delayed invoices.

Come on Xero, it needs a reference field to be added and this to auto-populate the 'reference' box on each invoice.

Please can you get some focus on this piece of work, we don't really want to have to use 3rd party solutions to fill these missing links. We've invested a lot of time and effort into Xero, adapted process where needed to make your solution work for us, but there are some bits that we just can't get round and the allocation of PO's to projects and the ability to attribute multiple bills to one PO is two such areas. Please look into this asap, it has been something people have been asking for over 2 yrs now.

This is something that is definitely required, everything should be able to be in one place. It does not make sense to not have the option to add a copy of a PO received from a client, or even reference the PO number and values associated in the project section

It seems like a simple feature to incorporate in order for it to flow seemlessly from Purchase order to Bill, ensuring all costs are assigned to the correct projects