ActivPO Features and Benefits
Framework
nQativ built the ActivPO system as a foundation on which you can define your purchasing system to fit your company. The Purchasing department can adapt the system to suit its requirements without additional programming resources or “side systems”. This is in contrast to most purchasing packages where you must fit your purchasing procedures to a specific package design.
Activity Technology
Activity technology is used throughout the ActivPO system which gives the user convenience and the ability to quickly analyze and modify data. (See more about
Activity Technology)
Integration
Seamless integration with the suite of nQativ accounting packages including ActivAP and ActivGL.
Security
Security can be defined in a granular manner so that a separation of duties can be affected in the purchasing department which protects sensitive data.
Dashboard
A customizable dashboard is available to put access to key purchasing information, common workflows, and key performance indicators in front of your users.
Departments
ActivPO supports a multi-department environment for purchasing activity. Differences in individual business unit purchasing does not require custom programming. Department designations can be used to define varying approval requirements and personnel. Users (operators) can be restricted to entering purchases for specific departments. In addition, purchasing relationships by vendor can be restricted by department.
Attributes
ActivPO provides for classifying individual purchases and orders by customizable attributes. Tight integration between attributes and GL segment items ensures that your GL purchasing distributions are accurately made.
Products
ActivPO provides for the flexible definition of the goods and services you purchase from your vendors. Each product can be defined with multiple units of measure and can be supplied by any number of vendors. Date effective costs can be specified for each vendor/UOM combination. An “allocated” product type is available to record costs (such as freight) that should be spread across all items on an order. These flexible product definitions ensure you are purchasing the correct products at the correct costs.
GL Account Determination
ActivPO lets you post your purchasing activity the way you need to the first time by providing the ultimate flexibility to defining how your purchasing activity is recorded in the General Ledger. Using a hierarchical approach, GL account masks can be defined at virtually any level, including unit of measure, product, user-defined attribute, vendor, and department. No need to reclassify GL entries due to rigid application restrictions.
Flexible Purchasing Types
Multiple purchasing scenarios can be accommodated without the need for multiple systems. ActivPO supports two types of purchasing activity: (1) standard purchases or products and/or services where a purchase order is required and (2) after-the-fact purchases made with a company credit card or charge account, or purchases made by a company employee where a reimbursement is needed.
PO “Print” Tracking
Every “print” or “re-print” of the purchase order is tracked/logged, along with the communication medium used to send the purchase order to the vendor for fulfillment. In addition, a PDF attachment of the purchase order can be attached to the print record. Having electronic records of each vendor communication make it easier to locate information when needed and alleviates the need for manual filing systems.
Purchase Order Notes
Note events can be kept for each purchase. These flexible notes can contain correspondences, images, and any other item which allows you to customize the purchase records to your requirements.
Shipment Tracking
Flexible shipment tracking is available to track a virtually unlimited number of shipments on each purchase order. Shipment tracking includes an address for each shipment, the freight terms, shipping company, and a shipment tracking number with a direct link to the shipper’s tracking website. Knowing when and how purchases will be delivered and received ensures your internal operations and customer service levels are maintained to the highest level possible.
Direct Ship
Improve your customer service levels by processing special orders and backorders more efficiently. When you need to purchase items from your vendors to fulfill one of your customer orders, you can flag the shipment to be sent directly to your customer by the vendor.
Commitments
Commitments provide the ability to record amounts that represent a reservation of funds from an appropriated budget to honor a purchase commitment (purchase order) for goods or services. By including this commitment ledger, along with budgets and actuals, in any financial reporting, you get a more complete picture of the allocation of budgetary resources. In addition, commitment invoices can be included in your Cash Requirements analysis in ActivAP for a clearer, forward-looking view into your future payment liabilities. When the purchase is invoiced or cancelled, the associated commitment is reversed.
PO Approvals
PO Approvals ensure department budgets are closely monitored and adhered to. You can also enable the internal controls to ensure you are meeting any required regulatory compliance, such as Sarbanes-Oxley with a PO approval process that can be configured by department. Multiple approval levels and approval limits can also be defined. Notifications can be configured for key personnel when approvals are needed. Using the built-in web services available a self-serve web portal, accessible through any web browser (including most mobile devices), can be used to process the required approvals.
Invoices/Payments
Users have access to all necessary purchase information without having to define complex integrations or match up information from multiple systems. All Accounts Payable information created from Purchasing activity is seamlessly integrated. Flexible drill-down capabilities are available from Accounts Payable invoice and payment information directly to the order and purchase details in ActivPO.
Receipts
Whether purchasing goods or services, ActivPO provides a flexible receiving process to record when and how you receive the items purchased. ActivPO can be configured to ensure that invoices are not processed for a product until the associated receipt is processed ensuring you are paying only for the good and services actually received.
Reporting
ActivPO offers extensive built-in reports including Purchase Order Listing, Product Listing, and Receipts Listing. These standard reports can be changed and modified to include other information, or be reformatted to present alternate information.
Paperless
Electronic records make it very efficient to locate the paper associated with computerized data. When you generate the purchase order you can have a PDF version automatically created and attached to the record. You can also scan any data and attach the scans to the appropriate records within the ActivPO system. Purchase Orders, Invoices, Packing Lists, etc., can all be electronically attached to the appropriate Purchase Order.
OLE Automation
Purchase Orders, product information, and receipts can be imported from almost any electronic source using the OLE Automation interface into the ActivPO system. This facility can greatly decrease the implementation time for a new installation of ActivPO or can be utilized in day-to-day operations with third party products.
Calculated Totals
Many purchasing systems rely on pre-calculated totals or “buckets” to make reporting efficient. These totals are often placed on vendor forms to show total purchases or total receipts. ActivPO relies on an efficient use of the database so that totals are always calculated when needed. Which means it is impossible to have totals on forms not match the underlying detail.
History
You can keep historical records indefinitely. The “obsolete” flag on a vendor or agent will not allow future postings and remove the information from reports. You can research historical records forever.