Purchase orders
Suppliers and contractors must quote a valid purchase order number on invoices for goods, services or works in order to get payment. If you request payment without a valid PO number it will be will be returned without being processed.
Valid purchase order numbers
Our purchase order numbers vary depending on the system that was used to place the order.
Valid formats include:
- EP111111 (EP plus six digits)
- BM111111111 (BM plus nine digits)
- RM111111111 (RM plus nine digits)
- PO11111 (PO plus five digits)
- ML1111111 (ML plus seven digits)
- SV1111111 (SV plus seven digits)
- 11/XXX111/11 (year / client code / reference number)
Exceptions
Some types of payments will be made without a valid purchase order number:
- procurement card payments - low value / one off payments
- disbursements - expenses for interviewees, volunteers or employees
- consolidated billing - payments for goods or services that are made by batch header with recharge mechanisms in place (such as utilities and phones)
- insurance claim settlements
We can also provide an emergency purchase order number in some exceptional circumstances.
Your role and responsibilities
- do not accept an order without a valid purchase order number
- do not issue an invoice without a valid purchase order number
Make sure you and your staff have a purchase order before providing goods or delivery of service and quote it on your invoice. If you do not have an official purchase order or valid purchase order number, contact the council contact who made the order for goods or services
You'll need to re-submit an invoice with a valid purchase order number if there wasn't one included or available for the original invoice.
More information
Contact us if you need help with purchase order numbers:
Telephone: 030 33 33 3000
Email: purchase.ledger@dumgal.gov.uk