Hi everyone!
I am working at the Purchasing Department a company which has recently commenced using MS Dynamics AX 20212.The software is still not completely tuned to meet the needs of the enterprise and since we are still hiring new people sometimes is too hard to understand what is going on.
I normally generate the Purchase Orders in “Procurement and sourcing” before sending them to the vendors by e-mail. When I receive the vendors confirmation I sign it and attach it as an attached file to the corresponding PO. And my job is done.
However many employees from other departments enter various data to the POs, like “shipment date” ( Logistics Department ), invoice number (accounting), storage receipts ( warehouse personnel), etc.
Randomly I notice that items have been deleted, quantities and prices are being changed in the PO, reaching up to 10-15 additional versions of the Purchase Order after I have already signed the vendor`s Order Confirmation.
Sometimes I have noticed that people from the warehouses “cover up” shortages by simply deleting some quantities from a random Purchase Order.
I shall highly appreciate if anyone advises on where to find info on who`s made which change in a PO.
I tried in “comparing versions” of A purchase order, but I can`t find a tab indicating the user name next to the edition version.
Thanks in advance to anyone who tries to help?
Unfortunately I’m not much familiar with purchase order versions, therefore I don’t know where to find the user. Hopefully somebody else can tell you more.
Nevertheless it seems that you have a more general problem. First of all, the workflow should address exactly the same problem - making sure that order can’t be changed randomly, that changes are approved in a well-defined process etc. Also, some people probably have more permissions than they should. For instance, should people in warehouse be allowed to changed quantities at all?
Thank you for your reply, Martin. And thanks for your question, too. I am 100% convinced that people at the warehouse and the accounting department shouldn`t be authorized to change data in the Purchase orders. But that is how the workflow is set for the time being. We have been many times assured by the software vendor that they are working on setting certain restrictions, however it takes over 2 years already. And the problem persists. Therefore I am trying to find my own ( hopefully temporary way ) to find out who is the “author” of a particular edition of a Purchase Order.
A user name on the version would also not help you. It will be the user who confirms the new version of the PO. It is probably not the person who changed it. It would be possible to setup database logging, but you will get a lot of transactions in the database log table. In addition it will have a small performance penalty.
If you are using workflows and change management active on the purchase orders, you might take away the access rights to be able to click the button ‘Request change’. Then persons should ask a key user to open the PO for editing after approval. Then you also know who want to change something.
Changing quantities or prices is a bad idea if you want to report on the vendors performance. There are other ways to do this. E.g. it is possible to cancel the remaining expected quantity. Then you have the option to see the original ordered quantity versus the delivered quantity.
Regarding setup, I think there are two different things to consider:
- The workflow - when the order can be modified, who approves changes etc.
- Security - for example, you can prevent some people from changing orders and utilize data security (so that they can’t access all orders)
Thank you Martin and Andre,
I find your answers very helpful.
We shall contact the service software admin and request appropriate changes.
I am sure these will make a big difference and we shall minimize troubles with various amateurs sticking their noses into our Purchase Orders.
It has been a pleasure to be advised by you!