This guide explains how to manage all material ordering related to a specific job. The Materials tab within a project is the central hub for creating purchase lists, authorising purchases, and tracking costs against your forecast.
Adding Materials to a Project
Before you can order materials, they need to be added to the project's material list. There are several ways to do this:
Sync from Job Items: Click Sync from items to automatically pull through any materials that are linked to the accepted items on your quote or job sheet.
Add Manually: Click Add Materials to search your material database and add items to the list directly.
From the Field App: Engineers can look up materials in the field service app and add them to the request list for the project.
History Tab: You can see a log of who added which materials and when by clicking on the History tab.
Creating and Sending a Purchase Order (PO)
Creating a purchase order is the standard way to authorise and send an order to a supplier directly from Payaca.
From the Materials tab, click Create PO.
Choose a Supplier from the dropdown menu. The list of materials on the left will automatically filter to show only the items you can order from that specific supplier.
Select the materials you wish to order to add them to the purchase order.
Fill in the PO details:
Due Date: The date you require the materials to be delivered.
Deliver to: This will default to the project site address, but you can select your business address or enter a custom one.
Additional Notes: Add any specific instructions for the supplier.
Show Prices: Tick this box if you want your system prices to be displayed on the PO document sent to the supplier.
Click Create purchase order. This generates the PO document.
To send it to the supplier, click Send. You can confirm or override the supplier's email address and choose to be copied into the email.
If you have connected Payaca to Xero or QuickBooks, the sent purchase order will be automatically pushed to your accounting software.
Confirming and Editing a Purchase
After the supplier has confirmed your order, you need to update the record in Payaca.
Open the purchase order from the Materials tab.
Click Confirm Purchases.
If the supplier has made changes (e.g., an item is unavailable or the price has changed), click Edit first. You can update prices or untick unavailable items.
Once you mark the edited order as confirmed, the purchase record will be updated, and any changes will be synced to Xero or QuickBooks. The PO document will also be visually updated to show the changes, for example by crossing out the old price and showing the new one.
Alternative Ways to Record Purchases
Uploading an Existing Invoice or Receipt
If you have already made a purchase directly with a supplier and have an invoice or receipt, you can upload it to the project.
In the Materials tab, click Upload invoice.
Select the PDF or image file.
Our system will use AI to automatically read the document and add the purchased items to your project's records.
Recording a Manual Purchase
If you need to quickly log a purchase without creating a formal PO, you can use the manual record option.
Click Record a purchase.
Select the materials, quantities, and supplier.
This will update your project's purchased totals for tracking purposes but will not send a purchase order to the supplier or sync any data to Xero or QuickBooks.
Direct Supplier Integrations (e.g., City Plumbing)
For our direct supplier integrations, the ordering process is even more streamlined and automated. This includes features like checking live stock availability at different branches. As this workflow is unique, it is covered in a separate, dedicated help article.
Tracking Material Costs
The Materials tab provides a clear visual summary of your costs:
Forecast Bar: This represents the total cost of all materials on the project list.
Purchased Bar: This solid bar shows the actual cost of the materials you have purchased so far.
This allows you to see your actual spend against your forecast at a glance. For a higher-level view, the Analytics > Profitability section provides a monthly, rolled-up report of your total materials costs across all projects.