The Purchasing dashboard: what do the numbers tell me?

The start screen for whoever buys and pays: in a minute you see what you spent, what you owe, what is overdue and what is waiting for action — image 1.

The cards

• Accounts payable — the total you owe, with the number of suppliers and bills it spans. The most important number here.
• Total paid, total purchases and total purchase bills.
• Unpaid bills — with a red badge counting the overdue ones.
• Open orders — purchase orders not yet complete.
• Pending requests — purchase requests waiting for approval.
• Suppliers — how many.
• Total supplier payments and receipts today.

The shortcuts

Two rows of quick links: purchase requests · purchase orders · goods receipts · supplier bills · supplier payments · purchase returns · purchasing reports · suppliers. A quick search box reaches a document by number or a supplier by name.

Using it daily

1. Start with accounts payable and the overdue badge; those set your day's priority.
2. Check pending requests — a forgotten one means a department waiting for goods nobody knows about.
3. Check open orders and make sure they are live, not orders whose goods arrived and were never recorded.
4. Compare total purchases with total paid; a widening gap means payables piling up.
5. For detail, move to Purchasing Reports.

Notes

• The figures respect branch restriction; a restricted user sees only their branch.
• Draft bills are not counted in accounts payable — approve them for their effect to show.
• "Total purchases" is accrual, not cash; for what actually went out, read the payments card.
• Receipts today sitting at zero all week alongside many open orders points either to late suppliers or to receiving that is not being recorded.
• The Help button opens the module guide inside the system.