By Mindy Williams

Production, account service, and creative people think they don't need purchase orders. At first, purchase orders seem too time-consuming ("we're on a rush, so I called it in"), pointless ("the printer does this kind of job for us all the time") and get in the way of the agency's real work.

But not using purchase orders throughout your production process is needlessly risky to your shop. Why? Without purchase orders, you're putting your vendors in control of the work they do, when it's to be delivered, and how much it costs. And while they may have always taken verbal orders from your production staff, things can get ugly when there's a problem.

The problems are all too familiar: A job is late because the vendor got the deadline wrong. A vendor didn't get a revision and printed the job wrong. Or a vendor invoice arrives that's way over budget. Without a written, signed authorization to deliver a job (i.e., a purchase order), in disputes it'll always be your word against theirs. .

When problems like these happen and fingers start to point, the agency always loses in the end. Yes, you may get credit from the vendor, but at the cost of the shop's relationship with them. The solution is to prevent these kinds of communication problems before any work begins. And that means starting with a purchase order.

"We went for two years without using POs and paid the price for waiting so long," says Kim Snider of On Fire Design. "We initially operated from different locations for accounting and operations. The problems of not having a PO system in place began when vendor invoices were paid for much higher amounts than what was originally contracted."

A simple form can save the day

The purchase order is a simple form that documents what goods or services you're requesting from a vendor. A purchase order may be written on a client's behalf (e.g., printing, delivery, ad space, etc.) or for the agency's use (i.e., supplies). In all cases purchase orders clearly explain what is being ordered, when it is due, and how much it will cost. The vendor should be mailed or faxed a printed and signed purchase order.

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