Managing Change Orders in Purchase Orders

In business operations, purchase orders (POs) are a cornerstone of procurement. They help organisations track orders, manage supplier relationships, and ensure that goods and services are delivered as per the agreed-upon terms.

But what happens when requirements change after a PO is issued? This is where change orders come into play.

This article examines the workings of change orders, their significance, and how organisations—particularly those in healthcare and other service-based industries—can effectively manage them.

Understanding Change Orders in Purchase Orders

Imagine placing an order for 10 laptops. The supplier receives the PO, but later the business realises they need two additional laptops.

Instead of creating an entirely new order, the system generates a change order. This update modifies the original PO, making it easier to track adjustments without duplicating documentation.

The key steps in managing a change order often include:

Initiating the Change Order – The system creates a change record linked to the original purchase order.

Proxying the PO – Acting on behalf of the requester to start the change process.

Updating Details – This could involve changes in quantity (e.g., laptops), cost centre allocation, or due dates.

Supplier Acknowledgement – The supplier must confirm and sometimes create a new PO version before changes take effect.

Approval & Printing – The updated PO is approved, printed, and shared with the supplier.

This structured process ensures all changes are documented and auditable.

Handling Receipts and Supplier Decisions in Workday

Once items are delivered, receipts need to be created and matched with POs. A complication arises if the receipt already exists:

Cancel the Receipt – If the changes fundamentally affect the order.

Create a New PO – If the changes cannot be integrated into the existing structure.

Suppliers may also need to make decisions regarding the reissuance or updating of documents. The system then reflects these updates, keeping both parties aligned.

Exceptions, Warnings, and System Validations in Workday

Procurement systems don’t just process changes—they also validate them. Businesses often configure critical warnings and conditional warnings:

Critical Warnings: The system stops the process until the issue is fixed. For example, a supplier is missing mandatory compliance documents.

Conditional Warnings: The system allows the process to continue but flags the issue for review.

This balance ensures efficiency without compromising compliance.

Workday Application in Healthcare Procurement

In industries such as healthcare, managing changes to purchase orders assumes added importance. Here’s why:

Complaint Tracking: Systems log complaints from patients, retail customers, and corporate clients, ensuring service gaps are addressed.

Custom Medicines: Suppliers may provide special formulations. These often require strict validation to prevent errors in the supply chain.

Supplier Relations: Special suppliers (e.g., “One-Dara”) may require unique supply numbers, and exceptions must be carefully monitored.

Healthcare systems often classify medicines into critical (must resolve before proceeding) and warning categories (advisory but not blocking). This ensures patient safety while allowing operations to continue.

Maintaining Customer Decisions and Clean Processes in Workday

Beyond procurement mechanics, customer trust and decision-making are essential. This includes:

Searching for and onboarding reliable suppliers

Maintaining accurate invoices and compliance documentation.

Ensuring that business rules (e.g., supplier must be “thorough”) are validated through system checks.

Keeping the environment clean, organised, and transparent for all stakeholders.

Strengthening Business Processes with Effective Customer Relations and Customisation

In today’s dynamic business environment, efficiency and adaptability are no longer optional—they’re essential.

A recent discussion on customer relations and business processes underscores the importance of clear workflows, adequate warnings, and customisation in maintaining smooth operations.

Handling Complex Conditions with Precision in Workday

Business processes often involve conditions that overlap or seem contradictory. To handle this, the team suggests grouping multiple conditions into a master condition.

This ensures checks are consistent and easier to manage. By using brackets or logically combining conditions, businesses can avoid confusion while maintaining strict compliance.

Another innovative approach is the introduction of custom violations. Instead of overwhelming the system with multiple standalone conditions, custom violations allow grouping rules to be combined into a single parameter.

This enables more efficient monitoring and error detection while maintaining transparent processes.

Customisation: Empowering Users and Businesses in Workday

Customisation is a recurring theme. From configuring maintenance work tasks to customising tabs and profiles, the flexibility of business systems plays a huge role in efficiency.

Work usage tasks can be tailored with custom tags, orders, and up to 10 columns, giving teams complete control over workflows.

Tabs and profiles can be modified to reflect business needs—whether removing unnecessary sections, prioritising key information, or refining supply and contact details.

Profile groups allow teams to standardise configurations across users or suppliers, ensuring consistency while reducing clutter.

By offering this level of customisation, businesses can align systems with unique processes rather than bending processes to fit rigid systems.

Workday Certification and Business Confidence

One of the starting points in the conversation is a certification process that requires a candidate to complete the exam in just 30 minutes.

This not only showcases the accessibility of certification but also emphasises the value of industry experience—over 20 years in this case.

Quick certifications paired with expertise build confidence, setting businesses up for long-term growth.

Streamlining Exam and Warning Systems in Workday

The conversation also touches on the P2P exam, which is considered relatively easy but less demanding than others. A critical insight emerges here: warnings must be both timely and actionable.

For example, if a supplier is missing from the selection list and the payment term is not immediate, the system should trigger an error.

Rather than stopping users abruptly, warnings can be structured to guide them toward corrective action, making the process more supportive than restrictive.