Purchase Orders

A purchase order (PO) is a B2B payment option in which software is delivered either immediately without the upfront collection of payment or after prepayment with proforma invoice. Cleverbridge gives you the possibility to review the purchase order before releasing it, or proceed without a review for trusted B2B customers.

Purchase Order Categories

The category of the PO is defined by two aspects: if the PO is reviewed and when the product is delivered.

Purchase Order with Review

By default, the purchase order is enabled with review in our platform. When customers place a purchase order, they must send the valid company details via fax, post, or email to you or Cleverbridge. Your Customer Support specialist or Cleverbridge's reviews the document. If the reviewer accepts the documents, the purchase order is approved.

Purchase Order without Review

The purchase order without review is accepted automatically right after the customer places an order using the available purchase order payment option. No document review or validation are required.

Purchase Order with immediate Product Delivery

When the purchase order is approved, the customer receives the product and the invoice. The customer chooses an offline payment Offline payment stands for a group of payment options. With the order confirmation, the customer receives a link with information on how to make the payment. Ordered products are delivered as soon as Cleverbridge receives a payment confirmation from the payment provider. method to complete the purchase, usually wire transfer, and has 30 days to submit payment as a rule.

Purchase Order with delayed Product Delivery

If you want to collect payment before delivering the product, use the option of prepayment with proforma invoice. This option ensures that you receive payment and provides customers with the invoice required by their billing department to release the payment for the order.

When the purchase order is approved, the customer receives the proforma invoice, chooses an offline payment method to complete the purchase, usually pre-paid PO and completes the transaction. Once the proforma invoice is paid, the customer receives the product.

Processing Purchase Orders

Cleverbridge offers the following ways to process purchase orders:

Online Order with Fax, Letter, or Email Validation

The following steps show how an online purchase order placed in the cart is processed. The online purchase order is used in the B2B scenarios with institutional customers.

1. Order placement

   A customer places an order and chooses purchase order as a payment method on checkout. After placing the order, the customer sees the confirmation page The confirmation page is displayed after a customer makes a purchase. The confirmation page contains the order confirmation and delivery information. that includes Cleverbridge reference number, invoice, and instructions on how to complete the order process.

   For the purchase order option to display as a payment method, define a minimum amount in the cart for example, orders of $150 or more.

2. Customer's confirmation

   The customer sends the purchase order confirmation to the email or fax indicated on the confirmation page. The email must include an attachment with the order on company letterhead. In case of a fax or letter, the confirmation on company letterhead has to be signed.

3. Review

   Cleverbridge or client - depending on the account settings - verifies the purchase order in Commerce Assistant and releases the purchase order to the customer. The customer receives an email with payment instructions, as shown below:

4. Delivery

   When the purchase order is verified, the delivery starts. If the immediate product delivery is set in the account, the invoice and license is sent to the customer. If the delivery with prepayment is set in the account, the proforma invoice is sent to the customer. The license key is sent only after the proforma invoice is paid.

Offline Order by Fax, Letter, or Email

The offline purchase order is used in the B2C scenarios when the client doesn't need the purchase order to be displayed as a payment method in the cart. However, the purchase order option is selected in the client's policies. The offline order always includes a review.

There are two ways clients can offer the purchase order option even when it is not displayed in the cart:

• A customer can directly ask the client for this payment option
• A client can provide information about the payment option on the client's website

Direct Customer Request

If purchase orders are offered per individual customer request, clients define the rules in their client policies for Customer Service to follow. Clients can specify the type of customers permitted to use purchase orders and the minimum and maximum amount for the orders.

Customers have two options to use the purchase order option when it is not available in the cart:

• A customer can place an online order and select the Offline payment option. This gives the order the status Awaiting Offline Payment. When Cleverbridge receives the fax, letter, or email, the order is converted to a purchase order. The customer must provide Cleverbridge the reference number of the order.
• The order is placed by the customer submitting a signed fax, letter, or email on company letterhead. (If email is used, it must include an attachment with the order on company letterhead.) The order must contain the order reference number, product name and ID, and the customer's billing information. Usually the customer receives the reference number and product ID from a direct contact with the client. Customer Support processes the order, selecting the purchase order option which is always available to Customer Support.

Information on the Client's Website

Clients can also offer purchase orders by providing instructions on their websites, such as the following:

Our ecommerce provider Cleverbridge processes corporate purchase orders from its offices in the US and Europe. As a corporate customer, you can order using a purchase order from our partner Cleverbridge. Please send us your official order on company letterhead by mail or fax and include the following information:

• The product name and the product ID
• The quantity
• The name of the person the product license will be issued to
• Your billing and delivery addresses
• Name, phone, and fax numbers for the contact person for your order
• The email address to which the order confirmation should be sent; the invoice is always sent to the billing address, if different from the delivery address
• Your billing currency

If you include all the required information, your order can be processed immediately by Cleverbridge's Customer Service team. Please send your order by mail or fax to the location nearest you; the link below provides all necessary contact data:

Click here for Cleverbridge customer service contact information

A customer or a client's support team can contact Cleverbridge at any time for assistance in the purchase order process.

Registered Partners

Your partners (also known as resellers) can place purchase orders in two ways:

• Online on your checkout, after logging to your partner portal if you have one.
  In this case, a confirmation fax is not required, and the purchase order is accepted automatically without a review.
• Offline, just like the above offline example.

  For the offline purchase order, your partner needs to confirm the purchase order separately.

To let your partners make purchase orders, enable the purchase order in Commerce Assistant. Set the order limit and select a currency. If the Purchase order limit field is left at zero, the purchase order option is not available to partners.

Summary

The three options are summarized below:

	Online order with fax, letter, or email validation	Fax, letter, or email order	Online order for partners
Customer type	Institutional customers	Institutional customers	Registered partners
Validation of order data	Fax, letter, or email to Cleverbridge	Fax, letter, or email to Cleverbridge	No offline validation
Enable purchase order as a payment option	Enabled per client request with a database setting by our Technical Support	Purchase order option is not enabled as a setting, but granted on an individual basis by the client	Enabled in the Commerce Assistant in each individual partner interface
Activate individual purchase orders	Order accepted in the Commerce Assistant by the client or by Cleverbridge depending on the client's policy. Order converted in the Commerce Assistant from the status Awaiting Release for Purchase Order to Purchase Order	Order converted in the Commerce Assistant from the status Unpaid to Purchase Order	No release in the Commerce Assistant is required
Purchase order option offered in order process	Yes	No	Yes

To understand the purchase order process, see also the following flow chart:

For more information about purchase orders, contact Client Experience.