Cloning a Purchase Order
Ordering the same maintenance programme as last year? Open last year’s Purchase Order, click Clone with Lines, refresh the dates and prices, and post. This article covers what carries over and what starts fresh.
Access you'll need. Cloning creates a new order, so it requires the Accounts Payable v2 permission set (AP clerks & managers) or Accounting Admin v2 (system administrators). The Accounting Controller v2, Accounts Receivable v2, and Read Only v2 sets can open and read any order but not clone it.
How it works
Open the order you want to repeat and click Clone with Lines
The button sits in the record's header — available whatever the status, because cloning reads the original without touching it. Even voided documents can be cloned, which is exactly how you reissue one that was cancelled by mistake.
Review the pre-filled copy
A new draft opens with everything carried over — vendor, entity, description, and every line with its product, GL account, quantities, prices and cost centers — including any Create Asset flags — and the things that must be fresh left for you: the new dates, and a new reference. The copy gets its own document number when saved; nothing links it to the original’s payments or history.
Adjust, then Save Draft or Post
Change the PO date and expected delivery, this year’s agreed prices, and the reference — then post when ready. From here it is an ordinary order with an ordinary lifecycle.
What carries over — and what starts fresh
| Carried over from the original | Fresh on the copy |
|---|---|
| Entity, vendor and description | Document number — assigned from the entity's numbering sequence when the copy saves |
| Every line: product, GL account, description, quantity, unit price, discount, cost center | Status — always Draft, fully editable, whatever the original's status was |
| The Create Asset flags and Asset Types on lines | Dates — you set the new PO Date (which drives the accounting period and the budget check) and Expected Delivery |
| The Reference text — as a placeholder to replace | Fulfillment — nothing received, nothing invoiced: Receipt Status starts over and both tracking balances start at the full order value |
| Nothing else | Commitment — no budget is touched until the copy posts, and then against current budgets |
A worked renewal at Meridian
Meridian's facade programme order MPO001003 — two quarterly visits at $4,800 from Sterling Facility Services — is the natural candidate. When the programme renews, the accountant opens MPO001003, clicks Clone with Lines, and on the fresh draft updates four things: the PO Date to the new period, the Expected Delivery for the first new visit, the Reference to name the new programme period, and — most importantly — each line's Unit Price to whatever was renegotiated. Post, and the copy runs its own budget check against the budgets in force now, gets its own number, and starts its own receiving and billing story from zero.
The copy still faces every gate
Cloning skips the typing, not the controls. When the copy posts:
- The budget check runs fresh — against the budgets current on the new PO date. An over-budget copy is blocked unless Bypass Budget Controls is deliberately used, and a linked budget must belong to the same entity with the PO date inside its range and inside an accounting period.
- Approval starts over — the copy posts only when its own Approval Status is Approved or Not Required.
- Then it locks like any order — once posted, line changes meet "Cannot modify lines on a non-Draft Purchase Order."; reopen to Draft to amend.
Good uses
- Annual renewals — the same service programme, next year’s dates.
- Repeat capital purchases — the equipment order that worked last time, for the next site.
- Reissuing after a void — a cancelled order that’s back on.
Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake | Why it hurts | Do this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Posting with the copied Reference | Two orders answer to the same name in lists and on vendor PDFs | Rename it for the new period before posting |
| Keeping last year's unit prices | Every future invoice mismatches against an outdated benchmark | Re-confirm each line's price with the vendor first |
| Leaving the old PO Date | The order lands in a past period — and checks against the wrong budget year | Date the copy when the new commitment is actually made |
| Cloning for a different property without changing cost centers | The commitment and every eventual cost report against the wrong dimension | Walk the lines and retag each cost center |
| Assuming the copy inherits the original's budget standing | It doesn't — last year's Within Budget says nothing about this year | Run Budget Analysis on the draft before posting |
Where to go next
- Creating a Purchase Order — the from-scratch route.
- Recurring PI & PO Templates — for true repetition.
Frequently asked questions
No — the copy starts its own life as a draft and goes through whatever approval your organization requires, like any new document.
None — the clone is just a draft. Delete it. The original is never affected by cloning.
Yes — when you post the copy, it is checked against current budgets like any new order. Last year’s order fitting last year’s budget says nothing about this year’s.
No — the copy starts with nothing received and nothing invoiced. Only the order’s own content is cloned, never its fulfillment history.
Yes — flags and Asset Types ride along with their lines, so a repeated equipment order will again create Capital Asset records at receiving. Confirm the Asset Type still fits before posting; asset classes get reorganized over time.
Only when it posts — a draft copy commits nothing. At posting, the matched budget line's committed amount increases, exactly as for a from-scratch order; the commitment converts to actual spending as matched invoices post later.
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