Supplier Purchase Orders applied to a Project

Supplier Purchase Orders applied to a Project

We are finding it difficult to decide the best way track project expenses in Zoho books and would like to know how other users are handling this task. We provide Professional Services and engage 3rd party Suppliers on most projects and provide them with Purchase Orders to bill against. 
  • Purchase Orders: We always provide a PO to our Suppliers however in Zoho books we cannot 'allocate' the expense towards the project.

  • Supplier Bills:
    • In the PO scenario we could create a Bill, however there is no way to 'mark' that is billable to a project.
    • Without a PO, we can create a Bill (Purchases/Bills), however there is no way to 'mark' that is billable to a project.
    • Suggestions for Zoho: Supplier Billing should have the features of Expense Recording
      • Create a check box as you do in expenses for a 'billable' item in a Supplier Bill to a Project
      • When entering a Supplier Bill and there is an Open PO, have a pull down where the Order # is (same reference as when you create a bill from the PO directly). *This will prevent A/R from extra work getting approvals only later to find there was a PO for the Supplier.

  • Expense Recording (Purchases & Project area): We could use this however it creates a problem for us with the Purchase Order & Billing process (A/P outstanding payments due).
      • Recording expense (Purchases & Project area)
        • If there was an Order # field that is tied to the Supplier PO (as described in Supplier Bills), then it can be as receipt towards the PO and go directly to the Project.
        • Multiple items that we are paying the Supplier for--against the one Project is aok but in most cases there are at least 2 line items (Professional Services and Reimburse Expenses). Without multiple lines this creates double expense entries AND creating conflicts with check# payments.
Would like to hear the best practice other users have found for Supplier expenses towards a project. When it comes to our direct expenses (Credit card) this is not an issue.

Thanks!
-Gina