Definition
Use the Preferences window to enter values that will default to all purchase order headers, lines, shipments and distributions that you enter. By using preferences, you have essentially gained an additional level of defaults in the Default Value Hierarchy. Recall that the Purchasing Default Value Hierarchy includes the following: Financials Options, Purchasing/Receiving Options, Supplier, Supplier Site, Item and PO Documents.

Benefits
Although setting preferences is optional, you will want to selectively enter preferences for data that would be repetitively entered on multiple lines, shipments or distributions. Preferences, therefore, reduce the amount of data entry required to complete purchase orders. For example, if you’re creating a purchase order for four items, all of which are needed by the same date, specify a Need-By date in the Preferences window that will default to all four lines. If, however, all four items were needed by a different date, it wouldn’t save any time to use the Preferences window to specify a Need-By date.

How Long are Preferences Effective?
Session preferences must be set each time you log into the applications or even change responsibilities. While in a session, however, preferences remain in effect unless you explicitly clear or change them.

Apply Preferences to Save
Once the desired preferences have been set, you must click the Apply button to save them. If you simply close the Preferences window, either no preferences will be set or previously set preferences will remain in effect.

When you save your work in the Lines tabbed region in the Purchase Orders window, Purchasing creates a shipment using the organization and ship–to location if you provided valid values in the defaults region. Then, if it is successful in creating a shipment, Purchasing creates a distribution using these values. Similarly, when you save your work in the Purchase Order Shipments window, Purchasing creates a distribution if it does not already exist and if you provided a valid organization here. You can update these shipments and distributions by navigating to the Purchase Order Shipments or Purchase Order Distributions windows.

Purchasing can create shipments only when it has default information that meets the following criteria:

•  There must be an organization and a location.
•  The location must belong to the organization or not be assigned to any organization.
•  If the line contains an item (and optionally a revision), that item (and revision) must be valid in the default shipment organization.

Purchasing can create distributions only when it has default information that meets the following criteria:

•  If the Destination Type is Inventory, the line must have an item that is stock enabled in the ship–to organization. Also, if a default subinventory has been entered, it must be defined in the ship–to organization.
•  The Account Generator must be able to supply the accounts. If the Destination Type is Expense, you can enter a default charge account, which overrides any account supplied by the Account Generator.
• If you are using encumbrance accounting, you must enter a default GL date.

Purchasing uses the preferences you enter in this window for the current line and all subsequent purchase order lines that you enter during this user session. Thus, for existing purchase orders, the defaults apply only to new lines, shipments, and distributions that you add during this session. If you want to clear the default information, either choose Delete Record in the Purchase Order Preferences window or exit the application. The default values are only valid for the session in which you are currently working. The are not saved to the database.

Entering main preferences
Navigate to the Purchase Order Preferences window by selecting Preferences on the Tools menu in most of the purchase orders and releases windows.

• Select Confirming Order to indicate that this order is confirming a previous informal order with the supplier.
• If you are referencing contract purchase agreement on a standard purchase order, enter the Contract number. The contract must be effective; that is, the current date has to be within the effective date and the expired date of the contract. If you reference a contract purchase agreement on a standard purchase order line, Purchasing adds the total amount of the purchase order line to the total amount of the contract.