Purchasing Dashboard Manual
Procurement steering: total purchases, payments made, supplier outstanding, recoverable VAT and expenses excl. tax, with analysis by supplier, by item and by family.
Overview
The Purchasing Dashboard is the decision-support dashboard of the Purchasing module. It answers four questions: how much did we buy, how much did we pay, how much is still owed and to whom / for what. Six headline indicators, then seven analyses: settlement methods, seasonality, suppliers, outstanding amounts, items and families.
Purpose
- Measure the real purchase volume
- Steer supplier debt
- Spot purchase concentration
- Prepare recoverable VAT
Audience
- Purchasing manager — volumes and suppliers
- Treasurer — outstanding and disbursements
- Management — expenses and concentration
Figures come from purchase invoices, purchase delivery notes and supplier payments. Every chart carries a tooltip restating its equation.
Access and navigation
Side menu: Purchases → Purchasing dashboard, at the top of the submenu.
As with every dashboard, access is read-only and depends on the read right granted to the profile in Users & rights.
Purchasing scoreboard
Six indicators frame the period: what was committed, what was paid, what remains due, and the tax components.
| Indicator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Total purchases (incl. tax) | Cumulative tax-inclusive purchases over the period, and the number of documents involved. |
| Payments made | Total settlements paid to suppliers, and the number of delivery notes cleared. |
| Recoverable VAT | Deductible VAT carried by the purchases of the period. |
| Supplier outstanding | Debt left to settle, and the number of unpaid delivery notes. |
| Expenses (excl. tax) | Tax-exclusive amount of purchases — the accounting expense base. |
| Withholding tax | Withholding applied to supplier settlements over the period. |
The key reconciliation reads directly: Total purchases = Payments made + Supplier outstanding. A gap points to unallocated settlements or to documents outside the period.
Available filters
The Search dialog crosses four criteria. Every indicator and chart is recomputed.
Search
| Filter | Effect |
|---|---|
| Domain | Restricts to the purchases of the selected domain (multi-domain companies). |
| Supplier | Isolates one supplier; the field accepts the code or the label. |
| Currency | Frames the analysis on one currency — essential if you buy in EUR or USD. |
| Period | Two dates; bounds every calculation. |
In multi-currency, do not compare amounts from different currencies without setting the Currency filter: conversions depend on each document's exchange rate — see Currencies & exchange rates.
Supplier settlement methods
Breakdown of disbursements by settlement method: cash, cheque, bill of exchange, transfer…
Equation: method share = method amount ÷ total paid × 100. Summary counters show the total settlements paid, the number of methods used over the period and the dominant method.
Monthly purchase trend
The monthly series is paired with an average line: it immediately places each month against the usual pace.
| Indicator shown | Reading |
|---|---|
| Monthly average | Total purchases ÷ number of active months. |
| Highest / lowest month | Maximum and minimum of the period. |
| Gap vs average | Distance of the current month from the average — the drift alert. |
A month clearly above average without a rise in sales activity usually means a large restock: check stock coverage before renewing the order.
Purchases by supplier
Ranking suppliers by purchased amount reveals the concentration of spend.
Associated counters: total purchases incl. tax across all suppliers, top supplier and its share of the total.
A share above 40% on a single supplier is a dependency risk: negotiate a second source before the balance of power hardens.
Outstanding by supplier
The mirror of the previous chart, on the debt side: what is left to pay, supplier by supplier.
| Indicator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Total committed incl. tax | Cumulative invoiced purchases over the period. |
| Total paid | Amount settled, also expressed as a % of the total committed. |
| Outstanding left to pay | Supplier debts pending. |
| Suppliers with outstanding | Number of suppliers with a remaining balance. |
| Overall payment rate | Paid ÷ total committed × 100. |
When no outstanding exists, the chart displays “No supplier outstanding”: that is information, not an error.
Top 3 / Bottom 3 items
Two complementary rankings: the 3 most purchased items and the 3 least ordered.
| Counter | Reading |
|---|---|
| Top 3 concentration | Share of the top 3 items in total purchases. |
| Total items | Number of active references over the period. |
| Global rank | Position of each item in the full ranking. |
The Bottom 3 is not a delete list: those are often critical, slow-moving parts. Cross-check with stock coverage before deciding anything.
Purchase map & families
The treemap gives a surface view: each rectangle is an item, its size its weight in purchases. The neighbouring chart aggregates by item family.
The family breakdown relies on the purchase categories set up in Categories & catalog. An item with no category lands in a residual group — hence the importance of categorising the master data.
Counters show the total family purchases and the number of active families.
FAQ & Tips
Purchases show zero although I entered invoices?
Check the period first, then the Currency and Domain filters: an over-restrictive criterion empties the selection.
Payments + outstanding ≠ total purchases?
A settlement attached to a document outside the period, or an advance not yet allocated, creates the gap. Check settlement allocation in Payments / Advances.
Recoverable VAT looks wrong?
It restates the VAT carried by the documents, as entered. A wrong VAT rate on an item line propagates here — fix the item record and the affected document.
The treemap is empty?
No purchase in the period carries a valued item line (for example, only expenses without an item). That is consistent.
Tip — monthly purchasing review. Start with the overall payment rate (cash health), then supplier concentration (risk), and finish with the Top 3 items (the most rewarding negotiation lever).
