PALS Troubleshooting Steps for Acquisitions - Ordering

Troubleshooting Steps for Alma Acquisitions - Ordering

Troubleshooting Ordering (creation of POL through "Sending" the PO/POL) 

Core requirements 

  1. Active Fiscal Year 
    1. The Fiscal Year should be activated in the Fiscal Year table (Configuration > Acquisitions > Fund and Ledger Fiscal Period) 
  2. Active Ledger/Funds 
    1. Must have one ledger that is activated 
    2. The ledger must have one activated allocated fund with a positive balance that would cover the purchase 
      1. Or they need over encumbrance limits. You can set this in the rules for the ledger (inherited by all funds that do not specify other values) or the allocated fund. 
    3. The ledger and fund must be for current FY-or within pre- and post-FY grace days 
  3. Active Vendor 
    1. Vendor record should have one account minimum 
      1. The account should have a payment method specified 
    2. Vendor/Vendor account needs an email address if you are using the acquisition method of "Purchase" and emailing the letter 
    3. Vendor needs EDI information filled in if you are using the acquisition method of "Purchase" and sending the order information via EDI 
  4. Enabled Order Letter (General > Letters Configuration) 
    1. Email: Order List Letter 
    2. EDI: does not use the Order List Letter. The Letters subsystem does not control the EDI message. Make sure the vendor has the correct information. 
  5. If the POL type should have inventory, you need to let Alma create the inventory item for you or request it not so you can link existing inventory to the POL. 
  6. POL should use the correct Acquisition Method. 
    1. Purchase:  
      1. You need to encumber and expend from a fund. 
      2. You want the POL sent to the vendor via email or EDI. 
    2. Purchase at Vendor System: 
      1. You need to encumber and expend from a fund. 
      2. You do not want the POL sent via email or EDI to the vendor. 
    3. Other methods available – see https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/020Acquisitions/020Purchasing/020Creating_PO_Lines/030Manually_Creating_a_PO_Line#Acquisition_Methods.
  7. PO Line – Packaging job needs to be enabled if you do not select "Manual Packaging" when editing the POL details. 

Commonly encountered issues 

  1. I can't find my fund. Go to Acquisitions > Funds. Verify that the fund exists, is active, and has money remaining for purchases. If the fund meets all three criteria, check that the FY is activated. Then, if it's none of those three issues and you are at the beginning, or end of the year, make sure you have the appropriate grace allowances for the fund you are trying to use. 
  2. Alma will not move the POL past the review stage. Check the alerts. If they do not provide the reason, verify you have all the required information for the Acquisition method and POL type you selected. This information can include inventory, vendor, and fund information. The fund also needs to have enough money to cover the encumbrance. 
  3. POLs are stuck in Auto Packaging. Enable the job [Configuration > Acquisitions > Acquisition Jobs Configuration, or go there and click "Run Now"]. 
  4. Alma will not move the PO past the review/approve steps. Check the alerts. If they do not provide the reason, check: 
  1. All POLs in the PO are “Ready.” If any are in Review, check what information is missing for the POL and update it.  
    1. Sometimes EDI information from a vendor does not come over with the fund information to match what Alma has. So, all lines except a few are ready. If you add the fund and “Save and Continue,” Alma will move the POL to ready. Then, it will notice that all lines are Ready and send the PO. This can take a few minutes. 
  2. If the Acquisition Method is “Purchase,” check whether the vendor has EDI or email information.  
    1. EDI: Add any missing EDI information if that is how the library wants to communicate with the vendor. Test the connection to make sure it works. Then, try again. 
    2. Email: Make sure there is an order email. If there is, check the letter is enabled. Once you have both of those, try sending the POL. 
    3. If it turns out the library does not want to send the vendor anything, they can sub in their work email as the vendor’s order email and enable the letter if needed. Then, send the POL to themselves. Remember to turn the letter back off.  
      1. Otherwise, they need to remove the lines from the PO. Set them back to review and change the acquisition method. Then, repackage and send-or individually add back lines to the PO before sending it. 

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