Admins and owners can now decide which team members have permission to create purchase orders directly in Ply.
Use Case | Description |
🚛 Tech handles their own restocking | A senior tech manages their own van stock and places supplier orders without going through an admin |
👷 Project lead or foreman | A field lead manages purchasing for their crew and needs to create POs without involving the back office |
🔧 On-site emergency purchase | Tech needs to order a part directly from a supplier when something breaks mid-job and can't wait |
👤 Small team / owner-operator | Everyone wears multiple hats — techs also handle procurement as part of their role |
Only users with Admin or Owner roles can enable or disable PO creation for others.
Follow these steps to enable (or disable) PO creation access for a technician.
➡️ Step 1: Go to Settings
From your dashboard, open the Main Menu and click on Company & Billing.
➡️ Step 2: Open the Team Tab
Inside the Company & Billing section, click on the Team tab at the top.
➡️ Step 3: Enable PO Creation
Locate the technician you want to grant access to.
Click on the three-dot menu (⋮) next to their name, then select Enable PO Creation.
➡️ Step 4: Verify Access
Once enabled, you’ll see a ✅ checkmark under the PO Creation column next to that user.
This confirms they now have permission to create POs.
➡️ Step 5: Revert Access (Optional)
You can revoke access anytime by clicking Disable PO Creation from the same menu.
🚫 Before — PO Creation Disabled | ✅ After — PO Creation Enabled |
The tech opens Ply and sees no option to create a PO. The Purchasing section is either hidden or view-only — they can see existing POs but cannot create new ones. | The tech now sees a Create PO button in the Purchasing section. They can create, fill in, and send Purchase Orders to suppliers just like an Admin would. |
➡️ Video Tutorial
You can also watch a short walkthrough here:
This video shows the same steps covered above, from accessing Settings to enabling PO Creation for technicians.
➡️ Best Practices
✅ Turn on PO Approval Flow if you're extending this to several techs.
By default, POs created by anyone with access go out directly. If you want an admin or owner to review PO details before they're sent to the supplier, especially useful when opening this up to more people, enable PO Approval Flow under Procurement Settings. See Common issues & fixes below.
✅ Have techs check the Replenishment List before ordering.
Once more than one person can create POs, the odds of two people ordering the same part go up. See How to check if an item is already on order (and avoid duplicate POs) for a quick habit that prevents this.
✅ Start with a small group before rolling this out account-wide.
Enable it for one or two trusted techs first, confirm the workflow (and approval flow, if used) works the way you expect, then extend it further.
➡️ Common issues & fixes
"I enabled PO Creation for a tech, but their POs still need to be approved before going to the supplier, is that normal?"
Yes, if you also have PO Approval Flow turned on. That's a separate setting (under Procurement Settings & PO Configuration) that requires any PO created by a manager/tech to be approved by an admin or owner before it's sent. The two settings work together: PO Creation controls who can start a PO, and PO Approval Flow controls whether it needs sign-off before it goes out. If you want techs to send POs directly with no review step, make sure PO Approval Flow is turned off.
"A tech with PO Creation enabled says they can't approve their own PO."
That's expected and by design; approval permissions are tied to Admin/Owner roles, separate from PO Creation access. Enabling PO Creation lets someone start and send a PO; it doesn't grant approval rights over anyone's PO (their own or others'). See Purchase Orders: add multiple vendor contacts for PO Emails and How to create and manage Purchase Orders in Ply for more on who can approve a PO.
"Since I gave more people PO access, we've started getting duplicate orders for the same part."
This is a common side effect of opening up PO creation to more people. Before placing an order, check the Replenishment List for that location and filter by "Show Materials Not on a Purchase Order", this surfaces only items that genuinely still need to be ordered.
➡️ FAQs
Can I enable PO Creation for some techs but not others?
Yes, this is granted per user, not account-wide. Enable or disable it individually from the Team tab.
Does enabling PO Creation give the tech access to anything else, like reconciling or approving POs?
Not automatically. It grants the ability to create and send POs. Other actions (like approving a PO or reconciling one) depend on separate role permissions.
Where do I find the PO Approval Flow setting mentioned above?
Under Procurement Settings & PO Configuration in your account settings.
Still need help? Contact Support!
Questions about team permissions or account settings? We're happy to help.