How to Assign Vendor Purchase Orders (POs) for Subscription Renewals
Introduction
After the customer approves the renewal quote and the Renewal Engineer marks the quote as Won, the next critical step in the Subscription Renewal workflow is issuing Vendor Purchase Orders (POs).
PO Assignment ensures that:
- Each renewed subscription item is correctly associated with its vendor.
- Vendor-facing details (PO number, supplier name) are updated and submitted.
- The subscription is ready for the next renewal cycle (same logic as PrW Maintenance Contracts).
This task is completed from the Quote Details Page using the PO Assignment button.
Key Terms and Concepts
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Renewals |
In the VAR ecosystem, Renewal refers to the process of extending, maintenance contract to continue service coverage for hardware or software. This typically involves reviewing expiring contracts, create asset lists for customers to approve, prepare list of assets/services to be priced, and initiate quoting process for services like: Cisco SmartNet maintenance contracts Managed service subscriptions etc
The renewal process ensures uninterrupted service, and allows for co-terming, identify potential product upgrades, or request for change in service levels |
| Renewal Engineer | Executes renewals by preparing asset lists, coordinating pricing, and generating quotes. |
| Managed Subscriptions | Internal representation of a vendor contract, used for managing customer-facing renewals. |
| PO Assignment | The process of mapping renewed subscription items to the correct vendor by assigning PO numbers and supplier names. |
| Quote | A formal pricing document generated in PrW for the customer, containing subscription items, quantities, discounts, and renewal pricing. |
| Purchase Order | A vendor-facing document that authorizes the purchase of subscription items from a supplier. In PrW, PO Assignment maps each renewed subscription item to its vendor PO number so the renewal can be processed, fulfilled, and carried forward to future cycles. |
Table of Contents
| No. | Topic | Detail | Timestamp |
| 1 | Introduction | Understanding MS console and process of customer validation | 00:00 |
| 2 | Key Terms and Concepts |
Defines key terms like Renewal Engineer, Managed Subscription etc | 00:20 |
| 3 | Table of Content | Provides a preview of the topics that will be covered in this video to help viewers understand the structure of the walkthrough. | 00:55 |
| 4 | Accessing PO assignment and layout | Understand the layout of the PO assignment window | 01:15 |
| 5 | How to Assign Vendor PO Numbers | Editing Vendor PO number, Supplier name columns | 02:25 |
| 6 | Why PO Assignment is done and what's next in renewal cycle | Updating details in PrW based on customer inputs | 03:00 |
| 7 | Summary | How to focus data for specific accounts or timelines using filters | 03:30 |
Watch the Video
1. Accessing PO Assignment and Layout
After a quote is marked as Won, open the Quote Detail page.
Click PO Assignment.
A pop-up window opens containing all subscription items included in the renewal quote.
Each row represents a subscription item, with fields such as: BOM Line Number, Quote Item ID (Hyperlinked), Part Number, Description, Item Type (Hardware/Software/Service), List Price, Quantity, Total List Price, Vendor PO Number (Editable), Supplier Name (Editable) and Manufacturer details etc.
Rows are grouped by Part Number, and can be expanded/collapsed using the arrow on the left.
Inside the PO Assignment pop-up, Renewal Engineers can:
Global Search: Search across all columns—example: Part Number, Description, Vendor.
Column-Level Sorting & Filtering: Use the filter icon on any column—such as filtering by Item Type or Vendor.
Show Only Unassigned Items: Click Show Unassigned Items to view only those lines where Vendor PO is missing.
Show All Items: Shows all the items- assigned, unassigned and without list price
Export: Click the Download icon to export the PO Assignment list into an Excel template.
2. Assigning Vendor PO Numbers
To assign the PO:
- Identify the subscription items you want to update.
- Edit the Vendor PO Number field.
- Edit the Supplier Name (if applicable).
- Editable fields are indicated by the pencil icon.
- Click enter on the field to confirm and the row/rows get highlighted.
As soon as you make an edit, two icons appear at the top -Save and Delete
- Click the Save icon to confirm PO assignment.
- Click the Discard icon to revert back to original values.
The system updates the subscription item to show that a vendor PO has been assigned.
3. Why PO Assignment Matters
PO Assignment is the final vendor-facing step of subscription renewals.
It ensures:
- Correct vendor mapping for each item
- Vendor receives accurate PO data
- Billing and fulfillment can proceed
- Subscription renewal lifecycle is closed properly
- Data is ready for the next renewal cycle in future years
4. What Happens After PO Assignment
Once all items are assigned:
- The system marks the renewal project as Completed (if not already).
- Vendor PO details get stored against each subscription item.
- This information is carried forward automatically into the next generation subscription record.
- Renewal Managers and Engineers see correct vendor mapping for future cycles.
5. Summary
After PO assignment, your renewal project is fully completed.
You may now proceed to:
- Export final subscription details
- Share fulfillment files with internal teams
- Track subscription in the next renewal dashboard cycle.
Related Tutorials
In this article
- Introduction
- Key Terms and Concepts
- Table of Contents
- Watch the Video
- 1. Accessing PO Assignment and Layout
- Global Search: Search across all columns—example: Part Number, Description, Vendor.
- Column-Level Sorting & Filtering: Use the filter icon on any column—such as filtering by Item Type or Vendor.
- Show Only Unassigned Items: Click Show Unassigned Items to view only those lines where Vendor PO is missing.
- Show All Items: Shows all the items- assigned, unassigned and without list price
- Export: Click the Download icon to export the PO Assignment list into an Excel template.
- 2. Assigning Vendor PO Numbers
- 3. Why PO Assignment Matters
- 4. What Happens After PO Assignment
- 5. Summary
- Related Tutorials
