The Purchasing policy sets the rules for how a purchase happens: what is approved automatically, who approves the rest, where parcels go, which billing profile pays and which suppliers you use. Set it up once, in plain language, and it applies to every order and every automated onboarding.

Feature/Functionality

Overview

The Purchasing policy is an AI-powered policy. You write it in your own words. ONE either interviews you, or reads your existing orders, addresses and billing profiles and suggests a first draft.

Once you publish it, Factorial IT reads it whenever an order is reviewed and whenever ONE equips a new hire during onboarding.

Each company has one Purchasing policy.

Purchasing policy vs Equipment policy. The Purchasing policy covers how a purchase is authorised. The Equipment policy covers what each employee is entitled to. Do not put "which laptop each role gets" here. Write the constraints that govern the order instead.

How to use

1. Go to Global purchasing > Settings. On the Purchasing policy card, click Setup. If a policy already exists, the card shows its status instead.
2. Choose how to start. ONE gives you two options:
   • Ask me questions. ONE asks about one decision at a time and suggests an answer for each.
   • Analyse my company data. ONE first reads your orders, employees, company addresses, billing profiles, shipping countries and catalogue prices. It writes a full draft, takes you through it, and only asks about what your data could not answer.
3. Answer the questions. The editor sits beside the conversation. Each time an answer settles part of the policy, ONE writes it into the draft so you see the rule appear. Anything you type in the editor is also saved as a draft automatically.
4. Click Publish changes in the bar at the bottom of the editor. Drafts never apply until you publish.

Policy status

The pill at the top of the editor shows where the policy stands:

Click Discard to throw away unpublished edits. Choose Unpublish from the header menu to stop applying the policy but keep your draft.

What your policy must answer

A Purchasing policy settles five questions about any single order. If your policy answers all five on one page, it is finished.

1. Can the order go ahead? Say what is approved automatically and what needs approval. The simplest rule that works: matches the Equipment policy, approved automatically; anything else, needs approval. A spending threshold also works.
2. Who approves? A named person or team, with a contact. If it is "their manager", say so, and check the manager is recorded on the employee's profile.
3. Where does it go? One default destination, with its name and full postal address. Then only the exceptions you really have.
4. Which billing profile pays? Give its name.
5. Who do you buy from? The Factorial IT catalogue, plus a tie-break for when two suppliers can provide the same item. For example: zero-touch first, then stock in the delivery country, then price.

A billing profile that only has a credit card cannot pay for equipment orders. If you name it as the default, the rule cannot be applied. Factorial IT marks the profiles that can pay: choose one of them.

Add more only when you need it

Write what your data shows, and stop there. One office means one destination, not a section per country. Each of the following belongs in the policy only when something real calls for it:

• A broader approval model. For example, a difference measured against the Equipment policy, or a budget per person that builds up over time and serves as the approval itself.
• Several approvers. Say what decides who approves (legal entity, team, amount) and what happens when that field is empty on the employee's profile.
• More than one delivery location. Which office for each work location, where home addresses come from, which saved addresses must never be used, and what to do in a shipping country with no company address.
• Renewals. How long before a device is replaced, what justifies replacing it early, and what happens to the old one.
• Spending rules, order references and scope. What the account covers, which PO or cost centre field to fill in, and who these rules do not apply to.

If a rule cannot work yet (nobody fills in the field, or the billing profile cannot pay), keep it in the policy. Mark it as a known gap and write what happens in the meantime. Readers must be able to tell a rule apart from an intention.

Write rules ONE can act on

• Be specific. "Expensive orders need approval" is not a rule. "Above €1,500, Camille approves" is.
• Use real names. Your actual teams, offices, countries and suppliers, never placeholders.
• Give amounts with a currency, based on what items really cost in your catalogue.
• Say what happens when something is missing, such as no work location or no approver for an entity. ONE never makes up a default: if the policy says nothing, the process stops and asks you.
• Write down when a rule does not exist. "No price limit" written down is a decision. Left out, it looks like you forgot.

Where your policy applies

• Order review. The policy decides what needs your approval, where the order goes and which profile pays.
• Onboarding. When the Purchase equipment step is set to Automatic, ONE reads this policy and the Equipment policy to equip the new hire. It also follows any timing you write here, such as "handle equipment 30 days before the start date".

Both policies must be published for the onboarding step to run on its own. If either is unpublished, a person handles the step instead.

Troubleshooting and FAQ

Troubleshooting

• Your changes are not being applied. Check the status pill. If it says Unpublished or Pending changes, click Publish changes.
• The onboarding equipment step goes to a person instead of running automatically. Both the Purchasing policy and the Equipment policy must be published, and the Purchase equipment step must be set to Automatic.
• An order cannot be paid. The default billing profile probably only has a credit card. Choose a profile that Factorial IT marks as able to pay.
• ONE stops and asks you a question during an order or onboarding. The policy does not cover the situation, for example a missing work location. Add a rule for it.

FAQ

1. Can I have more than one Purchasing policy?
   No. Each company has one.
    
2. What is the difference between the Purchasing policy and the Equipment policy?
   The Purchasing policy says how a purchase is authorised, delivered and paid. The Equipment policy says what each employee is entitled to.
    
3. Do drafts apply to orders?
   No. Only the published version applies.
    
4. How do I stop applying the policy without losing it?
   Choose Unpublish from the header menu. Your draft is kept.
    
5. Does ONE fill in defaults I did not write?
   No. If the policy does not cover a case, the process stops and asks you.