Purchase order software for engineering firms with engineering purchase order approval and tracking
Procurer is purchase order software for US engineering firms with 20 to 300 staff, whether civil, structural, MEP, environmental or geotechnical consultancies, or product engineering teams buying prototype parts. Every purchase request is coded to a client project and a GL account, the project manager approves anything that touches the job budget, finance signs off above your limit, and accounting pays only invoices that match the PO and what arrived. Plans are priced per company, not per seat, from 149 USD a month.
On this page
- 01What is the best purchase order software for engineering firms?
- 02Why project purchases slip through in engineering firms
- 03Engineering purchase orders coded to client projects and GL accounts
- 04Engineering purchase order approval by project, amount and vendor
- 05Engineering purchase order tracking from order to delivery
- 06Purchase orders for prototype parts and machined components
- 07A 60 person civil engineering firm from request to closeout
- 08Which plan fits an engineering firm
- 09Engineering firm purchasing options compared
- 10How to set up project purchasing in a week
- 11FAQ
What is the best purchase order software for engineering firms?
The best purchase order software for engineering firms ties every order to a project number, sends it to that project's manager before money is committed, shows what is left on the job budget, and holds any invoice that does not match the PO and the receipt. Procurer does that and exports approved bills as a file for QuickBooks Online, Xero or a CSV, so your project accounting system stays the book of record for billing and utilization.
Why project purchases slip through in engineering firms
Engineering firms rarely lose money on the big subconsultant agreement. That one gets a contract, a scope and a principal's signature. The leak is in the hundreds of smaller buys around it: a drone survey rental, a box of soil sample jars, a calibration for a total station, a plotter roll, a field laptop, a lab test sent out on a rush. These get bought on a card or ordered by email, and the cost reaches the project weeks later, if it reaches the right project at all.
- A field crew orders equipment on a company card, and the receipt is coded to overhead instead of the client job.
- Nobody tells the project manager before a reimbursable expense is incurred, so it is found at invoicing time and written off.
- A lab or rental vendor bills twice for one job, once to the office and once to the accounts payable inbox.
- At project closeout, nobody can show who approved the out-of-scope purchase that ate the margin.
A purchase order system closes these gaps because nothing is ordered without a project code and the right approval, and nothing is paid until it matches the PO.
Engineering purchase orders coded to client projects and GL accounts
Each client project, task order or internal R and D effort is a project in Procurer, and your chart of accounts comes in from a CSV. An engineer requesting a 1 900 USD rental of a ground penetrating radar unit picks the project, the GL account (direct project expense, equipment rental, lab services, software), the vendor and the price, attaches the quote and submits it from a laptop or a phone in the field. On the Business plan, budgets are set per project and per GL account, and the request shows what is left on the job including amounts already committed on open POs.
- Custom fields on the request form capture what your firm needs, such as whether the cost is billable to the client or the phase it belongs to.
- Recurring vendors, like a testing lab or a reprographics service, run as blanket POs with releases against one approved amount.
- Every change to a budget or a PO stays in the audit log for project review and closeout.
See budget control software for how commitments and actuals are tracked.
Engineering purchase order approval by project, amount and vendor
Most engineering firms already have the policy in a memo: the project manager approves project costs, a principal approves anything large, and finance looks at new vendors. Procurer turns that memo into approval rules. On Team, requests route by amount and department with up to two approval steps. On Business, rules can also use the project, the category and the vendor with unlimited steps, so a request on a fixed fee job goes to that job's project manager, anything above 10 000 USD goes to a principal, and a vendor who has never been paid gets an extra check from finance.
- Project managers approve from email, the browser, or on Business from Slack or Microsoft Teams, without logging in to a separate system.
- Approvers see the quote, the drawing or the spec sheet attached to the request, and the remaining budget, before they decide.
- The approval history stays with the PO, which helps when a client questions a reimbursable charge.
More on purchase order approval software.
Engineering purchase order tracking from order to delivery
An open PO list shows every order by project, vendor and status: waiting for approval, sent, partly received, received or invoiced. Whoever takes the delivery, at the office, the lab or a job trailer, opens the PO on a phone, records what arrived, including partial shipments, and attaches a photo of the packing slip. Receiving is included on every plan. From Business, three-way matching compares the vendor invoice with the PO and the receipt, so you pay for 12 sample coolers only when 12 arrived, and a duplicate or overbilled invoice is held with the reason. See how three-way matching software works.
Purchase orders for prototype parts and machined components
Product engineering teams have a different problem: the same part number gets quoted by three machine shops, revised twice, and ordered in small lots. Drawings and specs attach to the request so the approver and the vendor see the same revision. On Scale, RFQs send one request for quote to several suppliers through a personal link, suppliers answer line by line, and the chosen quote becomes the PO. The supplier portal lets vendors confirm the order, propose a new date and upload the invoice against it. Read more on vendor management software.
A 60 person civil engineering firm from request to closeout
A civil and environmental consultancy with 60 staff runs about 80 active projects, most of them fixed fee or time and materials with reimbursable expenses. Policy says the project manager approves all direct project costs, a principal approves anything above 5 000 USD, and finance approves any new vendor.
1. A field engineer requests 14 days of a groundwater sampling pump rental for 2 300 USD, coded to a municipal stormwater project, with the rental quote attached and the billable field set to yes. The request shows 6 800 USD left on that project's direct expense budget, with 1 200 USD already committed.
2. The vendor is already in the directory, and the amount is under 5 000 USD, so the request goes only to the project manager, who approves from email between site visits.
3. Procurer sends the PO to the rental vendor with the project number on it.
4. The field crew receives the pump against the PO on a phone and attaches the delivery ticket.
5. The rental invoice arrives with 16 days instead of 14. Three-way matching holds it, accounts payable asks the vendor for a corrected invoice, and the approved bill goes into the next export file.
At closeout, the project manager can show the client the quote, the approval and the matched invoice behind every reimbursable line.
Which plan fits an engineering firm
Plans are per company, so adding a new engineer, a field technician or a part-time drafter does not add a seat fee.
| Firm | Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small firm, up to 25 people who request or approve | Team | 149 USD a month, or 888 USD a year billed yearly | Requests, POs, approvals by amount and department, custom fields, receiving, QuickBooks Online or Xero export, up to 250 POs a month |
| Growing firm, up to 100 users | Business | 299 USD a month, or 1 788 USD a year billed yearly | Budgets per project and GL with commitments, rules by project and vendor, three-way matching, invoice capture, up to 1 500 POs |
| Multi-office firm or engineering department, up to 300 users | Scale | 699 USD a month, or 4 188 USD a year billed yearly | Up to 5 legal entities, RFQs, supplier portal with W-9 and insurance onboarding, contracts, SSO, NetSuite or Sage Intacct export, unlimited POs |
- Small firm, up to 25 people who request or approve
- PlanTeamPrice149 USD a month, or 888 USD a year billed yearlyWhat you getRequests, POs, approvals by amount and department, custom fields, receiving, QuickBooks Online or Xero export, up to 250 POs a month
- Growing firm, up to 100 users
- PlanBusinessPrice299 USD a month, or 1 788 USD a year billed yearlyWhat you getBudgets per project and GL with commitments, rules by project and vendor, three-way matching, invoice capture, up to 1 500 POs
- Multi-office firm or engineering department, up to 300 users
- PlanScalePrice699 USD a month, or 4 188 USD a year billed yearlyWhat you getUp to 5 legal entities, RFQs, supplier portal with W-9 and insurance onboarding, contracts, SSO, NetSuite or Sage Intacct export, unlimited POs
Most firms that bill reimbursable expenses choose Business, because project budgets with commitments and routing by project are where the project manager's control lives. See full procurement software pricing.
Engineering firm purchasing options compared
An honest view of what engineering firms usually weigh before they buy.
| Option | Good for | Limits for purchasing control |
|---|---|---|
| Expense reports and company cards | Small, one-off field purchases | Spend happens before approval, project coding is done after the fact |
| Purchasing module in a project ERP for A and E firms | Firms that want one vendor for accounting, billing and purchasing | Often priced per user and per module, approval routing and matching can be basic |
| Construction purchasing software | Contractors buying materials for job sites | Built around subcontracts, change orders and job cost for builders, not consulting projects |
| Procurement suites priced per seat | Large firms with a central purchasing team | Quoted annual contracts, cost grows with every engineer who requests |
| Procurer | Engineering firms and departments with 20 to 300 staff | Exports bills to your accounting rather than replacing project accounting, no timesheets or client invoicing |
- Expense reports and company cards
- Good forSmall, one-off field purchasesLimits for purchasing controlSpend happens before approval, project coding is done after the fact
- Purchasing module in a project ERP for A and E firms
- Good forFirms that want one vendor for accounting, billing and purchasingLimits for purchasing controlOften priced per user and per module, approval routing and matching can be basic
- Construction purchasing software
- Good forContractors buying materials for job sitesLimits for purchasing controlBuilt around subcontracts, change orders and job cost for builders, not consulting projects
- Procurement suites priced per seat
- Good forLarge firms with a central purchasing teamLimits for purchasing controlQuoted annual contracts, cost grows with every engineer who requests
- Procurer
- Good forEngineering firms and departments with 20 to 300 staffLimits for purchasing controlExports bills to your accounting rather than replacing project accounting, no timesheets or client invoicing
If your work is mainly general contracting, our purchase order software for construction page fits better.
How to set up project purchasing in a week
1. Import active projects and your GL accounts from a CSV.
2. Enter direct expense budgets per project on Business.
3. Copy your purchasing policy into approval rules, with the project manager as the first approver.
4. Import your vendor list and mark preferred labs, rental houses and suppliers.
5. Invite project managers and principals first, then engineers and field staff. Most firms are live within a week.
What is the best purchase order software for engineering firms?
The best purchase order software for engineering firms codes each order to a client project, routes it to that project's manager and a principal above your limit, shows the remaining job budget, records deliveries in the field and matches invoices before payment. Procurer does this from 149 USD a month per company, with no per seat fee, and exports approved bills to your accounting.
Do engineering firms use purchase orders?
Yes. Engineering firms use purchase orders for equipment rentals, lab testing, field supplies, software, printing and prototype parts, so each purchase is approved against the project budget before it is ordered and the vendor invoice can be checked against the PO and the receipt before payment. Subconsultants usually stay under their own agreements.
How do engineering firms track purchases by project?
They put a project number on every purchase request and PO, then compare committed and actual costs against the project budget. In Procurer the project is chosen on the request, Business budgets show committed and spent amounts per project and GL account, and exports carry the project so costs land on the right job.
Does Procurer replace Deltek, Ajera or BQE Core?
No. Procurer handles purchase requests, approvals, POs, receiving and invoice matching, and your project accounting system stays the ledger for timesheets, billing and utilization. Approved bills export as a file for QuickBooks Online or Xero on every plan, as a CSV your system can import, and for NetSuite or Sage Intacct on Scale.
How much does purchase order software cost for an engineering firm?
Procurer costs 149 USD a month on Team, 299 USD on Business and 699 USD on Scale, or half that per month billed yearly. Plans include 25, 100 or 300 user accounts and are priced per company, so the cost does not grow when you hire engineers or add field staff.
Can project managers approve purchase orders from a phone?
Yes. Approvals work from email and in the browser on a phone, and on Business also from Slack or Microsoft Teams. A project manager on a site visit sees the quote, the attachment and the remaining budget, and approves or rejects in a minute.
Every project purchase approved before it hits the job
Create your account and put the next round of rentals, lab tests and field supplies on POs your project managers, principals and accountants all see.