Accounts says it cannot process your invoice without a purchase order. Find out what is missing, preserve the work approval and avoid changing the job history to fit a form.
Corporate Recovery Partners
01 / 06
The job is done, but accounts wants another reference
You completed the requested work and sent the invoice. The customer’s accounts team replies that it needs a purchase order before processing payment. The site manager who requested the work is away.
Start by finding out whether the order exists, whether the invoice has the wrong reference or whether the customer never raised it. Those are different problems and need different responses.
Confirm the order number, issuing contact and job reference they expect. Ask whether the invoice has been received and what action will allow it to be reviewed.
Keep a record of the answer. “Accounts will look into it” is difficult to follow up; a named person checking a specific missing reference gives you a practical next step.
Gather the quotation, acceptance, site instruction, delivery record or other evidence of the work requested. Do not invent an order number or alter the date to make the customer’s system accept the invoice.
If correcting a reference, preserve the original invoice and identify the correction clearly. Your bookkeeper can help keep the accounting record consistent.
business.gov.au recommends collecting customer details when they order and using clear invoice information. Alongside those details, a consistent job reference can make this administrative conversation easier.
A customer’s internal purchase-order rule does not, by itself, establish the legal outcome of your payment claim. If payment is being refused, get the contract and work instructions reviewed rather than accepting a portal message as the final answer.
Do not assume correcting the reference extends or resets any relevant deadline. Obtain advice promptly if a formal payment process or dispute is involved.
Confirm that the corrected information reached the person handling the invoice and record the next response date. For future work, identify the order contact before mobilisation.
If the account remains unpaid, give CRP both the original work records and the purchase-order correspondence. That shows whether an administrative question has developed into a genuine payment dispute.
