Film Accounting Glossary
Purchase order log
What is a purchase order log?
Also called PO log.
A purchase order log is the running record of every PO issued: number, vendor, department, account, amount committed, amount invoiced, and open balance.
It is the production's inventory of unbilled obligations and the source of the commitments column in the cost report. Closing stale POs at wrap releases the remaining commitment and is what stops a final cost report from carrying phantom cost.
Example
At wrap the log shows 340 POs, 22 still open with $61,000 of undrawn balance. Closing the stale ones releases that commitment; leaving them open carries $61,000 of phantom cost into the final report.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Maintained by accounting throughout the show, and the source of the commitments column in the cost report.
Common mistake
Leaving stale purchase orders open at wrap. Their undrawn balances sit in the commitments column as cost the picture will never actually incur.
Related questions
- How often should the purchase order log be reviewed?
- Weekly, alongside the cost report, because its open balances are the commitments column. A log reviewed only at wrap has been feeding the report bad numbers all show.
- Why close purchase orders at wrap?
- Closing stale POs releases the unspent commitment, so the final cost report is not carrying phantom cost the production never spent.