A blanket order is an agreement with a publisher in which the publisher sends you everything or part of everything it publishes. Unlike approval plans, blanket orders deal directly with a single publisher instead of working through a vendor to acquire multiple publishers’ publications. Also, unlike approval plans, you may not be able to return items you receive on a blanket order. Blanket orders provide the similar benefits of an approval plan—quick delivery and elimination of order work for individual titles.
Since many blanket orders also provide return privileges, the terms “Approval Plan” and “Blanket Order” may be used interchangeably. Check with the vendor or publisher to determine the exact conditions of the plan.
If you do not need to track the individual items you receive on a blanket order, you can simply create a nontitle invoice for the items and enter the budgets you want to charge for the titles. In the Description field on the nontitle invoice, enter a generic description of the titles (for example, “Music Titles Received on Blanket Order with Standard Publishing”). (For instructions on creating a nontitle invoice, see Recording a Nontitle Invoice.) This is the quickest method for handling items you receive on an approval plan. However, it may not provide the level of tracking that some libraries may need.
When you create the PO header, you may want to enter a note in the Description or Note field that indicates the purchase order is for items received on an blanket order (for example, “Blanket Order with Standard Publishing”).
There are two variations for creating purchase orders for items you receive on a blanket order. The option you choose will depend on the amount of information you want to track:
• | When you receive a group of items, create a purchase order and add a PO line for each title. |
• | Create a single purchase order for the blanket order that you will use for all titles you receive from the publisher. When you receive a group of items, create a single line for all the titles received on that date. Enter a generic description of the titles in the Title field (for example, “Titles Received on 2-25-98”). In the Distribution group, enter the quantity and budgets you want to charge. Since the lines do not represent actual titles, be sure the Item Creation field on the PO header is set to “No Automatic Item Creation.” |
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