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Getting Started in DPO 2/2: Your First P.O., Invoice & Expense

After completing your basic setup, you're ready to start working in DPO. This guide walks you through creating your first Purchase Order (P.O.), processing an invoice, creating an Expense Topsheet, and reviewing items that require your approval.


Note: The following steps provide a brief introduction to each workflow. For detailed instructions, follow the links to the corresponding articles.



Create a new P.O.



Create a Purchase Order to record and approve a planned purchase.


  1. Click Create New P.O.







  1. Select the department and supplier, then click Next.







  1. Click Add Item(s), enter the details, and confirm with Add.
  2. Review the items, then click Create P.O. to start the approval process.







Process Your First Invoice


Each DPO book has a dedicated invoice email address, which you can find under Settings → Invoices.
Forward invoices to this address to upload them to DPO.






New invoices appear in the Invoice Inbox and must first be validated before they are added to the Invoice Overview.





Invoices are received by email and appear in the Invoice Inbox. Open the Invoices tab to validate invoices or delete them using the trash icon.


Note: Invoices in the Invoice Inbox are not yet part of the approval list.







  1. Open the invoice from the Invoice Inbox.
  2. Review the invoice number, date, amounts, and supplier.
  3. Review or add the required line items and accounting information.
  4. Complete all required fields.
  5. Click Save.






Match an Invoice to a P.O.


Note: If your DPO book does not use P.O. matching, you can skip this step.


  1. If your DPO book uses P.O. matching, you can link invoice items to the corresponding P.O. items.
  2. Go to Invoices → Matching Screen and select an invoice.
  3. Select the relevant P.O. item and create the link.






  1. In the review screen, check the linked items and confirm with “Link Invoice to Item” or “Link Invoice and Close P.O. item”.






  1. Finally, the invoice is sent to the approval workflow.


  • With automatic approval, this happens automatically once fully matched
  • With manual approval, it is sent by clicking “Send for approval”. The invoice then follows the defined approval chain.






Create Your First Expense



Use the Expenses Inbox to upload and process receipts.


  1. Go to the Expenses Inbox.
  2. Upload your receipts using the browser or DPO app.
  3. Review and validate the receipt information.
  4. Select the receipts you want to include.
  5. Click Create Topsheet.


Important: Expenses cannot be created for other users. Each expense entry belongs only to the logged-in user, and the settlement is processed under the name of that user’s profile.





Review Your Expense Topsheet


Before sending a Topsheet for approval, review the included entries and complete any required information.


You can use:

  • Reviewer Mode – Review and complete multiple entries in a spreadsheet-style view.
  • Edit Mode – Review and edit individual entries in detail.






  1. For faster review, you can use reviewer mode, which allows you to apply multiple values column-wise, similar to Excel.







  1. Once the Topsheet is complete, click Send Expenses to Approval.





Review Your Approvals


Items that require your approval are displayed in the Approval List.


You can switch between:

  • P.O.s
  • Invoices
  • Expenses







Approve Purchase Orders


Under P.O. Approvals, you’ll find all purchase orders awaiting your approval. Open a P.O., review the items, add account codes if needed, and approve, decline, or send it back. Once completed, the list will be empty.







Approve Invoices


Open the invoice, review line items, linked P.O.s, and account codes if needed, then approve or decline. You can optionally add a comment. Once completed, the list will be empty.








Approve Expenses


Open the expense topsheet, review line items and account codes if needed (optionally using reviewer mode), then approve or decline. You may add a comment. Once completed, the list will be empty.





You're Ready to Work in DPO



You've now covered the basic DPO workflow:
Create a P.O. → Process an Invoice → Match it to a P.O. (if applicable) → Create an Expense → Review & Approve


For more detailed instructions, explore the individual guides for P.O.s, Invoices, Expenses, Matching, and Approvals in the DPO Knowledge Base.



Questions or need help?
Our customer support is always available to help with any questions or setup assistance


Contact us
Email: support@digitalpurchaseorder.com
Support: +1 888 376 7254
Support Int'l: +44 20 331 88 338
Berlin Office: +49 (0)30 55 572 5956


Or book a personalized support call
We look forward to hearing from you.

Updated on: 02/09/2026

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