[r_hoods_ghost]

Do you not use POs? Much easier, allows you to approve spend if necessary and means the person paying I voices doesn't need to have an encyclopedic knowledge of your employees and keep up to date with which ones have ledt

[qwerty456127]

POs seem to be very rare in Europe, people who even know what's a PO are rare.

[dalke]

That's far from my experience. Where in Europe and for what kind of payments?

I only use POs with my customers. I'm based in Sweden, doing work mostly in Germany, Switzerland, and England, as software sales and contract work. No one has even blinked.

In Swedish it's called a inköpsorder, but often abbreviated PO.

As an example, https://www.betydelse-definition.com/ink%C3%B6psorder has "Inköpsordern (ofta säker man PO som är kort för Purchase Order) är det viktigaste dokumentet i en inköpsverksamhet och är ett avtal mellan två parter. POn definierar vad som köps in och under vilka villkor och förutsättningar."

In English: "The purchase order (often said PO, which is short for Purchase Order) is the most important document in a purchasing operation and is an agreement between two parties. The PO defines what is bought in and under what conditions and requirements."

Looking around, here's a description of purchase order use in the UK: https://gocardless.com/guides/posts/guide-to-purchase-orders...

> Purchase orders are a helpful part of the procurement process, allowing business owners to keep track of incoming orders and to monitor stock levels. It’s a way to see exactly what money is being spent where and at what moment. In some cases, purchase orders are a basic requirement for doing business. Many government agencies and authorities insist upon PO forms being issued before they’ll agree to settle an invoice.

It wasn't hard to find similar examples for other European countries.