Line Items and Line Item Distributions

Use line items and distributions to clearly define what you purchase and how costs are allocated. This helps ensure accurate accounting, faster data entry, and consistent financial reporting.

Line items list the goods or services included in a purchase order. Each line item captures the details needed to track what you purchase from a vendor.

You can choose from three line item types:

  • Quantity/Price — Record goods or services with a quantity and unit price.

  • Flat — Add fixed costs, such as shipping charges or fees.

  • Comment — Provide additional context or instructions, such as “No backorders.”

What Distributions Do

Distributions define how to allocate each line item amount across accounts, projects, grants, or transaction codes.

Use distributions to ensure accurate debit and credit account assignment, allocate costs across multiple funding sources, and support detailed reporting and compliance requirements.

When you add or edit a line item, you can define its distribution details.

Tip: If vendor default distributions exist, they automatically populate. To review these defaults, see Vendor Default Distributions.

Add a Line Item Distribution

  1. Under Distributions, select the accounts, amount, project, grant, or transaction code.

    Tip: To save time, select More and apply a distribution set to prefill common values.

    Note: Credit accounts reflect your configuration for purchase order encumbrance. For details, see Payables default account settings.

  2. Add more lines to allocate the amount across additional accounts or projects.

  3. To split amounts evenly, select More, then select Distribute evenly.

  4. To allocate by percentage, select More, then select Distribute by percent and enter values in the Percent column. Ensure the total equals 100%.

  5. To distribute across multiple projects or transaction codes, select the split option and apply a project distribution set or divide the amount evenly.

  6. To simplify the view, select More to hide the secondary credit account column. Debit accounts remain visible.