Acquisitions
The Koha Acquisitions module provides a way for the library to record orders placed with vendors and manage purchase budgets.
Before using the Acquisitions Module, you will want to make sure that you have completed all of the set up.
Get there: More > Administration > Acquisitions
Currencies and exchange ratesIf you place orders from more than one country you will want to input currency exchange rates so that your acquisitions module will properly calculate totals.
Note
Only staff with the currencies_manage permission (or the superlibrarian permission) will have access to this section.
Get there: More > Administration > Acquisitions > Currencies and exchange rates
Note
You can customize the columns of this table in the ‘Table settings’ section of the Administration module (table id: currency).
Currency: this is the code for the currency. For default currencies, the ISO code is used as currency code (for example ‘USD’ for the US dollar). The ISO code will be used when importing MARC files via the staging tools. The tool will attempt to find and use the price of the currently active currency.
Rate: the rate will be used to calculate the price in the active currency.
Note
This data is not automatically updated, so be sure to keep it up to date so that your accounting is kept correct.
Symbol: this is the symbol for the currency (for example, $ for USD, or € for EUR).
Last updated: this is the date when the currency was last updated in Koha.
Active: the active currency is the main currency you use in your library. The active currency will have a check mark in the ‘Active’ column. If you don’t have an active currency you will see an error message telling you to choose an active currency.
The active currency must have a rate of 1. There can only be one active currency.
Archived: archived currencies will have ‘Yes’ in this column. Archived currencies cannot be used in the acquisitions module.
Note
It is currently not possible to manually archive currencies. Currencies will be archived if Koha is updated and a currency that was used previously in the acquisitions module was deleted.
Actions: use the buttons to edit or delete currencies.
Note
If a currency was used at least once, it will not be possible to delete it.
If a currency that you use is not already in your system, you can create it.
Click ‘New currency’.
Fill out the form.
Currency: enter a code for the currency, this can be the ISO code, or another code. This is what will be displayed in the acquisitions module.
Note
If you decide to use a custom code here, make sure to fill out the ISO code with the correct code for the currency. This will ensure that prices are calculated according to the rate.
Note
This field is limited to 10 characters.
Rate: enter the rate of this currency relative to your active currency.
Symbol: enter the symbol for the currency (for example, $ for USD, or € for EUR).
ISO code: enter the ISO code for the currency (for example ‘USD’ for the US dollar). This field is optional. If this field is empty, Koha will use the currency code (above) as the ISO code for price calculations.
Last updated: this will be filled automatically with today’s date, it is not possible to manually change this date.
Space separation between symbol and value: if checked, Koha will display the price with a space before the currency symbol (for example, 10.99 $ rather than 10.99$).
Active: check this box if this currency is the default currency used in the acquisitions module. Note that there can only be one active currency and that the active currency’s rate must be 1.
Click ‘Submit’.
Editing a currencyIf you often order from other countries, it will be necessary to update the exchange rate regularly in order to calculate the prices precisely.
To edit an existing currency,
Click the ‘Edit’ button to the right of the currency in the currencies table.
Change the rate, or other value.
Note
Note that the currency code and the last updated date cannot be edited.
Click ‘Submit’.
Deleting a currencyIf there are currencies that you never use, it is possible to delete them.
From the currencies table, click the ‘Delete’ button to the right of the currency.
Warning
Currencies that have been used at least once in the acquisitions module cannot be deleted.
Budgets are used for tracking accounting values related to acquisitions. For example you could create a budget for the current year (ex. 2015) and then break that into funds for different areas of the library (ex. Books, Audio, etc).
Get there: More > Administration > Acquisitions > Budgets
Note
Staff members must have the period_manage permission (or the superlibrarian permission) in order to access the budgets administration page.
It is recommended to minimally give the following permissions to staff members who need to manage budgets, since these are interdependent:
When visiting the main budget administration you will see two tabs, one for active and one for inactive budgets.
Budgets can either be created from scratch or by duplicating the previous year’s budget.
Note
Staff members must have the period_manage permission (or the superlibrarian permission) in order to create new budgets or duplicate existing budgets.
If you haven’t used Koha before for acquisitions, you’ll need to start fresh with a new budget.
To add a new budget,
Click the ‘New budget’ button.
Fill out the form:
Start date (mandatory): choose the starting date for the time period this budget is for. This can be the start of the calendar year, fiscal year, academic year, quarter, etc.
End date (mandatory): choose the ending date for the time period this budget is for.
Description (mandatory): enter a description for this budget. The description should be something that will help you identify the budget when ordering.
Total amount: enter the amount for the budget. Do not use any symbols, simply enter the amount of the budget with numbers and decimals.
Make budget active: marking a budget as active makes it usable when placing orders in the acquisitions module, even if the order is placed after the budget end date. This will allow you to record orders that were placed in a previous budget period.
Lock budget: locking a budget means that you will not be able to add funds or add sub funds to this budget, and you will not be able to plan spending. Lock the budget once it is set as you wish.
Click ‘Save’.
You will be brought back to the list of existing budgets.
Proceed to add funds to the budget.
Duplicating a budgetAt the end of the year, or the end of your budget period, you can duplicate the current budget. This will also duplicate all funds, so you don’t have to start from scratch each year or period.
To duplicate a budget,
From the list of budgets, click the ‘Actions’ button on the right.
Choose ‘Duplicate’.
Alternatively,
From the list of budgets, click on the budget name.
On the screen listing the budget breakdown, click the ‘Edit’ button at the top and choose to ‘Duplicate budget’.
In both cases, you will be presented with a form to duplicate the budget.
Start date (mandatory): choose the starting date for the time period this new budget is for.
End date (mandatory): choose the ending date for the time period this budget is for.
Description (mandatory): enter a description for this new budget.
Change amounts by: by default, the total amount from the duplicated budget and the original amounts for each fund will be used. However, if needed, you can indicate to change the amounts by a percentage, that can be positive or negative. For example, if your new budget was increased by 2%, enter 2. Inversely, if your new budget was decreased by 2%, enter -2.
If amounts changed, round to a multiple of: if you entered a value in ‘Change amounts by’, Koha will calculate the amounts automatically. You can force it to round down the amounts. For example, entering ‘100’, will round down the amounts to the hundreds (5542 will become 5500).
Mark the original budget as inactive: check this box if the original budget should no longer be used, effective immediately. You can always edit the budget later to make it inactive.
Set all funds to zero: check this box if you wish the new budget to contain all the same fund structures as the previous budget but no allocations until you manually enter an amount in the fund.
This will not only duplicate the budget, but all of the funds associated with that budget so that you can reuse budgets and funds from year to year.
When the time comes, you can close the previous budget to move unreceived orders, and, if desired, unspent funds to the new budget.
Editing a budgetNote
Staff members must have the period_manage permission (or the superlibrarian permission) in order to edit existing budgets.
You can edit existing budgets to make them inactive or lock them to prevent fund changes, for example.
To edit a budget,
From the list of budgets, click the ‘Actions’ button on the right.
Choose ‘Edit’.
Alternatively,
From the list of budgets, click on the budget name.
On the screen listing the budget breakdown, click the ‘Edit’ button at the top and choose to ‘Edit budget’
In both cases, you will be presented with a form to duplicate the budget.
Make your changes (see the field descriptions above).
Click ‘Save’.
Closing a budgetClose a budget to move or roll over unreceived orders and if desired unspent funds from a previous budget to a new budget. Before closing your budget you might want to duplicate the previous year’s budget so that you have somewhere for the unreceived orders to roll to.
Note
Staff members must have the period_manage permission (or the superlibrarian permission) in order to close existing budgets.
To close a budget,
From the list of budgets, click the ‘Actions’ button on the right.
Choose ‘Close’
Note
Budgets without unreceived orders cannot be closed.
Fill out the form.
Select a budget: choose the new budget for the unreceived orders from the dropdown.
Note
In order for the unreceived orders to be automatically moved to the new budget, the fund structures in the previous budget must exist in the new budget.
Move remaining unspent funds: check this box to move the unspent amounts from the funds of the budget being closed to the selected budget.
Click the ‘Move unreceived orders’ button.
You will be presented with a dialog box that says ‘You have chosen to move all unreceived orders from ‘Budget X’ to ‘Budget Y’. This action cannot be reversed. Do you wish to continue?’ Budget X is the budget to be closed and Budget Y is the selected budget.
If everything seems correct click ‘OK’ and the unreceived orders and, if selected, unspent funds will be moved.
Wait until the ‘Report after moving unreceived orders from budget X to Y’ displays. This will list the order numbers which have been impacted (grouped by fund) and detail if the unreceived order was moved or if there was a problem. For example, if the new budget does not contain a fund with the same name as the previous budget, the order will not be moved.
In order to delete a budget, it must not have funds. Start by deleting the funds.
Warning
This cannot be undone. Make sure you are certain this budget needs to be deleted. You can make it inactive or close it, instead.
To delete a budget,
From the list of budgets, click the ‘Actions’ button on the right.
Choose ‘Delete’.
Click ‘Yes, delete’.
Funds are divisions of a budget. For example you could have a budget for the current year (ex. 2015) and then break that into funds for different areas of the library (ex. Books, Audio, etc).
Get there: More > Administration > Acquisitions > Funds
Adding a fund to a budgetA fund is added to a budget. Make sure to add a budget before adding funds.
Note
If a budget is locked, it will not be possible to add funds.
To add a new fund,
From the list of budgets, click the ‘Actions’ button on the right.
Choose ‘Add fund’.
Alternatively,
From the list of budgets, click on the budget name.
On the screen listing the budget breakdown, click the ‘New’ button at the top and choose the ‘New fund for…’ option.
In both cases, you will be presented with a form to create the new fund.
Fund code (mandatory): enter a unique identifier for your fund.
Fund name (mandatory): enter a name for the fund. This should be something that staff will understand, as this is what will be displayed when ordering.
Amount (mandatory): enter the amount with only numbers and decimals, no other characters.
Warning at (%): enter a percentage value to have Koha warn you when you have spent this percentage of the fund, to prevent overspending. For example, if you enter 90%, Koha will warn you for each order after 90% of the fund is spent.
Warning at (amount): same as above but for a specific amount of money spent. For example, if you enter 5000, Koha will warn you for each order after 5000 is spent in the fund.
Owner: you can choose to assign this fund to a staff member.
Click ‘Select owner’.
Search for the staff member in the patron search form.
Note
Only staff with the budget_modify permission (or the superlibrarian permission) are returned in the search results.
Click ‘Select’ to the right of the staff member’s result.
Note
A fund can only have one owner.
Note
In order to limit the use of this fund to the owner, you must choose either ‘Owner’, ‘Owner and users’ or ‘Owner, users and library’ in the ‘Restrict access to’ field below. Otherwise, adding users will not have any restricting effect.
Note
Staff members with the order_manage_all permission (or the superlibrarian permission) will be able to use funds regardless of restrictions.
Make sure your staff doesn’t have that permission if you want to restrict access to funds.
Users: you can also add users who will be able to spend in that fund.
Note
In order to limit the use of this fund to the users, you must choose either ‘Owner and users’ or ‘Owner, users and library’ in the ‘Restrict access to’ field below. Otherwise, adding users will not have any restricting effect.
Note
Staff members with the order_manage_all permission (or the superlibrarian permission) will be able to use funds regardless of restrictions.
Make sure your staff doesn’t have that permission if you want to restrict access to funds.
Click ‘Add users’
Search for the staff member in the patron search form.
Note
Only staff with the budget_modify permission (or the superlibrarian permission) are returned in the search results.
Click ‘Add’ to the right of the staff member’s result.
Note
You can add as many users as you need.
Click ‘Close’ once all the users have been added.
Library: If this fund is for a specific library, choose it here.
Note
In order to limit the use of this fund to the library, you must choose ‘Owner, users and library’ in the ‘Restrict access to’ field below. Otherwise, choosing a library will not have any restricting effect.
Note
Staff members with the order_manage_all permission (or the superlibrarian permission) will be able to use funds regardless of restrictions.
Make sure your staff doesn’t have that permission if you want to restrict access to funds.
Restrict access to: you can restrict who can order from this fund by choosing either the ‘owner’, ‘owner and users’ or ‘owner, users and library’.
Warning
Without an owner, the access restriction will be ignored, be sure to enter an owner as well as choose a restriction.
Note
Staff members with the order_manage_all permission (or the superlibrarian permission) will be able to use funds regardless of restrictions.
Make sure your staff doesn’t have that permission if you want to restrict access to funds.
Notes: any descriptive notes about this fund.
Note
Notes will only appear on this screen (when editing the fund).
Statistic 1 done on: this is used for statistical purposes. Choose an authorized value category from which to choose values when placing orders using this fund. You will then be able to plan spending and report on spending according to those categories. The default authorized value category Asort1 is created specifically for this purpose, but you can use any authorized value category in this field (CCODE for example to plan spending according to collections).
Statistic 2 done on: same as above, for a second statistical category. The default authorized value category Asort2 is created specifically for this purpose, but you can use any authorized value category.
Note
To learn more about planning categories, check out the Planning category FAQ.
Click ‘Submit’.
You will be brought to a list of all of the funds for the budget.
The monetary columns in the fund table break down as follows:
Base-level allocated is the ‘Amount’ value you defined when creating the fund
Base-level ordered is the ordered amount for this fund (without child funds)
Total ordered is the base-level ordered for this fund and all its child funds
Base-level spent is the spent amount for this fund (without child funds)
Total spent is the base-level spent for this fund and all its child funds
Base-level available is 1 - 2
Total available is 1 - 3
To the right of each fund you will find the ‘Actions’ button under which you will find the ‘Edit,’ ‘Delete,’ and ‘Add sub fund’ options.
A sub fund is a more granular division of the fund. An example would be to have a fund for ‘Fiction’ and under that have a fund for ‘New releases’ and a fund for ‘Science Fiction.’ It is an optional way to further organize your finances.
Note
If a budget is locked, it will not be possible to add sub funds.
To add a sub fund to a fund,
From the list of all funds, or from the list of funds of a specific budget, click the ‘Actions’ button on the right.
Choose ‘Add sub fund’.
Fill out the new sub fund form. Fields are the same as for adding a new fund. The only difference is that the form will state the ‘parent’ fund.
Click ‘Submit’.
Funds with sub funds will show with a small arrow to the left. Clicking that will show you the sub funds.
It is possible to delete funds, if necessary.
Warning
Deleting a fund in which there are orders will delete those orders. Only delete funds if you are certain it needs to be deleted. It is not possible to undo this.
To delete a fund,
From the list of all funds, or from the list of funds of a specific budget, click the ‘Actions’ button on the right.
Choose ‘Delete’.
Click ‘Yes, delete this fund’ in the warning message.
Note
Staff members must have the planning_manage permission, the budget_manage permission, and the period_manage permission (or the superlibrarian permission) in order to access budget planning.
When viewing the list of funds click the ‘Planning’ button and choose how you would like to plan to spend your budget.
If you choose ‘Plan by months’ you will see the budgeted amount broken down by months.
On the left are filters that can be used to limit what is shown in the table.
Select planning type: choose to plan by months, libraries, itemtypes, or any authorized value category used as statistic 1 or 2 in the funds.
Show my funds only: this will filter out funds of which you are not the owner.
Show active funds only: this will filter out funds that have not been used (no ordered amount).
Show actual/estimated values: this will alter the table to show the ordered amounts as well.
To hide some of the columns, uncheck the boxes at the top of the table.
From here, you can plan your budget spending by manually entering values or by clicking the ‘Auto-fill row’ button. If you choose to auto-fill the form the system will try to divide the amount accordingly, you may have to make some edits to split things more accurately.
Once your changes are made, click the ‘Save’ button.
Note
If a budget is locked, it will not be possible to edit the values.
To export your data as a CSV file, enter a file name in the ‘Output to a file named’ field, in the ‘Export’ section on the left, and click the ‘Submit’ button.
From here you can set up the information needed to connect to your acquisitions vendors.
Note
This section will only appear if the EDIFACT system preference is enabled.
Note
Only staff with the edi_manage permission (or the superlibrarian permission) will have access to this section.
Note
Before you begin you will need at least one vendor set up in acquisitions.
To add account information click the ‘New account’ button.
Enter your vendor’s information in the form.
See the EDI questions for vendors section of the acquisitions module chapter for a description of each field.
Each vendor will have one account.
Library EANsA library EAN is the identifier the vendor gives the library to send back to them so they know which account to use when billing. One EDI account can have multiple EANs.
Note
This section will only appear if the EDIFACT system preference is enabled.
Note
Only staff with the edi_manage permission (or the superlibrarian permission) will have access to this section.
To add an EAN click the ‘New EAN’ button.
In the form that appears enter the information provided by your vendor.
See the EDI questions for vendors section of the acquisitions module chapter for a description of each field.