You cannot cancel a purchase order whose status is Ordering.

If necessary, purchasing agents or other authorized users can use the Force Cancel command to intervene when there are problems canceling a direct order.

When you place an order, the order process typically involves these events:

Ordering > Ordered > Confirming > Confirmed > Shipping >
Shipped > Receiving > Received > Invoicing > Invoiced

When you need to cancel an order, you must first determine where in this process the order is currently located, and then reverse each event that has already occurred, including those within and outside of Ariba Buyer. To help you do so, consider these points when canceling an order:

Is the order fully ordered? If the status of the order is Ordered (fully ordered) or, if you are using Ariba Supplier Network (Ariba SN), Confirming, Confirmed, or Shipping, you can cancel the order in Ariba Buyer.

Is the order fully or partially received? If the status is Receiving (partially received) or Received (fully received), you can no longer cancel the order in Ariba Buyer. However, you or a purchasing agent or a user responsible for purchasing or receiving could:

• Add a note explaining why the order needs to be canceled
• Call the supplier and cancel the order verbally
• Write Cancel on a hardcopy of the order and fax it to the supplier
• Instruct Receiving to return the goods to the supplier
• Add a note when receiving items in Ariba Buyer, or add notes on hardcopy documents when receiving items, to explain who canceled the order, when, and why.

Has the order been invoiced or paid? If yes, the Purchasing or Accounts Payable (A/P) departments could:

• Cancel or credit the invoice manually
• Arrange a refund
• Add a note to the order to stop further receipts and payments

Has a charge been assigned to the order? If yes, a Purchasing Card Reconciliation document (PCR) is generated in Ariba Buyer. The PCR will need to be balanced by reconciling the discrepancy.