# Close a Purchasing site with a recorded handover

Stop new work, account for commitments and uncertain communications, then retain a current complete export.

Source: https://help.smartfact.ai/manuals/purchasing/closing-site

Review edition: 25 October 2026

Roles: owner, supervisor

Use **Closure & complete export** when this site is stopping use of Purchasing. The owner starts and completes closure; a supervisor records the remaining order and communication handovers. These closure decisions require recent Accounts verification. Closing the site does not itself cancel supplier orders.

## Stop new work

As owner, open **Closure & complete export** and read **Retained records** and the current state. Enter **Reason**, then choose **Start closure and stop new work**. It switches connected-product acceptance off and stops new requests, approvals and supplier dispatch. Existing uncertain sends still need explicit investigation and handover.

Check that the site is closing before proceeding. If the answer is unconfirmed, use [uncertain results](/manuals/purchasing/uncertain-results) for the original closure request. Do not issue another start merely because the confirmation was lost.

## Account for every unfinished order

As supervisor, read **Remaining work** and work through every page of **Orders to account for**. Check each order's current revision and real outstanding obligation. For an unfinished order being managed elsewhere, choose **Disposition: Handed over**, enter **Reason and hand-over arrangements** and choose **Record order disposition**. Say who now owns the obligation and where its receipts and supplier communication will be followed.

A disposition records the handover; it does not settle or cancel the commitment. If actual cancellation is required, use the offered **Cancel order** with its **Cancellation reason**, or follow [amendment and cancellation](/manuals/purchasing/amend-and-cancel). Communicate the cancellation to the supplier separately. **Cancellation already completed** records an existing cancellation and is refused if the order is not actually cancelled.

The final check uses current revisions. If an order changes after its handover was recorded, review the new facts and record the required current disposition. Do not treat an earlier revision's note as blanket authority for later work.

## Hand over uncertain communications

In **Communications to hand over**, inspect the recipient, requested time, state and linked order. Queued, preparing, attempting and unknown communications need accounting. An unknown result is not evidence that the supplier received nothing.

Enter **Who will investigate and what they will do**, then choose **Record communication hand-over**. Name the investigation owner, actual evidence to check and how duplicate sending will be avoided. This preserves a handover for the displayed communication state. A later state change can require review again.

For example, an order is handed to the replacement purchasing system, but its earlier email is unknown. Keep the order handover and mail investigation as separate records. Neither completing the order handover nor starting closure proves that a second email is safe.

## Export after the final disposition

When the current counts needing a disposition or handover are zero, the owner uses **Complete site export**. Prepare and download a complete export after the last disposition, and retain it securely. See [history and recovery](/manuals/purchasing/history-and-recovery) for archive scope and expiry.

Return to closure, select the current **Ready complete export**, enter **Closure note** and choose **Complete closure**. The export must be ready, unexpired, from the current recovery generation and no earlier than the last recorded closure decision. Its retained bytes are checked. A refusal for a missing or unsuitable export requires a new current export, not an older archive chosen to bypass the check.

Check the displayed closed state and retain the final export reference, cut-off, closure reasons and handover owners. Physical receipts and confirmations can still be reconciled with the records retained here under their own authority. The current retention notice says no deletion is scheduled; closure does not delete Accounts identities or another product's records.