Notification for Purchases

karenn

is it possible to add a reminder notification for a purchase payment date
(note the purchase is in the contract)

jeremymayfield

Yes, SolarWinds Service Desk (SWSD) supports reminders for contracts, including renewal/expiration notifications, but not natively for a specific "purchase payment date" tied to a contract's payment terms.

From the official documentation and community discussions:

• Contracts module (under ITAM) allows you to set renewal reminders when creating or editing a contract.
  • You can configure a reminder option (e.g., X days before expiration/renewal date).
  • Service Desk sends an email reminder to the user who requested/owns the contract (or specified recipients).
  • Reminders are tracked in email logs.
  • This is primarily for expiration/renewal dates, not arbitrary payment due dates within the contract.
  • Navigation: Contracts section → Create/Edit contract → Look for reminder settings (often tied to end date or renewal date).
• There is no built-in field or trigger specifically for "purchase payment date" or recurring payment due dates in contracts/purchases.
  • Purchase orders (POs) track payment terms, but don't auto-generate payment reminders.
  • Notifications focus on incidents, changes, approvals, tasks, and contract renewals/expirations — not payment schedules.

Workarounds to Achieve Payment Reminders

1. Use Contract Renewal Reminders as a Proxy
   • If the payment date aligns with renewal (e.g., annual payment on renewal), set the reminder accordingly.
   • Limitation: Not flexible for mid-term payments (e.g., quarterly installments).
2. Create a Custom Task or Ad-Hoc Task Linked to the Contract
   • In the contract record, create an Ad-Hoc Task with a due date matching the payment date.
   • Enable task reminders (global or per-notification).
   • Service Desk can send reminders for tasks (e.g., assignee gets email on due date or intervals).
   • This is the closest native option for a one-off or recurring payment reminder.
3. Custom Notification or Workflow (Limited)
   • Go to Setup > Service Desk > Notifications to customize email templates and triggers.
   • Triggers are mostly for incidents/changes/tasks/approvals — no direct "contract payment due" event.
   • You can set up general approval reminders or task reminders, but not contract-specific payment ones without custom fields.
4. Custom Fields + Manual/External Reminder
   • Add a custom field to contracts (e.g., "Next Payment Due Date").
   • Use reports or export to track dates manually.
   • For automation: Integrate with external tools (e.g., Power Automate, Zapier) via SWSD APIs/webhooks to trigger emails on date-based conditions (not native).
5. Feature Request / Community Feedback
   • This exact question was asked on THWACK (Nov 2025 thread: "Notification for Purchases") with no built-in solution confirmed.
   • Similar requests exist for more granular contract reminders (e.g., customizable reminder dates beyond expiration).
   • Post/vote on THWACK or contact SolarWinds support to request enhancement (e.g., payment date field + reminder trigger in contracts/POs).

• Native support: Yes, for contract renewal/expiration reminders; no direct support for purchase payment due date reminders.
• Best native workaround: Use Ad-Hoc Tasks on the contract with task reminders enabled.
• For full automation: Consider custom integrations or upgrading to a dedicated procurement/ contract management tool if this is critical.

If your payments are tied to renewals or you can repurpose tasks, SWSD handles it reasonably well.