---
title: "External resources in projects"
slug: "bc-external-resources-in-projects"
description: "Learn how to manage external resources in project planning, create purchase orders, and handle invoices efficiently with vendor integration."
updated: 2026-06-25T09:59:10Z
published: 2026-06-25T09:59:10Z
canonical: "docs.staedean.com/bc-external-resources-in-projects"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.staedean.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# External resources in projects

Companies can subcontract work on a project to an external resource. To mark a resource as external, select a **Vendor** number on the **Resource card**.

When working with resource planning lines, you can create purchase orders from the ProjectResource Planning line. These can later be matched with the purchase invoice.

When posting a ProjectPlanning line of the type Resource, and a vendor is selected on the **Resource card**, a resource ledger entry of the type Usage is created that includes the vendor number. The vendor number is copied to the resource ledger entries.

Purchase invoice lines have a **Get External Resource Lines** function. This function retrieves all resource ledger entries of the type Usage for that vendor that have not been invoiced yet. These resource lines are inserted as purchase invoice lines. When the purchase invoice is posted, resource ledger entries of the type Purchase are created.

If the purchase invoice needs to be reversed through a credit memo, and the application is correctly specified using the **Copy Document** function, the purchase entries are reversed to allow re-invoicing.

## Steps - Retrieve purchase ledger entries

To retrieve resource ledger entries in a purchase invoice:

1. Choose the ![Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature](https://cdn.document360.io/da662430-6a41-47b1-8c7e-7e4ac37a9756/Images/Documentation/search_small(3).png) icon (Alt+Q), enter **Purchase Invoice**, and click the relevant link.
2. Click **New** to create a new purchase invoice for the vendor number of the subcontracted resource. Complete the header.
3. In the **Lines** menu, click **Functions** and select **Get External Resources Lines**.
4. From the resource ledger entries list, select the entries to insert (hold down the Ctrl key) in the purchase invoice. Click **OK** to complete.
5. Post the purchase invoice to create resource ledger entries of the type **Purchase** to offset the usage entries.

## Related

- [Resource planning for projects](/bc-resource-planning-for-projects.md)
- [Overview - Resource Management](/bc-overview-resource-management.md)