If you want to use the Expenses subtab on the PO, you have to do the latter. The first time you "receive" against a PO line on the Expense subtab, the system treats it as fully received, no matter if the amount matches or not.
You can use the Items subtab to do this, though it gets messy and I can't say that I'd necessarily recommend it though a lot of people do it.
Create a non-inv item with the expense account you want. When you put it on the PO, swap the rate and quantity figures. Meaning if you have 10k worth of expense you want on the PO, put 10k as the quantity and 1 as the rate. Then as you pay, "receive" the dollars you need against the quantity field.
It's ugly, there can be rounding problems, and it can be confusing reporting-wise, but it does work.
I'd probably stick with the 4 lines on the Expenses subtab...ha