A purchase order (PO) is your record of what you've asked a supplier for: the items, how many, and what you expect to pay. It's how you know what's on its way, what arrived, what came damaged, and what's still owed to you.
Even a small shop benefits: when a delivery turns up short, the order shows exactly what's missing.
Before your first order
- Your supplier: add them in People, as an organization with Supplier ticked.
- Your items: each item can have a Usual supplier, so the reorder list knows who to order it from.
Make the order
- Open Purchase orders and choose New order.
- Choose the supplier, and when you expect it if you know.
- Under Add an item, find each product by name, SKU or barcode. Each result shows how many you have, in red when it's low, so you can see what's needed as you go.
- Enter the quantity and the cost each, and tick the taxes you'll pay.
- Choose Save draft.
Faster still: the Reorder report lists what's low by supplier and Start an order fills it in for you, or choose Add to order on a low item's page.
Send it
Send the order to your supplier, by email for example, then choose Mark as ordered. It's now waiting in Receiving.
Receive the delivery
When the boxes arrive, open Receiving and choose Receive beside the order. For each line, enter how many came in good shape and how many came damaged, then choose Receive.
- What came in good shape goes into stock, and each item's cost becomes what you paid.
- Damaged items stay on the order with a damage claim, until the supplier credits you or sends replacements.
- Anything that didn't come stays still to come (back-ordered) until it arrives, or until you cancel it.
The full details are in Purchase orders and receiving.