Purchase Orders
This is where you create and manage purchase orders with your suppliers — from the first draft through internal approval to goods receipt and invoicing.
What can I do here?
- Read the overview metrics: drafts, pending approval, ordered, overdue, and total value
- View all purchase orders with status, priority, line items, and total value
- Filter by status, priority, date range, or search term
- Create a new purchase order: select a supplier, add products, set prices/quantities/discounts
- Add a line item to an existing draft purchase order: pick a product from the catalog, then set quantity, unit price (in cents), and tax rate
- Submit a purchase order for approval, approve it, or reject it
- Send an approved purchase order to the supplier or mark it as ordered
- Record the supplier's confirmation
- Record goods receipt per line item (partial receiving supported)
- Record and match a supplier invoice against the purchase order
- Cancel a purchase order (as long as it isn't already fully received or invoiced)
- View a purchase order's approval history
Step by step
- Create a purchase order: Click "New Purchase Order", select a supplier, add products with quantity, unit price, tax rate, and discount, and save as draft.
- Submit for approval: Submit the purchase order for approval — it moves to "Pending Approval". An authorized person approves or rejects it; on rejection it goes back to draft.
- Order and get confirmation: After approval, mark the purchase order as ordered or send it to the supplier; once the supplier confirms the order, record the confirmation.
- Add a line item later: While the purchase order is still a draft, you can add another line from the detail view via "Add line item". The product is picked from the catalog; without a selected product the button stays inactive. The unit price is entered in cents and is prefilled from the catalog price.
- Goods receipt and invoice: Once the goods arrive, record the received quantity per line item (partial receiving supported). After everything has been received, you can record the supplier invoice and match it against the purchase order - the order is then marked invoiced.
Fields explained
| Field | Meaning | Notes/Effect |
|---|---|---|
| PO No. | Automatically assigned purchase order number | Unique per order |
| Supplier | Supplier the order is placed with | Required |
| Priority | Urgency of the order (Low/Normal/High/Urgent) | For internal prioritization |
| Expected Delivery | Planned delivery date | For planning |
| Payment Terms | Payment terms in days | Usually inherited from the supplier |
| Line items (Product, SKU, Quantity, Unit Price, Tax, Discount) | The ordered items | At least one line item required |
| Subtotal / Tax / Shipping / Discount / Grand Total | Automatically calculated amounts | Derived from the line items |
| Qty Received | Quantity already booked in per line item | Recorded during goods receipt |
| Notes / Internal Notes | Free text for the supplier vs. internal-only | Optional |
| Approval History | Log of all submissions, approvals, and rejections | Shows who took which action and when |
Values & statuses
Status (purchase_order_status)
| Value | Meaning | What happens then |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Order is still being worked on | Can be edited or submitted for approval |
| Pending Approval | Order is waiting for sign-off | An authorized person can approve or reject it |
| Approved | Order has been signed off | Can be marked as ordered or sent to the supplier |
| Sent | Order has been transmitted to the supplier | Awaiting confirmation |
| Ordered | Order has been placed | Awaiting delivery |
| Confirmed | Supplier has confirmed the order | Awaiting goods receipt |
| Partially Received | Part of the ordered quantity has been booked in | Further receiving possible |
| Received | The entire order has been booked in | An invoice can be recorded |
| Invoiced | Supplier invoice has been recorded and matched | Order process complete |
| Cancelled | Order was aborted | No longer possible once already fully received or invoiced |
Priority (purchase_order_priority)
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Low | No particular urgency |
| Normal | Standard priority |
| High | Handle preferentially |
| Urgent | Requires immediate handling |
Frequently asked questions
Can I still cancel an order that has already been received?
No. Orders in "Received", "Invoiced", or already "Cancelled" status can no longer be cancelled.
What happens when an order is rejected?
It goes back to "Draft" status and can be edited and resubmitted for approval.
Can I receive an order across several partial deliveries?
Yes, you can record goods receipt per line item multiple times; the status automatically changes to "Partially Received" until everything has been booked in.
What do the metrics above the list mean?
They count this tenant's purchase orders: drafts, orders awaiting approval, orders that have been
placed, overdue deliveries (the expected delivery date has passed and the goods have not arrived),
and the total value of all orders that were not cancelled.
A metric card says "Stats unavailable" instead of a number. What does that mean?
The metrics could not be loaded just now. It explicitly does NOT mean that there are no purchase
orders. Reload the page; if the notice stays, contact your administrator. The list below still shows
your purchase orders.
Where can I see who approved or rejected an order?
In the order detail's approval history — it logs submission, approval, and rejection along with the person and any comment.