Purchase order procurement workflow step by step

Purchase orders gathers purchases made to suppliers, product lines, expected deliveries, and receipt progress. The purchase order workflow progresses from preparation to facilities Shipped → Partially received → Received . An order that is incomplete, shipped, or partially received can also be canceled.

Receipt is an inventory entry. Only do it after the goods have physically arrived and the product and variant information on the lines has been verified.

What Purchase Orders Show

The columns in the Purchase Orders list are Purchase Number , Supplier , Status , Currency , Number of lines, Expected delivery , Creation date, and Total amount. The details page also shows the supplier reference, ERP reference, notes, and the ordered and received quantity for each line.

A purchase order line contains the product, any variant combination, supplier SKU, quantity, unit cost, and line note. The receipt is for this specific product and variant combination.

Purchase orders are a write operation in the ERP module. Without an active ERP order, you can see a preview, but the locked create, send, receive, and cancel operations do not write data.

Search and filter purchase orders

On the Purchase Orders page, you can search by purchase number, vendor, vendor reference, ERP reference, and line item information. Additionally, you can filter by vendor, workflow status, and expected delivery start and end dates.

Use date filters to track open shipments and status filters to find orders that have been shipped or partially received, for example. Open a row to check quantities and available actions; the buttons are determined by the current status of the purchase order.

1. Create a purchase order

New purchase order in the Purchase orders list opens the creation form.

1. Select Supplier . Only active suppliers are available for selection.
2. Check Currency and enter Expected Delivery if desired.
3. Add Supplier Reference , ERP Reference , and Notes if necessary.
4. Select Add row .
5. Select Product and possible variant.
6. Enter Quantity , Unit Cost , optional Supplier SKU , and a line note.
7. Add the other rows in the same way.

Each line must have a product, at least one item, and a valid unit cost. Please check the currency yourself after selecting a supplier; the initial value on the current form does not guarantee that the currency will follow the supplier you select later.

2. Save as incomplete or mark as sent

On the Purchase Orders page, there are two ways to create a new order:

• The first save option creates an editable, in-progress purchase order.
• Save and mark as sent creates an order directly in the Sent status.

Use the Incomplete mode if the lines, costs, vendor, or references have not yet been reviewed. This mode allows you to edit both the header information and the lines. Save as sent directly should only be used when the content sent to the vendor exactly matches the form.

3. Mark the pending order as shipped

The Mark as Shipped purchase order option is only available in preparation mode and requires confirmation. Changing the mode locks editing of the lines. Confirm the action only when the order delivered to the vendor matches the lines.

A sent and partially received order can still be updated with allowed header information, such as dates, references, and notes. A received or canceled order cannot be edited. The status change does not send an email to the supplier by itself; it records the status of the procurement workflow.

4. Receive the goods

Receive goods is available in Shipped and Partially Received states.

1. Open the purchase order and select Receive goods .
2. Compare the columns Ordered , Already Received , and Remaining .
3. For each received line , enter a Receive Now quantity. Leave the unreceived line as zero.
4. Add Receiving Notes if necessary.
5. Select Save Reception .

The save adds the quantity to the product and variant-specific inventory line, updates the product's total balance, writes the inventory history with reason purchase_received , and clears the product's catalog cache. The receipt does not update the product's cost price or activate the product.

5. Process partial delivery

Purchase orders use the Partially Received status if at least one line has a received quantity, but not all lines have been fully received. You can reopen the receipt later and post the remaining quantities.

When the total received quantity for all lines reaches the ordered quantity, the status automatically changes to Received . The Receive Now quantity is limited to the remaining quantity for the line, so overdelivery is not recorded through this action. You cannot record a blank, or zero, receipt for all lines.

6. Cancel the purchase order if necessary

The Cancel Order button on the Purchase Orders page is available in the Preparation mode, Shipped mode, and Partially Received mode, and requires confirmation. You cannot cancel an order that has been received or has already been canceled.

Canceling changes the status of the purchase order, but does not reverse the already posted receipt or reduce the previously added inventory balance. If the inventory posting for a partially received order is incorrect, correct the inventory with a separate managed inventory transaction and maintain traceability.

Create drafts of supplement proposals

Purchase orders can be prepared for selected products in the Replenishment Proposals view. The view shows products whose balance has reached the replenishment limit specified for the product, along with the current balance, proposed quantity, and preferred supplier information.

1. Review the product, quantity, supplier, and supplier price for the proposed lines.
2. Select the desired rows.
3. Select Create purchase drafts .
4. Open the resulting drafts, grouped by editor.
5. Check the currency, unit cost, lines, and vendor information before the submission stage.

A line without a usable vendor should not be generated by guessing the purchase order. Correct the product vendor link and primary vendor before creating the draft.

How purchase orders affect online shopping

Purchase orders are internal and are not visible to the customer. However, a stock entry at the reception can change the availability of the online store if the product is in use and the availability of the store is determined by the balance.

A balance increase above zero alone does not activate an unused product, because the receiving service does not change the product's usage status. If the store uses a separate availability status or other purchasability rule, check it separately. After receiving, verify the balance, variant-specific inventory, and customer-visible availability in the active e-commerce theme.

Good to know

The statuses in the Purchase Orders view determine what information can be changed and what inventory impacts have already occurred.

• Rows are only edited in preparation mode.
• Reception is only allowed in Sent or Partially Received status.
• The receipt increases the balance and writes the inventory history, but does not update the cost price or the product's usage status.
• Cancellation does not cancel previous appointments.
• The purchase order only uses the current vendor when created.
• Replenishment suggestions replaces the old name Reorder suggestions.
• Entries require an ERP module.