Purchase orders
A purchase order records what you ordered, from whom, at what price — before it arrives. It turns "I think we ordered more sugar" into something you can check.
Raising a PO
Create one against a supplier, then add lines. Each line is an item description or search product — pulling from your catalogue where it exists — with quantity and unit price.
You can create a supplier inline if they are new.
Receiving goods
An order sits as awaiting goods until delivery. When it arrives, confirm receipt:
- Stock is added to inventory
- The order is marked received
- The obligation can be matched to the supplier's bill
Check what arrived against what you ordered before confirming. This is the single most valuable minute in the whole process — short deliveries and price changes that nobody noticed are found here or never.
Partial deliveries can be received as they come, leaving the remainder outstanding.
Why bother
Prices get checked. A supplier who raised prices without telling you is obvious when the PO says one thing and the invoice says another.
Short deliveries get caught. Paying for twenty and receiving eighteen is common and almost never noticed without a document to compare against.
Stock arrives costed. Receiving through a PO means your inventory carries the price you actually paid, so margins stay real.
Two people can share the job. One orders, another receives, a third pays. No single person controls the whole chain — the basic control that prevents most purchasing fraud.
The three-way match
For anything substantial, check all three agree:
- The purchase order — what you agreed to buy
- The delivery — what physically arrived
- The bill — what you are being asked to pay
Where they disagree, resolve it before paying. Afterwards you are asking for a refund rather than declining a charge.