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Receiving purchase orders

In Retail POS, you can receive full or partial purchase orders and track outstanding portions of partially received stock orders, ensuring accurate inventory levels and simplifying order creation and management. If you receive stock at a central location and then transfer it to your retail stores, you can send purchase orders for multiple locations, receive full or partial orders at your central location, and transfer products to stores.

If you want to print barcode labels for a received order, the number of labels will be determined by the received amount. If the received amount is 0, the ordered amount will be used.

Receiving purchase orders manually

To receive a purchase order in Retail POS:

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Stock control > Orders.
  2. Locate the stock order you want to receive, using filters if needed.
  3. Click the box (Receive order) icon on the right of the purchase order row.

    Stock control page with receive order icon highlighted.

  4. If prompted, click Continue without document.
  5. (Optional) In the Delivery details section, you can select a delivery date or add a supplier invoice date, supplier invoice number, and delivery note.

    The receive and distribute delivery page.

  6. In the Product table, under the Received quantity title, click Receive all ordered products to receive a full order. For partial orders, enter the quantity in the Received quantity fields for each product and follow the steps in the Managing partially received orders section below.

    The receive all ordered products link highlighted.

  7. If the purchase order contains products that have packaging relationships, click Break it down here on the banner to divide while receiving the order.

    Packaging relationships banner showing break it down here.

  8. (Optional) Update the Supplier price per unit field if the cost price has changed. Otherwise, this field will automatically populate with the product's supply price.

    Landed cost per unit is a reporting value calculated based on all costs entered when receiving a purchase order.

  9. Click Save to save the details you entered without completing the process. To reopen the purchase order and continue receiving later, navigate to Inventory > Stock control > Orders and locate the order.

    Save button highlighted on the Receive and distribute delivery page.

  10. (Optional) Next to Discount, click % (Percent) or $ (Currency) and enter a discount amount for your purchase order.

    Product subtotal, Discount, Total shipping, Total import duty, and Order total fields.

  11. Enter Total shipping and/or Total import duty values. If applicable, use the dropdown to choose Don't apply to items, Distribute based on cost, or Custom distribution. If you select Custom distribution, enter the custom amount in the Shipping field of the product row.

    Discount, shipping, and import duty fields with options for distribution.

    Distributing landed costs is available on Core and Plus plans.

  12. At the top of the page, click Receive.
  13. Click Receive delivery. This action can't be undone.

    Pop-up confirming receipt of delivery, which can't be undone.

  14. (Optional) If you've ordered stock to fulfill customer orders, a pop-up will appear prompting you to set those items aside. Once you have done this, click OK, thanks. You can later navigate to Inventory > Fulfillments to complete the unfulfilled sale.

    Pop-up noting to put items aside for unfulfilled sales and services.

A success banner will display confirming you received the delivery. The order will be closed, and your inventory will be updated. No changes can be made once this is complete.

Correcting a received purchase order

Once a purchase order has been fully received, it can no longer be deleted or canceled. To correct an error:

  1. Create and process a stock return for the received items.
  2. Create and process a new purchase order with the correct details.

Generating a received purchase order from a supplier document

  • Available on Plus, or as an add-on for Basic and Core plans
  • Available in Retail POS on a web browser

You can upload a supplier invoice or packing slip and the AI-powered document import tool will generate a draft purchase order you can receive, matching line items to products in your local catalog. If a match isn’t found, you’ll have the option to create a new product directly from the PO. You can review matches, remap columns, and modify details on the draft received purchase order page before finalizing.

To automatically generate a draft received purchase order from a supplier document:

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Stock control > Orders.
  2. Click Receive stock.

    Stock control page with Order stock button.

  3. Drag and drop your JPG, PNG, or PDF file or click to upload to locate the file on your computer.

    Receive stock with a document pop-up.

  4. Click Use document. The upload process may take a few moments, depending on the size of the file.
  5. On the Receive stock page, review and adjust the Delivery details fields as needed.

    Receive stock page with imported product rows.

  6. Review the product table with the list of products in the document, the associated products in your catalog (if found), and the status of the match:

    • Match: An existing product match was found in your catalog.
    • Existing variant product: An existing parent product match and variant match was found.
    • New: No existing product match was found in your catalog and a new product will be added.
    • New variant product: An existing parent product match was found, but not a variant match.

    If you need to correct product matches or remap the columns, follow the instructions in Creating a purchase order.

  7. At the top of the page, click Receive, or Save to save as a draft.

Managing partially received orders

The partially received orders workflow rollout is in progress and may not be available on all accounts.

If you haven't received all items in an order, you can mark the order as partially received. When you mark an order as partially received, a partial delivery will be linked under the existing order. This can be accessed on the Stock control page under the purchase order by clicking to expand the row.

To mark an order as partially received:

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Stock control > Orders.
  2. Locate the stock order you want to receive, using filters if needed.
  3. Click the box (Receive order) icon on the right of the purchase order row.

    Stock control page with receive order icon highlighted.

  4. On the Receive delivery page, enter the quantity of items received in the Received quantity field.

    Product with Received quantity field and Receive all ordered products option highlighted.

  5. (Optional) Update the Supplier price per unit, Discount, Total shipping, and Total import duty fields as needed.
  6. At the top of the page, click Receive.
  7. Click Receive delivery. This can't be undone.

    Pop-up confirming receipt of delivery, which can't be undone.

  8. Click Mark as partially received.

    Pop-up confirming that order will be partially received.

  9. (Optional) If you've ordered stock to fulfill customer orders, a pop-up will appear prompting you to set those items aside. Once you have done this, click OK, thanks. You can later navigate to Inventory > Fulfillments to complete the unfulfilled sale.

    Pop-up to put aside products for unfulfilled sales and services.

  10. When the remaining stock arrives, repeat these steps to receive the rest of the order.

The order and deliveries can be accessed on the Orders page by locating the order and clicking the row to expand for more information.

Order page with expanded row showing delivery details.

To access the Received pop-up, click the order row > click the date > click the Delivery list and Delivery details tabs for more information. You can also Print delivery, Email delivery, or Print labels.

View order page with Delivery list and Delivery details tabs highlighted.

The received date on the purchase order will be generated once all of the products in the order and deliveries have been received or canceled.

Printing labels for received orders

Once you've received an order, you can print labels for the items received.

Printing labels for fully received orders

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Stock control > Orders.
  2. Click the order number.
  3. Click Actions and select Print labels from the dropdown.

    Dispatched order page with Actions dropdown highlighted, showing Print order option.

  4. Configure the labels using the information checkboxes, then click Print to open the print preview window.

    A print preview displaying item barcodes.

  5. Ensure that your label printer has been selected and that the formatting is correct. Then, click Print.

    The print preview window with a label printer selected.

Printing labels for partially received orders

If you've partially received an order, you can print only the labels for the items received.

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Stock control > Orders.
  2. Click the order row to expand > click the date for the received order.
  3. Click Print labels.

    Received order page with Actions dropdown showing Print labels option.

  4. Configure the labels using the information checkboxes, then click Print to open the print preview window.

    A print preview displaying item barcodes.

  5. Ensure that your label printer has been selected and that the formatting is correct. Then, click Print.

    The print preview window with a label printer selected.

Emailing suppliers about outstanding deliveries

To streamline communication with suppliers, you can email your vendors and follow up about outstanding or partially received items from the Stock control > Orders page.

To send an email to the supplier:

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Stock control > Orders.
  2. Click the order row to expand.
  3. In the Order breakdown tab, click the date on the outstanding delivery.

    The Order breakdown tab, highlighting the date beside the Dispatched order status.

  4. Click Email delivery.

    Pop-up of order breakdown with option to Email delivery.

  5. Enter the contact details and message (optional).

    Email delivery pop-up with Recipient name, Email, Cc, Bcc, Subject, and Note fields.

  6. Click Email delivery.

Editing partially-received purchase orders

You can edit purchase orders even if they’ve been partially received. This can be useful to correct errors, manage product substitutions, and add products to an existing purchase order.

To edit a partially-received purchase order:

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Stock control > Orders.
  2. Click the order row to expand.
  3. Click Edit order.

    Expanded order showing Edit order button.

    Any updates to a purchase order will be automatically synced to your draft order or dispatched delivery records.

  4. To add products to a partially-received purchase order, at the bottom of the purchase order, search for the product using the Search or scan to add a product field and select the product from the results list.

    The Search or scan to add a product field.

  5. To edit the total amount of a product in an order, update the Total quantity or location quantity (if ordered for multiple locations) to edit product quantities. A product's Total quantity must match the total for all locations. Item quantities can’t be decreased below the quantity of items already received.

    To remove a product from an order, set its quantity to zero. The line item will still appear in the purchase order.

Canceling an order

If any outstanding products are no longer available or you’ve decided the products are not needed, you can cancel outstanding deliveries.

If a product is available from another supplier, you can edit the Supplier and Outlet fields on Open or Sent purchase orders.

Canceling an unreceived order

Canceling an order can't be undone.

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Stock control > Orders.
  2. Click the pencil icon (Edit) next to the open order.
  3. Click Cancel purchase order.

    Purchase order page with Cancel purchase order highlighted.

  4. Review the warning message, then click Cancel purchase order. This can't be undone.

Canceling a partially received order

Canceling an order can't be undone. If some of the products have already been received, they will maintain their Received status. Products that haven't been received will be canceled.

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Stock control > Orders.
  2. Click the order row to expand.
  3. Click Cancel delivery next to the outstanding delivery.

    Stock control page with expanded order row and Cancel button highlighted.

  4. A pop-up will appear confirming that future deliveries won't be able to be received against this order. The overall order status will be marked as Received. This can't be undone. Click Cancel delivery.

    Pop-up confirming that the remainder of the delivery will be cancelled, and this action can't be undone.

The status of the portion of the delivery that was canceled will now display as Cancelled in the Order breakdown tab so you can review what inventory had been ordered and received and what was outstanding at the time of cancellation.

Stock control page with expanded order row and Canceled row highlighted.

You can also cancel an order by clicking the delivery date to open the View order page and clicking the Cancel order button.

Managing distribution transfers

After receiving a delivery for multiple locations, transfers will be automatically sent for distribution. You can view transfer references and receive transfers from the Orders page.

To view transfer references and receive transfers:

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Stock control > Orders.
  2. Click the order row to expand.
  3. Click the Distribution tab.

    Expanded order row with Distribution tab.

  4. Click the transfer reference to view more details, or click Receive transfer to receive the transfer.

For more information on stock transfers, refer to Transferring stock in Retail POS (X-Series).

Managing purchase orders with accounting integrations

For merchants integrated with Xero or QuickBooks, the option to send the order to your accounting software is available on the Orders page, allowing you to send orders and access already sent orders.

To send a purchase order to Xero or QuickBooks:

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Stock control > Orders.
  2. Click the order row to expand.
  3. Click Send to QuickBooks Online / Xero.

    Expanded order row showing Send to QuickBooks Online option.

You can also send an order to Xero or QuickBooks by clicking the delivery date > Send to QuickBooks Online / Xero.

View order page with Send to Xero / Quickbooks button.

Learn more in Stock management with the Xero integration or Stock management with the QuickBooks Online integration.

What's next?

Transferring stock in Retail POS

Learn how to move inventory between outlets.

Learn more

Stock returns

Create a return for damaged, faulty, or overstocked items.

Learn more

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