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Creating and sending a purchase order

Purchase orders are used in Retail POS to order stock. By creating purchase orders, you can maintain a record of the products you've ordered so you can track orders across suppliers and ensure your inventory numbers stay accurate. 

Creating a purchase order

  1. To create a purchase order in Retail POS, navigate to Inventory > Stock control.
  2. Click Order stock.

    Stock control page with Order stock emphasized.

  3. Enter details for the following information:
    • Supplier: Choose the supplier for the order. This selection dictates which supplier code and cost price is used for products added to the order if there are multiple suppliers recorded.
    • Ordering for: Select the outlet or outlets where the stock will be delivered.
    • Deliver to: Choose the outlet where the order will be received.
    • Delivery date: (Optional)This is the expected order delivery date.
    • Order number: The order number is generated by Retail POS when you select the outlet. You can edit this number to help you identify your orders.
    • Supplier invoice number: (Optional) If you have a supplier invoice number, you can enter it for your supplier’s reference.
    • Note: (Optional) Add custom information to your orders, like personal reminders or approval notes.

      New purchase order page.

Adding products to a purchase order

There are four methods to add products to a purchase order. You can either add products one at a time using the search function, add recommended products for reorder, upload a CSV file containing multiple products, or add products from the catalog.

Adding products using Choose products

  1. To add products, type the product name into the search bar or scan the product barcode.

    New purchase order page showing Products and costs section with Choose products selected and search bar to add products.

  2. Enter the quantity of the product you would like to order for each location you are ordering for. If a product has variants, select the variants and quantity to order, and then click Add variants to order.

    List of variant products with option to Add variants to order.

  3. When you are finished adding products, click Save.

    New purchase order page with Save emphasized.

You can view current product inventory levels across all your outlets by clicking the product arrow to show the expanded product details, then selecting Inventory. This allows you to see at a glance how much of the product is in each location's inventory, the inbound inventory, and quantity of items sold in the last 30 days. 

Expanded product view with Inventory selected.

Adding products from recommendations

If you have set reorder points for products, you can add products from recommendations. This feature automatically suggests products that are at or below their set reorder point.

  1. Select Choose products.
  2. Click Add products from recommendations.

    Choose products option selected with add products from recommendations button highlighted.

  3. For multistore accounts, select your outlet and click Next.

    Pop-up to select outlet for the order.

  4. Click the checkboxes for all products you wish to add to the purchase order.
  5. Click Add products to order.

    Choose recommended products pop-up showing options to go Back or to Add products to order.

If a product is in another open or sent purchase order for the same outlet, it will not be added to the recommended reorder list. If there is a supplier attached to the purchase order, only products from that supplier will be recommended and added to the purchase order.

Adding products via CSV file

You can import products, including supply price and quantity, to a new or saved purchase order from a CSV file. This is helpful to create large stock orders from an existing data file created by a handheld inventory scanner.

  1. In spreadsheet software like Excel or Google Sheets, create your CSV file. You can download an example CSV template to get started.
  2. If you choose to create your own file, you will need the following column headers:
    • Handle (optional): the product handle (must match an existing product in Retail POS).
    • SKU (mandatory): the product SKU (must match an existing product in Retail POS).
    • Supply price (optional): the per-item supply price.
    • Quantity (mandatory): the quantity of each item ordered.

    If you selected a supplier when you created your purchase order, all the products imported via CSV must have the same supplier as the supplier selected.

  3. Edit your CSV file as needed and save it to your computer.
  4. Select Import via CSV.

    New purchase order page with Import via CSV option selected.

  5. Click Import CSV.
  6. Choose the file from your computer and click Open.
  7. Click Save.

Adding products from the catalog

You can import products into a purchase order directly from your Catalog.

  1. Navigate to Catalog > Products.
  2. Select the products you wish to order using the checkboxes.

    List of products with some selected.

  3. Once selected, click Choose an action.

    Choose an action drop-down menu with Add products to purchase order option highlighted.

  4. Select Add products to purchase order from the dropdown.
  5. Select whether you want to Add to an existing purchase order or Create a new purchase order.
    1. If adding to an existing order, select the order.

      Choose a purchase order pop-up with Add to an existing purchase order selected.

    2. If creating a new purchase order, choose a Supplier and Delivery recipient from the dropdowns. The order number will auto-populate.

      Choose a purchase order pop-up with Create a new purchase order selected.

  6. Click Next.
  7. Enter the quantity of the products that you would like to order.

    List of products and quantities, with options to go Back or Add products to order.

    If your cost price has changed from your product's default value, it is important to enter the new value here to correctly calculate your average cost and cost of goods sold figures.

  8. Once the quantity and cost price are entered, click Add products to order to finish creating the order. You can access this order by navigating to Inventory > Stock control.

Recording order-related costs and discounts

You can record costs or price fluctuations that you incur as part of sending and receiving purchase orders, such as discounts, freight charges, and duties. These amounts can be accounted for when you create a purchase order and updated if needed when receiving stock. They will not appear on the purchase order you send to your vendor, but will remain in your Retail POS records as part of the total cost. 

To record these costs and discounts:

  1. Add products to your purchase order using your preferred method.
  2. Use the Discount, Shipping, and/or Import duty fields to note these changes. The order total will update accordingly.

    Purchase order page showing Discount, Shipping, and Import duty sections.

  3. Click Save.

After the purchase order has been created and saved, it can still be edited until it is sent to the supplier.

Sending a purchase order to a supplier

To send an open purchase order to a supplier:

  1. Navigate to Inventory > Stock control.
  2. Click on the open order.
  3. Click Save and send.

    Edit purchase order page showing options to Cancel, Save and send, or Save.

  4. In the Send Order pop-up, enter your email, along with any message regarding your order.

    Send Order pop-up showing Recipient Name, Email, Cc, Subject, and Message, with options to Cancel or Send.

  5. Click Send.

Your order status (visible on the Stock control page) will now read Sent.

List of purchase orders showing Status of order as Sent.

Marking an order as Dispatched

Once your supplier confirms the order and ships it, you can mark the order as dispatched:

  1. Click on the order.
  2. Click Mark as Dispatched.

    Purchase order with Mark as Dispatched option emphasized.

  3. Choose if you know when the order will be delivered (I know when., and select the Delivery date) or if you do not know the delivery date (I don't know when.).

    Add delivery date pop-up with options of I know when. and I don't know when. for delivery date.

  4. Click Next.
  5. Click Change status to dispatched.

    Pop-up confirming change of status, with options to go Back or Change status to dispatched.

Your order status (visible on the Stock control page) will now read Dispatched. Once your purchase order is delivered, you can proceed to receive the order.

List of purchase orders showing Status of order as Dispatched.

What's next?

Receiving purchase orders

Receive products through a purchase order.

Learn more

Importing products in bulk

Use a spreadsheet to import many products at once.

Learn more

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