Create Purchase Orders

A purchase order (PO) is the document you send a vendor to ask them to make or supply goods. In OrderPilot, purchase orders are built from the quotes and orders you have already taken, so the exact product, options, and quantities your customer chose travel straight to the vendor. You can also raise a standalone PO to buy stock that no customer has ordered yet.

Every PO keeps a live link back to the order lines it covers. When the vendor's goods arrive and you receive them, OrderPilot moves the linked orders forward for you.

This article explains which orders can go on a purchase order, how to create POs in the PO Workbench, how to send them to your vendor, and how to manage them afterwards.

Note: Your shop can rename "Vendor" (for example, to "Supplier") under Vendor Label Terminology in “Settings” > “PO defaults”. Buttons and labels in the app follow that setting, so you may see your own word wherever this article says "vendor".

Before You Start

Consider the following questions before getting started:

Which order statuses can go on a purchase order?

An order or quote can be added to a PO only while its status has Eligible for Purchase Orders switched on. By default, that switch is on for Quote, Order, and Partially Sent to Vendor. Statuses such as Draft, Pending Review, and Changes Requested are not eligible, so orders waiting for review stay off the workbench.

To change which statuses are eligible, go to “Settings”, then select “Order status” in the Orders and quotes group and edit the status. See Create Order Statuses for details.

Does every line have a vendor?

Purchase orders are grouped by vendor. A line with no vendor, or with the vendor skipped, cannot be ordered until you assign one. You also cannot move an order into a PO-eligible status while it still has skipped vendors. See Create Vendors to set up your vendors and their email addresses.

Are your vendor emails and minimums set up?

OrderPilot emails the PO to the address saved on the vendor. If a vendor has order minimums with Enforce minimum quantity or Enforce minimum value turned on, a PO below that minimum can be saved as a draft but cannot be sent. Check both by going to “Settings”, then selecting “Vendors” in the Purchasing group.

How to Create Purchase Orders in the PO Workbench?

The PO Workbench gathers the eligible lines from the orders you select and groups them into one card per vendor. Each vendor card you process becomes its own draft PO.

Step 1: From the OrderPilot dashboard, go to “Purchase Orders” in the top navigation.

Step 2: Click “Create PO”. The PO Workbench opens.

Note: To raise a PO for a single order, you can also start from that order. See Purchase Orders from an Order.

Step 3: In the Order Selection card, tick the orders you want to buy for, or tick Select all orders. The counter next to the heading shows how many orders are selected. No orders are selected when the workbench opens, so nothing is ordered by accident.

Each row shows the Order #, Customer, Items, Total, Status, and PO Status (No PO, Partially in PO, or All in PO). Use the eye icon to preview what the order needs, or the external link icon to open the order.

Step 4: Use the Filters card to shape the vendor cards below:

Filter	What it does
Fulfillment Location	The Shopify location the goods will be delivered to. The list offers the locations of the orders you selected. Received stock is added at this location, and its address fills in the delivery address on each vendor card.
Order by	Sorts the vendor cards by Vendor Name, Order Date, or Total Amount.
Group products by order	Groups the products inside each vendor card under the order they belong to.
Show items already in a PO	Also lists items that are already on another purchase order, with that PO's number, so you can see the full picture.

Step 5: Review the vendor cards. Click a card's header to expand or collapse it. A collapsed card shows its Items, Qty, and Total.

Items with no vendor are collected under Skipped Vendor, marked with a No Vendor badge. That card cannot be selected. Assign a vendor to those lines on the order first.

Step 6: To change what goes to a vendor, expand the card and click “Edit”. You can adjust the following, then click “Save”:

Field	What it is for
Hide Pricing	Ticked by default. Hides unit costs and totals on this PO and its PDF. Untick it to enter and show costs. The default comes from Hide price by default on purchase orders in “Settings” > “PO defaults”.
Add Item	Adds another Shopify product to this vendor's PO.
Quantity	Units to order. Ordering more than the order needs buys the extra for stock (see PO Inventory and Stock).
Unit Cost	The vendor's price per unit. Shown only when Hide Pricing is off. OrderPilot prefills it from the template's base cost and option costs where they are set.
Item-specific labels	A label for that item, such as a room or tag.
Stock	On product template lines: Default for this template, Create stock, or Do not create stock.
Side Label	A manufacturing label applied to all items on this PO, for example "Project: Bennett Residence".
Internal Notes	Notes only your team sees.
Vendor Notes	Notes printed for the vendor.
Delivery Address	Where the vendor should deliver. Prefilled from the fulfillment location.
Requested Delivery Date	When you need the goods.
Tax $ and Ship $	Tax and shipping added to the PO total.

To take an item off this PO, click the trash icon next to it and choose “Remove from this PO”. To stop an order line from ever appearing on a PO, choose “Permanently exclude from POs” and confirm with “Permanently exclude”. The line stays on the customer's order.

Step 7: Tick the checkbox on each vendor card you want to order from. Use “Select All” to tick every vendor card that has items.

Step 8: Click “Process Selected (X)”, where X is the number of vendors selected.

Step 9: The Process Selected Draft POs dialog lists each vendor with its quantity and total. Click “Create X POs” to confirm.

OrderPilot creates one draft PO per vendor, each with a permanent PO number, and returns you to the Purchase Orders list. You can still edit the drafts before sending them.

How to Create a Standalone Purchase Order?

A standalone PO buys goods without a customer order, for example to restock your showroom.

Step 1: Go to “Purchase Orders” and click “Create standalone PO”. You can also tick Standalone PO at the top of the PO Workbench.

Step 2: Choose the Fulfillment Location in the Filters card. You need a location before you can add a vendor.

Step 3: Click “Add vendor”, search for the vendor, and click “Add vendor” in the dialog.

Step 4: Expand the vendor card, click “Edit”, then click “Add Item” to pick the Shopify products and variants you want. Set quantities and costs, then click “Save”.

Step 5: Tick the vendor card and click “Process Selected (X)”, then “Create X POs”.

Note: Switching between standalone and order-based mode discards the vendor selections and edits you have not processed yet. OrderPilot asks you to confirm with “Switch mode” first.

How to Send a Purchase Order to Your Vendor?

Step 1: Go to “Purchase Orders” and click the PO's row to open it.

Step 2: Review the line items, charges, landed cost, vendor details, and delivery details. While the PO is a draft, you can click “Edit items” to change it. Use the Show prices on vendor PDF switch to choose whether prices print on the vendor's copy.

Step 3: Click “Send to vendor”. The Send an Email window opens with:

• To: the vendor's email address from your vendor settings. You can change it.
• Cc and Bcc: filled in from your Default CC settings for purchase orders, if you have any. You can edit or remove them.
• Subject and message: a ready-made message such as "Please find purchase order PO-10002 attached." Pick a template under Choose an Email Template if you have one, or edit the text.
• The PO PDF is attached automatically.

Step 4: Click “Preview” to check the email, then click “Send now”.

While the email is on its way, the PO shows Sending and is locked. It moves to Sent once the email has gone. If the email fails, the PO returns to Draft so you can fix the problem and try again.

Other ways to mark a PO as sent:

• Confirm as Sent: In the Send an Email window, click “Confirm as Sent” if you sent the PO another way, such as by phone or by attaching the PDF to your own email. No email is sent and the PO moves to Sent.
• Mark as sent: If the vendor has no email address, clicking “Send to vendor” opens a confirmation instead. Click “Mark as sent” to record the PO as sent without emailing anyone.

Note: Default CC and BCC addresses for purchase order emails are set on the Default CC tab of “Settings” > “Email settings”. See Email Settings and Notifications.

Vendor order minimums

If a vendor has an enforced minimum quantity or minimum order value, OrderPilot shows how far the PO is from it, both on the vendor card in the workbench and on the PO page. Until the minimum is met:

• The PO can still be saved as a draft.
• “Send to vendor” is greyed out, and a banner explains the shortfall, with “Edit items” to add more.

A minimum that is set but not enforced only shows a warning, and you can still send.

How to Manage Purchase Orders?

The Purchase Orders page lists every PO. You can:

• Search by PO number, vendor, or item name.
• Filter by status using the tabs. Each tab shows a count, and only statuses you have POs in are shown.
• Find cost problems using the Needs cost review tab. It appears only when at least one PO needs attention. See PO Costs and Landed Cost.
• Sort by PO number, Vendor, Last updated, or Total. The list starts with the most recently updated POs.
• Open a PO by clicking its row.
• Download a PDF by clicking “PDF” on the row.

The list shows the PO number, Vendor, Last updated, Items, Total, Costs, and Status for each PO. When prices are hidden on a PO, its total reads Hidden. When some items have no cost yet, it reads Incomplete.

Actions on a Purchase Order

Open a PO to see its progress strip (Created, Sent, Received, Finalized) and its actions. The buttons change with the PO's status:

Action	Where	When it is available
Edit items	Page header	Draft POs.
Download PDF	Page header	Always.
Send to vendor	Page header	Draft POs that meet any enforced vendor minimum.
Receive Items	Page header	Sent, Partially received, and Received, some rejected POs that are not finalized. See Receive PO and Fulfill Orders.
Finalize	Page header	Once at least one unit has been received.
Edit purchase order	••• menu	Draft POs.
Resend email	••• menu	Sent POs whose vendor has an email address. Sends another copy without changing the status.
Force edit costs	••• menu	POs that are past Draft and not finalized.
Receiving history	••• menu	POs with received units that cannot take more deliveries.
Reopen	••• menu	Finalized POs.
Cancel purchase order	••• menu	Draft, Sending, and Sent POs.

The Vendor note (printed on PDF) field on the PO page saves when you click away from it.

Cancelling a purchase order

Click the ••• menu, choose “Cancel purchase order”, then confirm with “Cancel purchase order”. Cancelling removes the PO completely, and it cannot be undone. The order lines it covered become available for a new PO, and each linked order records the cancellation in its activity.

A Sent PO can be cancelled only while nothing has been received or rejected on it. Once receiving has started, the PO cannot be cancelled.

Purchase Order Statuses

Status	What it means
Draft	Created but not sent. You can edit it, send it, or cancel it.
Sending	The email to the vendor is on its way. The PO is locked and cannot be received yet.
Sent	The vendor has the PO. It is locked for editing and ready to receive.
Partially received	Some units have been received or rejected, and others are still due.
Received	Every unit has been received.
Received, some rejected	Every unit is accounted for, but some were rejected.
Rejected	Every unit on the PO was rejected.

Finalized is a separate step shown on the PO's progress strip. It closes the PO's costs and stops further receiving until someone reopens it. See PO Costs and Landed Cost.

When a PO is sent, OrderPilot updates the linked orders: an order whose lines are all on sent POs moves to Sent to Vendor, and an order with only some lines on sent POs moves to Partially Sent to Vendor. Draft POs do not move the order.

PO Numbering

By default, POs are numbered in sequence: PO-0001, PO-0002, and so on. To use your own prefix and starting number, go to “Settings”, then select “Order defaults” in the Orders and quotes group and turn on Purchase order numbering in the Numbering card. Enter a Prefix. The Next number counts up on its own so two POs never share a number.

Example: Ordering for Two Sofa Orders

Harlow & Finch Interiors has two confirmed orders, one for Olivia Bennett and one for Marcus Reed. Both include a Linden Sofa from Atelier Homeworks, and Marcus's order also includes four Mira Dining Chairs from Birch & Beam Woodworks.

1. In the PO Workbench, tick both orders in Order Selection and set Fulfillment Location to the warehouse that receives deliveries.
2. Two vendor cards appear: Atelier Homeworks with two sofas, and Birch & Beam Woodworks with four chairs.
3. On the Atelier Homeworks card, click “Edit”, untick Hide Pricing, check the unit cost, add a Side Label such as "Project: Bennett and Reed residences", and set a Requested Delivery Date about seven weeks out. Click “Save”.
4. Tick both cards and click “Process Selected (2)”, then “Create 2 POs”.
5. Open the Atelier Homeworks PO, click “Send to vendor”, check that orders@atelierhomeworks.example is in To, and click “Send now”.

Once both POs are sent, Olivia's and Marcus's orders move to Sent to Vendor.

Important Notes & Tips

Review before you process

Expand each vendor card and check the items, quantities, and costs before clicking “Process Selected (X)”. Drafts can be edited, but catching a mistake on the workbench is quicker.

Keep vendor emails current

When a vendor has no email address, the PO can only be marked as sent, and nothing reaches the vendor. Keep addresses up to date in “Settings” > “Vendors”.

Use Confirm as Sent for POs sent outside the app

If you phoned the order in or emailed the PDF yourself, use “Confirm as Sent” so the PO and its linked orders still move forward.

A greyed-out button tells you why

Hover over a greyed-out button, such as “Send to vendor” or “Process Selected (0)”, to see what is blocking it and what to do next.

Need Help?

Having trouble creating purchase orders, sending them to vendors, or finding an order on the PO Workbench? Reach out to us at support@bevycommerce.com, and we'll help you troubleshoot the workflow.