Purchases and purchase orders
A purchase order is what you want from a supplier, written down before the goods arrive. It is not money: nothing moves in your books until the goods come in and the bill is recorded.
Purchases opens on what you have on order:
| On order | The value of everything still to arrive |
| Awaiting goods | Orders sent, not yet received |
| Part received | Some of it came, the rest is still coming |
| Drafts | Written, not yet approved |
Finding an order
Filters across the top: To send, Awaiting goods, Received, All. Search by order number, supplier, note or any item on the order.
Each row shows the order number, the supplier, where it has got to, the total, and either the delivery date or how much of it has arrived. Tap a row to see the lines, the quantities already received, your note, and everything else you can do with it.
Writing an order
New order takes:
- The supplier — from the suppliers you already have. You can leave it empty and add it later.
- What you are ordering — an item, how many, and the price each. Add another line for more.
- Deliver by and a note, if they help.
The dialog adds up the total as you type. Saving it creates a draft.
From draft to received
An order moves in one direction:
- Approve — the draft becomes a real order you are willing to stand behind.
- Mark sent — you have given it to the supplier.
- Receive — the goods came.
Receive opens with every quantity already filled in at what you ordered. Change any that came short. If everything came, the order is received; if some did not, it is part received and stays on your awaiting list for the rest.
Receiving records quantities, not money
Receiving on an order records how many arrived against that order. It does not put the stock on your shelf or the cost in your books. To do that, go to Products → Receive stock → From a purchase order: it fills itself in from the order, and asks whether you paid, whether it is on credit, or whether the bill is still to come.
The supplier's bill
When the bill arrives, record it in Bills, then open the order and choose Link the supplier's bill. The order and the bill are joined from then on, and the order closes. An order that already has one says its bill is in Bills.
Close an order once it is finished with. Cancel order stops one you no longer want — tell the supplier separately; nothing in your books changes either way. A draft nobody has seen can be deleted outright.
Sending it to the supplier
Send on any order gives you four ways out:
- WhatsApp — the order written out, to the supplier's number where you have one.
- Email — the same, in an email.
- Print — a proper purchase order on your letterhead: supplier, delivery details, every line, the total and signature lines.
- Copy — the text, to paste anywhere.
A draft is clearly marked not yet approved — do not supply against this order, so nobody delivers against something you have not agreed to.
Where things live
Who you buy from is in Customers and suppliers. What you owe them is in Bills. What is on the shelf is in Products and stock. The full purchases page, with pagination, more sorting and three-way matching, is one tap away under Full purchases.