Creating and receiving purchase orders
A purchase order records what you're ordering from a supplier, what it costs, and what has actually arrived. Purchase orders live under Inventory -> Purchase Orders.
Before you start
Inventory must be enabled for your business.
Have the supplier's contact details ready. You can choose an existing supplier or add one without leaving the purchase order. A saved email address also enables Create & Send.
Set a default inventory location under Settings -> Inventory and Purchase Orders. Receiving puts stock into the default location, so receiving won't work without one.
Create a purchase order
Click New Purchase Order and fill in the order:
Pick a supplier (required), or click Add new supplier to create and select one.
Optionally adjust the PO number (Essential prefills a sequential number such as
PO-1001) and set an estimated delivery date.Add the items you're ordering with the search box. If the item is not in your catalog, choose Add new item to create an inventory-tracked physical item and add it to the order.
Each added item appears as a line showing its quantity and cost. Click a line to edit it: set the quantity and unit cost (Essential prefills the supplier's last cost, then the item's default cost; you can change or clear it), then Save.
The line editor also has Shown to Supplier and SKU Shown to Supplier fields — what this supplier sees the item called and numbered on the PDF. Left blank, the document uses the item's supplier defaults from Settings -> Items Pricebook, then the item's own name and code (the field placeholders show exactly what will be sent). Values you enter here are remembered for this supplier and prefill their next order.
Click Link jobs when the order contains parts for one or more jobs. Those jobs show that they are waiting on parts until the order is fully received or voided.
Review the live PDF Preview as you work. It updates with the supplier, items, quantities, costs, delivery date, and notes that will appear in the final document.
Add a note if you need one, then click Create.
The order total adds up every line's quantity x unit cost. If any line has no cost, the total is left blank rather than showing a misleading partial figure.
A new purchase order starts as a Draft. A draft is an order you haven't placed yet: it isn't counted as incoming stock, and you can still change anything on it.
Place the order with the supplier
You can't receive items against a draft, so tell Essential the order has been placed. There are two ways:
Email it to the supplier from the purchase order. Sending moves it to Submitted automatically. See Emailing a purchase order to a supplier.
Mark as submitted, for orders you placed by phone, on the supplier's website, or on paper.
Once a purchase order is Submitted, its line items, quantities, and unit costs are locked (the supplier can still be corrected from Edit Order Info), and its outstanding quantities start counting toward Incoming on the Inventory page.
Receive a delivery
When a delivery arrives, open the purchase order and click Receive Items. Choose Receive All to log the full remaining quantity, or Partial Delivery to receive some now and the rest later across as many deliveries as it takes.
Receiving adds the items to your on-hand and available stock at your business's default inventory location, and the purchase order moves itself to Partially Received and then Fully Received as quantities arrive. The header shows how much has landed so far, as "{received} of {ordered} received".
You can't receive against a purchase order that is still a Draft, or one that has been voided. You can still receive against one marked Fully Billed or Paid — money often settles before the goods arrive — and the quantities update while the status stays put.
What you can still change
Line items, quantities, unit costs
Draft only
Supplier
Draft only
Estimated delivery date, notes, attachments
Any time, in any status — including a paid or voided order
Purchase orders can't be deleted. If an order is cancelled or was created by mistake, void it instead — see Purchase order statuses and marking orders billed, paid, or void.
Where to find it: Inventory -> Purchase Orders in the left sidebar (/inventory/purchase-orders). Use New Purchase Order to create one; open a purchase order to email it, mark it submitted, or receive items. You can also find a purchase order from the top search bar by its PO number or supplier name (or type
po:to search only purchase orders).
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