> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://learn.withessential.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://learn.withessential.com/field-operations/inventory/emailing-a-purchase-order-to-a-supplier.md). # Emailing a purchase order to a supplier Essential can email a purchase order straight to your supplier as a PDF, so you don't have to rebuild the order in another tool. ## Before you start * The supplier needs an email address on file. Add it under Settings -> Inventory and Purchase Orders so it prefills here; you can also type or correct the address at send time. * Make sure the order is right first. Sending a draft locks its line items, quantities, and unit costs. The supplier can still be corrected later — click **Edit** on the Order Info card to open **Edit Order Info**. ## Send the order A draft order offers two ways to send it, at the top of the page: * **Submit & Email** sends in one click, using the supplier's saved email address and the default subject and message. It needs a saved supplier email and no unsaved changes on the order. * **Review & Send** opens the **Send to Supplier** dialog, where you can review or change the recipient, subject, and message (Essential fills in a default subject and message you can edit for this send), check the preview of the PDF the supplier will receive, then send. This is the only way to send when the supplier has no saved email address. Either way, Essential generates the purchase order PDF, attaches it to the email, saves a copy of that PDF on the purchase order's files, and records the send on the order's timeline. Sending a draft moves it to **Submitted** and stamps the date it was sent. From that point the order counts toward Incoming on the Inventory page and can be received against. ## Resending Once an order is Submitted, choose **Resend to supplier** from the "..." menu, any time before the order is paid or voided — useful if the supplier lost it or you're chasing a delivery. It opens the same dialog, titled **Resend to Supplier** once the order has been emailed before. Resending refreshes the sent date and adds another timeline entry, but it never changes the order's status, so resending a Fully Received order won't push it backwards. Once an order is Paid or Void the action is no longer offered: there's nothing left to chase. ## Changing what the PDF looks like The purchase order PDF is a template you control under Settings -> Inventory and Purchase Orders. It starts from Essential's built-in layout — your business name, logo and address, the supplier's contact details, the PO number and delivery date, the line items with quantities and costs, the total, and your notes. The **Purchase Order Template** section shows a **Default** or **Customized** badge so you can tell whether you're on the built-in version or your own. To change the wording, edit the PDF in place: 1. Open Settings -> Inventory and Purchase Orders and scroll to **Purchase Order Template**. The PDF opens in **Visual**, rendered with sample order data. 2. Click any text on the purchase order and type to change it. Variables such as the supplier name or PO number show sample values; hover one to see its name, and press Backspace or Delete next to it to remove it. Enter adds a line break, and pasted or typed text stays plain text. 3. To add a variable, click in the text where it should go, then select **Insert variable** above the purchase order and pick one, such as the supplier's **Contact name** — or pick it first, then click where it should go (see [Add a variable](/administration/settings/edit-a-document-templates-design-with-edit-code.md#add-a-variable)). The list comes from the sample order's details, including the **Total**. 4. Select **Save template**, or **Discard changes** to drop unsaved edits. For layout, styling, logic, or the line-item rows, switch to **Edit code** in the **Visual / Edit code** switch to edit the raw HTML/Liquid below the preview. Text that doesn't outline when you point at it is also changed there. Switching modes never loses or rewrites anything. Editing the template needs the document-template source-editing permission; without it, you see the rendered PDF only. If the template has an error, a red notice appears above **Save template**, which stays unavailable until you fix it; a yellow notice flags a variable that doesn't exist. See [Errors and warnings](/administration/settings/edit-a-document-templates-design-with-edit-code.md#errors-and-warnings). Each line's name and SKU on the PDF are the supplier-facing values: what you entered for this supplier on the order's lines, falling back to the item's **Name shown to supplier** / **Code shown to supplier** defaults from Settings -> Items Pricebook, then to the item's own name and code. The email itself is sent from your business's verified sending address, the same one used for invoices and other customer email. > **Where to find it:** Open a purchase order under Inventory -> Purchase Orders. A draft order shows **Submit & Email** and **Review & Send**; a submitted order's "..." menu shows **Resend to supplier**. The PDF template lives in Settings -> Inventory and Purchase Orders. ## Related guides * [Creating and receiving purchase orders](/field-operations/inventory/creating-and-receiving-purchase-orders.md) * [Purchase order statuses and marking orders billed, paid, or void](/field-operations/inventory/purchase-order-statuses-billed-paid-and-void.md) * [Set up inventory locations and suppliers](/administration/settings/set-up-inventory-locations-and-suppliers.md) * [Verify the email address Essential sends from](/administration/settings/verify-the-email-address-essential-sends-from.md) --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question. 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