# Purchase Order Workflow ## Overview In Sellercloud, you can use **Purchase Orders** to track new inventory coming in from your vendors. The workflow covers creating new POs, processing them, and updating inventory levels and costs. This article covers the main aspects of a PO lifecycle and how to manage them in Sellercloud. To learn more about the available advanced PO features, refer to [Purchase Order - Additional Functionalities](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630848331015244244). ## Manage Purchase Orders You can create new **Purchase Orders** and update the details of existing ones at any point of the process. This includes changing the ordered products, their costs, quantity, as well as specifics such as shipping and billing information. ### Create Purchase Orders [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfdI-MzE1-Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfdI-MzE1-Y) You can enable the **Force user to enter Requested on Date** and **Force user to enter Expected Delivery Date** [Client Settings](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630835167106228692) to ensure a PO cannot be created without these dates. To create a new **Purchase Order**: 01. Go to the **Create New Purchase Order** page by using any of the paths below: 1. **Purchasing** > **Create New Purchase Order**. 2. **Purchasing** \> **Manage POs** \> click the plus icon in the bottom right corner. 3. **Purchasing** \> **Vendors** \> **Manage Vendors** \> **Vendor** \> **Toolbox** \> **Purchase Orders** \> click the plus icon in the upper right corner of the **Purchase Orders** panel. 4. Additionally, you can create a new PO from the **Purchasing** tab of the [Product Details](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630834757292778588) page, the **Actions** menu of the [Manage Catalog](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630834757292778588) page, or directly from the [Predictive Purchasing Report](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630842156078918071). 02. Specify the **Company** and **Vendor**. Click the **\+** icon if you need to create a new Vendor. 03. _(Optional)_ Select the **Receiving Warehouse** where the purchased items will be delivered. 04. _(Optional)_ Indicate the [Payment Terms](https://help.sellercloud.com/omnichannel-ecommerce/understanding-po-costs/) within which this PO must be completed. 05. Click the **Expected Delivery** box, and select the estimated date of product arrival. 06. You can log offers from vendors without actually buying them by creating a Purchase Order and selecting **Vendor Offer** as the **Purchase Order Type**. 07. Click the blue arrow to proceed to the next step. 08. Click **Add Products**. For details, refer to the [section](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/SCL-N-3191#add-products-to-purchase-orders) below. 09. Click the blue arrow to proceed. 10. Provide all required information about the Billing and Shipping Addresses. Alternatively, select one from the **Saved Addresses** dropdown list. 11. Once completed, click the green flag icon. ### Import Purchase Orders You can also create new Purchase Orders and update existing ones via a file import. To do that, follow the steps below: 01. Go to **Purchasing** \> **Tools** \> **Import Purchase Info**. 02. Select the **Import Purchase Orders** option. 03. To download a template, click the download icon on the **Import Purchase Orders** panel header. 04. Complete the columns. **Save**. 05. Return to the **Import Purchase Orders** panel. Select the appropriate file. Fill in the required fields. 06. _(Optional)_ You can use a custom plugin for import. Contact the [Support Team](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630831494839563427) to request this plugin. 07. _(Optional)_ Check the **Create New PO Numbers** box to allow the system to apply the automatic numbering to the newly added POs. When left unchecked, the new PO ID will be the same as the one provided in the file. 08. _(Optional)_ Select the **Create As Credit Memo** checkbox to create [Credit Memos](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630847515149552827) instead of regular POs. 09. _(Optional)_ **Item Action** \- Here you can choose to Merge or Overwrite the PO products. 10. _(Optional)_ **Treat Zero Prices As Zero** \- Allows you to import a product price of $0. 11. Click **Import**. 12. The import will be submitted as a **Queued Job**. Once processed, the new Purchase Orders will appear on the **Manage POs** page. ### Add Products to Purchase Orders When adding products to a Purchase Order using the wizard, follow the steps below: 1. At the second step of the PO creation wizard, click **Add Products**. 2. Optionally, you can click the **SKU List Mode** toggle button on the top right and then quickly search for products by entering one per row. You can also enter the quantity and unit price. Then click **Search,** and once the products show up, check the boxes to select them and click **Add & Close**. 3. Without **SKU List Mode** enabled, you can just search for products and specify the **Unit Price** and **Quantity.** 4. Check the boxes next to products to select them and then click **Add & Close**. 5. Specify information on ordered quantities, price, and discounts. 6. Alternatively, you can add products via file upload. To do that, click the **Upload Products** icon in the upper right of the **Products** panel (see figure below). For more information on adding products to Purchase Orders, refer to [Add Products to PO](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630847690301164258). ### Approve and Email a PO to Vendor [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LCeHCegTXk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LCeHCegTXk) The next step in the PO workflow is to **notify your vendor** about purchased products. When PO approval is configured as required, a notification will appear if you try to email an unapproved **Purchase Order**. To approve a PO: 1. Go to **Purchasing** \> **Manage POs**. 2. Open a Purchase Order. 3. In the upper right corner, click **Actions**, and select the **Approve Purchase Order**. To email an approved Purchase Order to your Vendor: 1. Go to **Purchasing** \> **Manage POs**. 2. Open a Purchase Order. 3. In the upper right, click **Actions**, and select the **Send PO via Email**. 4. In the **General** panel, specify the **Vendor Email**, **Subject**, **Sender Name**, and **Sender Email**. 5. You can opt to use a pre-configured [email template](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630856841895585483) or to compose a message on your own. 6. Once the email is completed, click **Send**. You can also set up [automatic email notifications](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/SCL-N-3191#po-status-change-notifications) to inform your vendor whenever a Purchase Order status changes. ### Manage Shipping Labels Depending on your workflow, you may want to generate **Shipping Labels** for your PO and send them to the **Vendor**. You can only create labels for carriers you have integrated in the [Company Shipping API](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630844621139336229) page. To manage the PO Shipping Labels: 01. Go to the **PO Details Page**. 02. From the **Actions** menu, select **Manage Shipping Labels.** 03. On this page, you can **Void** existing labels. 04. To generate a new label, click **Create New Label.** 05. On the next page, fill in the **Ship From** information. Alternatively, click **Manage** **Addressbook** to choose an existing address, or create an [Address Book entry](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630838319885555564) for the Vendor. 06. Populate the **Ship To** details. 07. Complete the following shipping specifics: 1. **Weight (lbs) (oz)** of the returned products. Click **Estimate** to automatically calculate the total weight of the package. 2. **Dimensions (L x W x H)** of the shipped package. 3. **Insurance** – Determine shipping insurance. 4. **Shipping Carrier** – Select a shipping provider. 5. **Shipping Service** – Choose a **Shipping Carrier** service from the dropdown menu. 6. **Delivery Confirmation** – Pick a method of delivery verification ( **None**, **Signature Required**, or **Adult Signature Required**). 7. **Package Type** – Select a shipping package type from the dropdown menu. 08. _(Optional)_ Select **Preview Rates** to see available rates. 09. Click **Generate Labels.** 10. The **Shipping label(s) generated successfully** message should appear at the top of the page. In case of unsuccessful label generation, you will receive a failure message with error details. 11. Select the **Click here to download** hyperlink to review the created label in your **Existing Labels** list. You can choose a label file type to download - PDF, JPG, or for a thermal printer. You also have the option to **Download** the API **Request** and **Response** sent to and received from the shipping carrier for troubleshooting purposes. ### Update PO Shipping Details To update the PO Shipping Details: 1. Access **Purchasing** \> **Manage POs**. 2. Open a Purchase Order. 3. In the upper-right corner of the page, click **Actions** and select **Update Shipping**. For more instructions on updating shipping data on a PO, refer to [Purchase Order - Shipment details](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630847848395174012). 4. Alternatively, the PO Shipping data can be updated with **receiving Shipping Containers.** To get detailed instructions on how to receive shipments in containers with multiple POs, refer to [Purchase Orders – Shipping Containers](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630848200902307715). ### Receive Purchase Orders The next step in the PO workflow is to receive purchased items. To log a complete or partial shipment on a PO: 1. Access **Purchasing** \> **Manage POs**. 2. Open a Purchase Order. 3. In the upper-right corner, click **Actions**, and select either **Receive Whole PO** or **Receive Shipment** to receive a part of a Purchase Order. For more instructions on how to manage receiving sessions, refer to [Purchase Orders – Receive PO](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630848027325367764). ### Cancel or Delete PO In some cases, when the Vendor cannot ship the products or you no longer need them, you have the option to **Cancel** or completely **Delete** a PO. You can do this in bulk by selecting POs in the **Manage POs page** **\> Actions > Delete/Change Status.** You can also open the **Actions** menu on the **Purchase Order Details** page and click **Delete PO/Cancel PO**. If the PO is linked to a **Sales Order** as part of the [Dropship](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630836006092142506) workflow, you will be prompted to confirm you want to break that link. If you do so, the Order's **Dropship status** will automatically change to **None**. This safeguard is present when updating a single PO and performing the bulk actions. ## Update PO Status You can update **PO Status** individually by opening the PO and navigating to the **Statuses** panel, or in bulk by selecting multiple **POs** and choosing the **Change Status** action from the **Action Menu**. ### Payment Status You can pay for purchased products before or after shipping the items. To record a payment, select **Make Payment** from the PO's **Actions** menu. You can manually [add a payment](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/7630847848395174012) to a Purchase Order or apply your previous payments to that vendor for the requested purchase order. For more information on managing vendor invoices, refer to [Manage Vendor Invoices](https://help.sellercloud.com/omnichannel-ecommerce/apply-payment-to-vendor-invoice/). Once the PO is paid in full, you can mark your Purchase Order as **Paid** and close it. To close a PO, select the **Close** option from the PO's **Actions** menu. ### General Status Refer to the descriptions provided below for information regarding each status: - **Saved -** The PO is saved and is awaiting further action. - **Cancelled -** POs with the status cancelled will not be shipped by the supplier. - **Completed -** The PO has been shipped, received, and invoiced. - **Ordered -** This status indicates that the PO is awaiting shipment. - **Pending -** The PO is created but not approved or processed yet. - **Received -** Indicates the PO inventory has been received into your warehouse. ### PO Status Change Notifications You can set up automatic email notifications to stay informed when a Purchase Order's status changes. To enable this functionality, you must [configure the company's SMTP settings](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/SCL-N-3337#company-smtp-settings), create email templates, and assign them to the appropriate PO events. #### **Email Templates** Email templates define the content and format of the notifications sent to recipients. To create a new template: 1. Go to **Settings** \> **Email** \> **Email Templates** 2. Open the **Actions** menu and select **Add**. 3. Enter a **Template Name** and define the **Subject** and **Body** of the email. You can include placeholders (e.g., PO number, status) to automatically insert dynamic data into the email. 4. Save the template. Next, assign the template to specific Purchase Order events: 1. Go to **Settings** \> **Companies** > **Manage Companies** and select the required company. 2. Open the **Toolbox** and select **Email** \> **Assignment**. 3. Click **Edit**. 4. Locate the following email types: - **POChanged** – Triggered when a PO is modified. - **POStatusChanged** – Triggered when the PO status updates. 5. Assign the appropriate email template to each event. 6. Save your changes. You can find more information on Email Templates [here](https://descartessystems.aha.io/pages/SCL-N-3336). #### PO Email Settings per Company Configure email notification settings individually for every company that should send or receive Purchase Order updates: 1. Navigate to **Purchasing > PO Defaults**. 2. In the **Company** panel, select the required company. 3. In the **Additional Options** panel, you can: - Enable **Send Email to Purchaser When PO Changes**, if needed. - Enable **Send Email to PO Creator When PO Changes**, if applicable. - Enter any additional email recipients in **Also Send Email to These Email Addresses**. 4. Click **Save** to apply your changes.