Purchase orders

A purchase order is one order to one vendor. It gathers the part requests waiting on that vendor, the parts running low and anything else you need, so you can see what's on order, what it cost and what's still to come.

Owners and managers create, place and cancel purchase orders. Technicians and the front desk keep asking for parts with part requests, and anyone who works on part requests can receive a delivery.

Start an order

1. Open Purchase orders in the left menu.
2. Under Ready to order, find the vendor and select Start an order. Or select New purchase order and choose the vendor.
3. Tick what to order from the lists below.
4. Check each quantity and Cost each.
5. Select Start a draft with…, which names how many lines you ticked.

The order page has three lists:

• For customers and repairs: open part requests for this vendor. Repairs waiting on a part are ticked for you.
• Low on stock: this vendor's parts at or under their reorder level, counting what's already on order, with a quantity that tops each up to its Stock up to level.
• Anything else: choose a part from the stock list, or A one-off item, not stocked, then select Add.

A part request that isn't linked to a stocked part can be linked from its row, so stock goes up when it arrives. Each vendor has one draft at a time; adding more joins it instead of starting a second.

Place it

1. Order on the vendor's site or by phone as usual.
2. Open the draft and check the lines. You can still change quantities, costs and the vendor's SKU, or take a line off.
3. Select Place order.
4. Enter the Vendor order number from their confirmation and the Expected date.
5. To send them a copy, tick Email the order to… (shown when the vendor has an email address).
6. Select Place order.

The order becomes Ordered, and its part requests are marked ordered. Email to vendor sends the order again at any time.

Select Edit beside Details to add tracking numbers (one a line), shipping, tax or notes. The … menu has Print and, when the vendor has an order link, a link to the order on their site.

Order one part in one step

On a waiting part request, owners and managers can select Order now:

1. Choose the Vendor.
2. Check the Quantity, Cost each and Vendor SKU.
3. Under Put it on, pick the vendor's draft, or An order placed now for a one-line purchase order that's ordered straight away.
4. For an order placed now, add the Vendor order number.
5. Select Place the order, or the button that adds it to the draft.

To order several requests together, tick them on the Part requests list and select Add to a purchase order….

Keep track

The tabs show orders On order, Drafts, Received, Cancelled and All. Search by PO number, vendor, part or the vendor's order number. The tiles at the top show what's still to come, what's arriving this week and anything backordered.

Each order shows where it's at (Draft, Ordered, Arrived, All in), the repairs waiting on it, each delivery and its history. Costs and totals show for owners and managers only.

Cancel an order

From the … menu, select Throw away the draft or Cancel the order. Part requests on it go back to waiting to be ordered. For a placed order, let the vendor know too.