Purchase orders sit in the procure-to-pay path between your organisation and suppliers, before you post a final bill. They formalise quantities and negotiated rates so receiving and matching has a reference when invoices arrive.
Statuses move from drafts through partially or fully billed outcomes depending on product behaviour; tie spend to projects when your tenant is configured that way. The checklist below mirrors the Welcome guide’s Create purchase order steps, with wording adjusted for vendors and procurement (instead of quoting or sales wording).
Create a purchase order
Steps follow the Welcome guide flow; use the screenshot as the visual reference.
- Open Purchases, then choose Purchase order to create a new document.
- Add an optional header note when you want context above the lines.
- Select the vendor this order is for.
- Attach files to the purchase order when you need quotations or approvals on record.
- Upload your organisation logo if the outbound PDF should show your branding.
- Choose whether tax is inclusive or exclusive for this order.
- Add line items in the items section (catalog items or details you enter manually).
- Select the account type for each line when your chart of accounts requires it (for example expense or inventory buckets).
- Set quantities for each line.
- Set unit prices for each line.
- Pick the tax treatment per line—VAT on purchases, zero-rated, exempt, or out of scope—based on the supply.
- Apply line discounts with a percentage or a fixed amount.
- Add notes that should print or stay visible on the purchase order.
- Add a digital signature or stamp if your approval process expects it.
- Save the purchase order to continue with sending, fulfilment, or converting to bills when goods or services arrive.
Editing a purchase order
While the PO is still editable—typically drafts or orders not fully received or billed yet—open it from the purchase order list and adjust lines, quantities, rates, tax, attachments, then save. Locks after submission or fulfilment milestones depend on your roles and organisation rules inside Tafsee Books.
Once billing or receipts consume quantities, changes usually apply only to remaining open quantities or flow through follow-on documents (additional PO lines, debit notes, supplier correspondence). Keep revised approvals or emails as attachments whenever commercial terms shift after the supplier saw the original PO.
Typical purchase order flow
- Create & internal alignment: build the PO from agreed specs and pricing, route through approvals where required.
- Send to supplier: share the PDF or equivalent so both sides reference the same quantities and commercial terms.
- Fulfil & receive: record goods or services as they arrive; capturing receipts against the PO where supported simplifies three-way matching later.
- Bill: when the supplier invoice arrives, convert or match from the PO into a bill so line economics stay tied and duplicate typing drops.
- Pay: record vendor payments against the bill to close payables and reconcile cash or bank.
When purchase orders help
Use POs when you want documented approval before spend, or when you need to reconcile what was ordered, received, and invoiced—especially for projects and departmental budgets where commitments must be visible before bills hit the ledger.
Repeatable or higher-value procurement benefits from one structured record for lines, VAT, and attachments. Lightweight one-off spends may skip a PO under your internal policy; what matters is keeping procure-to-pay consistent from commitment through vendor payment.
Quick tips
- Map each line to the right account or project before sending to the supplier.
- Keep supplier quotes in attachments to simplify matching later.
- On receipt, convert the PO to a bill to avoid re-keying lines.