Purchase Orders
Manage the full RFQ-to-receipt lifecycle — create requests for quotation, confirm orders, and receive goods into inventory.
Overview
Purchase Orders is the transaction hub of the Purchase module. It handles the complete procurement cycle from an initial draft request through vendor quotation, approval, and final goods receipt. Every order is tracked by status and linked to a specific vendor from your Vendor Management directory.
Automatic Inventory Update
When a Purchase Order is marked as Received, the received quantities are automatically written back to Warehouse Inventory. No separate stock entry is required — the PO receipt is the inventory movement document.
Order Status Lifecycle
Every purchase order moves through a defined set of statuses. Transitions are one-directional — you advance an order forward; you cannot roll it back to a prior status.
| Status | Meaning | Next Action |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Internal working document — not yet sent to the vendor | Convert to RFQ |
| RFQ | Request for Quotation raised — awaiting vendor pricing | Mark as Sent |
| Sent | RFQ has been sent to the vendor, including their Vendor Portal link | Confirm directly, or wait for the vendor's quote |
| To Approve | The vendor submitted a quote via the Vendor Portal — awaiting buyer review | Apply the vendor's quote (optional), then Confirm |
| Confirmed | Purchase Order confirmed — goods are on the way | Mark as Received when goods arrive |
| Received | Goods received — inventory updated automatically | Archive / view only |
| Cancelled | Order cancelled at any point before receipt | No further action |
Creating a Purchase Order
Click Add Order in the top-right toolbar. The creation form opens as a modal (or a right-side panel if you have set Add Record Mode to Panel in Settings → Appearance).
Required Fields
- Vendor — select from your vendor directory. Only active vendors appear in the dropdown.
- Currency — defaults to the vendor's home currency; can be changed per order.
- Expected Arrival — target delivery date. Orders past this date are flagged as overdue.
Line Items
Add one or more line items using the + Add Line button. Each line requires:
- Product — free-text product name or SKU reference
- Quantity — number of units ordered
- Unit Price — price per unit in the order currency
- Tax Rate (%) — applied to the line total; totals are shown inclusive
Notes
An optional free-text notes field is available at the bottom of the form for internal remarks or vendor instructions.
Approval Workflow
When the total order value exceeds the approval threshold, the PO detail view shows an Approval Required warning banner. The Confirm button is disabled until an authorised approver confirms the order.
Approval Threshold
The approval threshold is a fixed amount. Orders below the threshold can be confirmed by any user. Orders at or above the threshold require a second authorised confirmation before the status advances to Confirmed.
Viewing and Editing an Order
Click any row in the orders list to open the full PO detail view. From here you can:
- Edit line items — adjust quantities and unit prices while the order is in Draft or RFQ status
- Send by email — generates a formatted email body with order lines, includes the vendor's Vendor Portal link, and sends it to the vendor contact
- Confirm — advances the order to Confirmed status (subject to approval rules)
- Save changes — saves any edits without advancing the status
Vendor Quote Banner
If a vendor has submitted a quote through their Vendor Portal link, the detail view shows a banner with their proposed pricing, delivery date, and any message — without overwriting your original order lines. Click Apply Quote to copy the vendor's numbers onto the order, then Confirm as usual. See Vendor Portal for the full flow.
Totals
The detail view shows a running total calculated from all line items: subtotal, total tax, and grand total. These update instantly as you edit quantities or prices.
Filtering and Search
The orders list provides two levels of filtering:
- Status tabs — filter by All, Draft, RFQ, Sent, To Approve, Confirmed, Received, or Cancelled. The tab shows the count of orders in each state.
- Search — filters by PO number or vendor name in real time.
Overdue Indicator
Orders in Confirmed or Sent status whose expected arrival date has passed are flagged with an overdue indicator. Use the All tab with the search bar to find all overdue orders quickly.
Multi-select & AI Assistant
Each row has a selection checkbox, letting you pick a specific set of orders to focus on. The checkbox shape and fill style (circle/square, with or without a checkmark icon) follow your List Style preference in Settings → Appearance, matching the multi-select tables used across TotalApp.
- Click the header checkbox to select or clear all currently filtered orders
- A toolbar appears above the table showing how many orders are selected, with a Clear Selection action
A floating AI Assistant tab on the right edge of the screen opens a chat panel scoped to your selection. If no orders are selected, the assistant uses the currently filtered list instead. It can help you:
Pipeline Review
Identify orders stuck in RFQ or Sent for too long, or flagged as overdue.
Approval Review
Surface orders in To Approve status where a vendor quote is waiting on your decision.
Spend Analysis
Summarize total order value by vendor or status.
Billing Review
Flag Confirmed or Received orders that are still Unpaid or only Invoiced.
Any assistant response can be saved as a report to My Reports for later reference, and the assistant respects your configured Writer Engine (Local CLI, Ollama, or API) from Settings → Agentic.
Deleting an Order
To delete a purchase order, open the PO detail view and click Delete in the footer. An inline confirmation prompt appears — click Yes to confirm or No to cancel. Only orders in Draft status should be deleted; confirmed or received orders should be cancelled instead to preserve the audit trail.
Related Screens
Vendor Management
The vendor selected on each PO comes from the Vendor Management directory. Vendor contact details, currency, and payment terms are pulled automatically.
Order Pipeline
A Kanban-style view of all purchase orders grouped by status. Drag cards between columns to advance orders without opening the detail view.
Vendor Portal
Share RFQs with vendors and receive their quoted prices back into the system without manual re-entry.