A purchase order, or PO, is a form used to request that a vendor provide a good or service to you in exchange for payment. The purchase order will typically define payment terms, delivery, and so on. Purchase orders in SOS Inventory will synchronize with purchase orders in QuickBooks Online if the Sync purchase orders setting is enabled on the Purchase orders settings page (Tools & settings > Configuration > Purchasing > Purchase orders). This option is enabled by default.
A purchase order is a non-posting transaction, meaning that it does not affect your financial reports directly. A purchase order closes automatically when all items have been received, but you can close it manually at any time.
The Purchase orders list (Operations > Purchasing > Purchase orders) houses the records of all POs in SOS Inventory.
The Mark as confirmed and Mark as unconfirmed actions allow you specify whether the vendor has confirmed receipt of your purchase order. Only one of them will appear on the Actions menu: the opposite of the PO's current confirmation status. The Confirmed column on the Purchase orders list displays a Yes when a PO has been marked as confirmed. When items on a purchase order arrive, the Receive action on the PO record can be used to generate an item receipt, while Create invoice generates an invoice.
If your organization requires administrator pre-approval of purchase orders, the action and batch action Approve is the SOS Inventory's tool that allows the administrator to authorize the order's submission to the vendor.
For a general overview of how lists work in SOS Inventory, refer to List functions. See Action and batch action descriptions for more information about the actions available on lists. View the V9 video tutorial, Purchasing and receiving inventory, for a basic introduction to the purchasing and receiving workflow in SOS Inventory.
To add a purchase order, use any of the following methods:
If you are adding a PO via the Quick add, Purchase orders list, or another transaction, complete the purchase order's Edit page, referring to Purchase order field descriptions for explanations of each data field. Save the transaction when finished. SOS Inventory will add the transaction to the Purchase orders list upon saving. All purchase orders generated from the Reorder report or Reorder list will be added to the Purchase orders list automatically.
An existing purchase order can be opened for viewing or editing by selecting its transaction reference number link in the Ref # column. You will need to enable editing line by line to make changes to the purchase order if you use Transaction edit mode.
Be sure to save any changes you make.
Blanket POs are open-ended purchase orders, meaning that they specify an agreement to purchase a certain item at a certain price, without a specific quantity. To create a blanket PO, enter the purchase order as normal and check the Blanket PO box on the form.
A blanket purchase order must be manually closed to have it show that it is no longer affecting the system. Leaving the PO open will affect your available-for-sale quantities if you have enabled the Include incoming in available setting (Tools & settings > Configuration > Sales > General). To close your blanket PO, select Close from the Actions dropdown of the purchase order record on the Purchase orders list (Operations > Purchasing > Purchase orders).
To add, edit, and delete payment terms that are available on purchase orders, go to Tools & settings > Configuration > Lists > Terms. The payment terms are the same as your sales terms, and they will also synchronize with QuickBooks Online. These payment terms represent the terms with the vendor and are used on the item receipt (Operations > Purchasing > Item receipts) to calculate bill due dates.