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A purchase order tells the warehouse what inventory is expected before it arrives. It supports planning, receiving, discrepancy tracking, and putaway.

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When to create a purchase order

Create a PO when a client or supplier is sending inventory, receiving needs expected SKUs and quantities, or the warehouse must compare expected and actual inventory.

PO, packing list, and receipt

Record Purpose
Purchase order The overall expectation of what will arrive.
Packing list One shipment or portion of the PO expected together.
Receipt What the warehouse physically received in one event.

One PO can have multiple packing lists. A PO for 1,000 units might arrive as shipments of 600 and 400, with separate packing lists and receipts connected to the same PO.

Packem also supports partial receiving and receiving without a PO or packing list.

PO lifecycle

  1. New: The PO is being prepared.
  2. Submitted: The expected inbound is confirmed.
  3. Receiving: At least part of the inventory is being received.
  4. Closed: Receiving is complete and no more inventory is expected.

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Do not close a partially received PO while another shipment is expected.

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Create a PO

  1. Open Inbound → Purchase Orders and select New PO.
  2. Select the client and confirm the PO number and issue date.
  3. Enter the expected date, supplier, and payment status when applicable.
  4. Select the Ship To facility.
  5. Add every expected SKU, UOM, and quantity.