Introduction

A purchase order is a formal document issued to a supplier as a means to request goods and services. You can create, issue, and track a purchase order with any supplier you have entered into the QuickFile system. This guide covers the key concepts for purchase orders in QuickFile.

Switch on purchase orders

By default the ability to issue purchase orders is switched off on all new QuickFile accounts. You can easily enable this feature in the main menu under Account Settings >> Advanced Features.

Create a new purchase order

Once you have enabled the purchase order feature, you can access purchase orders from the main menu, under Purchases >> Purchase Orders. To create a new purchase order, click 'Enter new purchase order’. You will notice that the purchase order screen is very similar to the purchase invoice screen, with some subtle differences.

You can select your supplier and enter the particulars for the items you wish to order. QuickFile will automatically generate a purchase order reference for you, you can modify this if you wish. You can also use an inventory of regularly used items, similar to the way you can with sales invoices. Read more on this below

Once you’re ready click to save the new purchase order.

Send a purchase order to your supplier

Purchase orders are sent to suppliers in Adobe PDF format as an email attachment. Once you have created your new purchase order you will see an on-screen preview. Click the “Send” button to prepare your e-mail.

QuickFile will use a templated e-mail for new purchase orders. You will see a preview that can be edited directly, you will also find a link where you can modify the wording of the template used for all purchase orders.

To send the purchase order, enter an e-mail and click the send button. From the purchase order preview screen you can also directly open the PDF version and print from there, all purchase orders will include your company logo and footer defined in your invoice customisation area.

The purchase order management screen

Like with purchase invoices, all issued purchase orders are visible on a single overview screen. From here you can perform an advanced search, copy documents (using the orange chasing arrow icon), download in CSV and get an instant overview on the status of all purchase orders.

Converting a purchase order to an invoice

Once your supplier accepts a new purchase order you can go back and convert this purchase order to a purchase invoice. This can be done on the purchase order preview screen by click the “Convert to invoice” button.

Once you click to convert you will be presented with an option to tweak the purchase invoice or simply create a new one based on the purchase order without modification.

When a purchase order has been converted to an invoice, the actual original purchase order remains as is but its status is updated to “Converted”.

Purchase order inventory

To help speed up your purchase order creation, you can save a list of regularly used items. You will need to set up a list of items first. To access your inventory, go to Purchases >> Purchase Orders >> Purchase order inventory management. If you already use the sales inventory, this screen will look familiar.

Learn how to create items in our Inventory Guide

To use an item in a purchase order, simply click the magnify glass on the description line which will reveal a search box. Start typing for results to appear:

Attaching files

To help you keep things in order, you can attach a file to a purchase order. This could be a copy of an email requesting the order to be placed, for example.

You can either attach a file already in the Document Management Area or you can upload a new file. These options are on the purchase order preview screen