> ## Knowledge Base Index
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> Use this file to discover available pages before exploring further.
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# Purchase orders

A purchase order records what you asked a vendor to send, and what is still open. It is a request, not a bill.

|| A purchase order never posts to your books. Stock and what you owe arrive when you **Save & post** the vendor's bill.

## Create one

1. Open **All pages** in the left sidebar, then click **Purchases** and **[Purchase orders](https://app.booksgpt.ai/go/purchase-orders)**.
2. Click **New purchase order**.
3. Choose the **Vendor**, the **Order date**, and **Expected**.
4. Add a line for each thing you are ordering: a product, or **Use a category instead** for freight.
5. In **Unit**, type how you count the quantity, such as lb or case. It prints on the PDF. Leave it blank and the saved order shows **Not set**.
6. Click **Save purchase order**.

The list filters are **All**, **Open**, **Partially billed**, **Closed**, and **Cancelled**. **Still open** is what you are waiting on.

## Send it to the vendor

* Click **PDF** to download a file with your logo and address.
* **Message to vendor (printed)** goes on that PDF. **Internal memo** does not.

## Bill what arrived

1. Open the order and click **Create bill**. The button is gone on a **Closed** or **Cancelled** order.
2. **New bill** opens with each still-open line, and **Qty** set to what is left. Ordered 1,200 lb and 756.40 lb arrived? Change **Qty** to 756.40. After you save, the next **Create bill** offers the rest.
3. A stocked product shows **Adds to stock**. Leave **New lot from this Bill**, or pick a lot. **Vendor lot number (optional)** is the packer's code.
4. Click **Save & post**.

| **Save draft** already counts that quantity on the purchase order, so the next **Create bill** skips it.

The rate copies only when it already fits four decimal places. If it needs more, **Create bill** stops, and you enter the vendor bill from **Bills**.

![Still open on a purchase order, with Create bill](https://booksgpt.ai/help/purchase-orders/still-open.png)

![The next bill, with the remaining 443.6 in Qty, Adds to stock, and Vendor lot number](https://booksgpt.ai/help/purchase-orders-inventory-costing/bill-stock-fields.png)

* A tracked product can add to **On hand** when you post. A category line does not. See "Track stock quantities".
* While costing is on, a stocked line may carry **Tax**. Tax the business cannot reclaim is added to the stock's cost. Tax it can reclaim goes to the **Input tax recoverable account** and never into stock. A freight or other landed charge carries the tax it cannot reclaim with it. See "Receive inventory on Bills".
* To turn costing on, see "Set up inventory costing".

## What the statuses mean

| Status | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **Open** | Nothing billed yet. |
| **Partially billed** | Some billed, something still open. |
| **Closed** | Fully billed, or you closed the rest. |
| **Cancelled** | It should never have been placed. |

The status follows the bills, including a draft. Voiding a bill puts that quantity back on the order.

## Close the rest, or cancel

* Click **Close line** on that line, or **Close** on the whole order, when the rest is not coming. Bills you already saved stay.
* **Reopen** undoes **Close**. **Reopen line** undoes **Close line**.
* **Cancel order** means nothing was ordered. Use it only before any bill. **Keep order** leaves it. A cancelled order cannot be reopened, so start a new one if you still need it.

![Cancel order PO-1001, with Keep order and Cancel order](https://booksgpt.ai/help/purchase-orders-inventory-costing/cancel-order.png)

||| Once a bill exists, even a draft, click **Close**. The bills stay, and the rest stops counting as on order.

## Good to know

* The first number is PO-1001, separate from invoices.
* A purchase order in a closed period is fine. The bill is what **Period close** checks.
* A saved purchase order has no edit.
* Stock quantities take up to four decimal places. See "Track stock quantities".