Purchasing & Purchase Orders

Create and manage purchase orders to replenish your inventory. The Purchasing feature streamlines your ordering process, tracks deliveries, and helps you maintain optimal stock levels.

Plan Requirement: Purchasing is available on Professional and Enterprise plans. You’ll also need Suppliers to use Purchasing.

Tip: You can use Purchasing on its own to manage orders and track costs. If you also have Inventory, your stock levels will update automatically when you receive deliveries.

What Is Purchasing?

Purchasing in TypeMenu helps you:

• Create purchase orders: Order products from your suppliers
• Track order status: Monitor orders from draft to received
• Manage deliveries: Record when stock arrives
• Control costs: Track spending and monitor order values
• Maintain inventory: Keep stock levels optimal

Accessing Purchasing

From the Dashboard

1. Click “Purchasing” in the main navigation
2. View the purchasing dashboard with key metrics
3. Access purchase orders and receipts

Purchasing Dashboard

The dashboard provides an overview of your purchasing activity:

Quick Stats

• Open Purchase Orders: Orders awaiting delivery
• Open Purchase Receipts: Deliveries to be processed
• Total Suppliers: Number of active suppliers
• This Month’s Value: Total spending this month

Quick Actions

From the dashboard, access:

• Purchase Orders: View and manage all orders
• Purchase Receipts: Process incoming deliveries
• Suppliers: Manage supplier relationships

Purchase Orders

What Is a Purchase Order?

A purchase order (PO) is a formal request to a supplier for products. It includes:

• Which supplier you’re ordering from
• What products you need
• Quantities and pricing
• Expected delivery date
• Order reference and notes

Purchase Order Statuses

Status	Meaning
Draft	Being created, not yet sent to supplier
Issued	Sent to supplier, awaiting delivery
Received	Products have been delivered
Cancelled	Order cancelled, won’t be fulfilled

Viewing Purchase Orders

Accessing the Order List

1. Go to Purchasing
2. Click “Purchase Orders”
3. View all orders with key details

Order List Information

• Reference: Order number or reference
• Supplier: Who the order is for
• Status: Current order status
• Expected Date: When delivery is expected
• Total: Order value

Filtering Orders

• Search: Find orders by reference number
• Status filter: Show Draft, Issued, Received, or Cancelled orders

Creating a Purchase Order

Step 1: Start a New Order

1. Go to Purchasing > Purchase Orders
2. Click “New Purchase Order”
3. Fill in the order details

Step 2: Select Supplier

Choose the supplier you’re ordering from:

• Only suppliers with linked products (SKUs) appear
• The supplier’s products become available to add

Step 3: Order Details

Basic Information:

• Reference: Your order reference number (optional, auto-generated if blank)
• Expected Date: When you expect delivery
• Location: Which location will receive the stock
• Currency: Transaction currency (defaults to supplier’s currency)
• Notes: Special instructions or comments

Step 4: Add Line Items

Add products to your order:

1. Click “Add Item” or search for products
2. Select products from the supplier’s catalogue
3. Enter quantities
4. Review unit costs and line totals

Line Item Details:

• Product/Variant: What you’re ordering
• Quantity: How many units
• Unit Cost: Price per unit (from supplier pricing)
• Line Total: Quantity × Unit Cost

Step 5: Review Order Summary

Before saving, review:

• Total Items: Sum of all quantities
• Line Items: Number of different products
• Subtotal: Total before tax
• Tax: Applicable taxes
• Grand Total: Final order value

Step 6: Save the Order

• Save as Draft: Keep editing later
• Save and Issue: Send to supplier

Purchase Order Details

Click any order to view full details:

Line Items

Complete list of ordered products:

• Product and variant names
• Quantities ordered
• Unit costs
• Line totals

Order Summary

• Total items and line count
• Subtotal, tax, and grand total
• Financial breakdown

Supplier Information

• Supplier name
• Contact details link

Order Information

• Reference number
• Current status
• Expected delivery date
• Receiving location
• Currency
• Notes

Editing a Purchase Order

When You Can Edit

• Draft orders: Fully editable
• Issued orders: Limited editing
• Received/Cancelled: Cannot be edited

Making Changes

1. Open the purchase order
2. Click “Edit Order”
3. Modify details, add/remove items
4. Save changes

What You Can Edit

• Reference number
• Expected date
• Location
• Notes
• Line items (quantities, products)

Purchase Order Workflow

Typical Workflow

1. Create Draft

   • Add products and quantities
   • Review pricing
   • Add notes or instructions

2. Issue Order

   • Finalize the order
   • Send to supplier (manually)
   • Status changes to “Issued”

3. Receive Delivery

   • When products arrive
   • Create a purchase receipt
   • Status changes to “Received”

Cancelling Orders

If an order won’t be fulfilled:

1. Open the purchase order
2. Change status to “Cancelled”
3. Add notes explaining why

Purchase Receipts

What Is a Purchase Receipt?

A purchase receipt records when products arrive from a supplier. It:

• Confirms what was delivered
• Updates inventory quantities
• Records any discrepancies

Creating a Receipt from a Purchase Order

1. Open the issued purchase order
2. Click “Receive”
3. Enter quantities actually received
4. Note any discrepancies
5. Complete the receipt

Recording Discrepancies

When received quantities differ from ordered:

• Short delivery: Note missing items
• Over delivery: Record extra items
• Damaged goods: Document and report

Purchasing Settings

Configure how purchasing works for your business.

Accessing Purchasing Settings

1. Go to Settings
2. Click “Purchasing”

Inventory Tracking Settings

These settings control how stock levels are managed. If you don’t have Inventory, you can skip this section — your purchase receipts will still work, just without automatic stock updates.

Enable Inventory Tracking

• Master switch for inventory tracking
• When disabled, no stock adjustments occur even for tracked products

Low Stock Threshold

• Default threshold for low stock warnings
• Items below this level are flagged

Notify on Low Stock

• Receive notifications when stock falls below threshold
• Sent to business owners and managers

Auto-disable Out of Stock Products

• Automatically hide products when stock reaches zero
• Products reappear when restocked

How Inventory Tracking Works

Inventory operates at three levels:

1. Business level: These settings enable/disable tracking globally
2. Product level: Each variant can have tracking enabled individually
3. Location level: Stock is tracked per location

Stock Flow:

• Order placed → stock is committed
• Order completed → committed stock is deducted
• Order cancelled → committed stock is returned

Best Practices

Creating Purchase Orders

• Check stock levels first: Review what’s actually needed
• Set realistic dates: Account for supplier lead times
• Add notes: Include delivery instructions or special requests
• Review before issuing: Verify quantities and pricing

Managing Orders

• Track open orders: Regularly review pending deliveries
• Process receipts promptly: Update inventory when stock arrives
• Record discrepancies: Document any issues for supplier follow-up
• Archive old orders: Keep records but remove clutter

Supplier Management

• Keep pricing current: Update costs when they change
• Review performance: Track delivery reliability
• Maintain relationships: Communicate regularly with key suppliers

Permissions

Access to purchasing requires appropriate permissions:

Permission	What It Allows
View Purchase Orders	See order list and details
Create Purchase Orders	Create new orders
Edit Purchase Orders	Modify draft orders
Delete Purchase Orders	Remove orders
Issue Purchase Orders	Send orders to suppliers
View Purchase Order Statistics	See purchasing metrics
View Purchase Receipt Statistics	See receipt metrics

Contact your administrator if you need purchasing access.

Troubleshooting

Can’t Access Purchasing

• Check your plan: Purchasing requires both Purchasing and Suppliers — check your plan includes both
• Check permissions: Ensure you have the right permissions to access Purchasing

Can’t Create Purchase Order

• Check your plan: Verify Purchasing is included
• Check permissions: Ensure you have create permission
• Verify suppliers exist: Need at least one active supplier with SKUs

No Products Available to Add

• Link products to supplier: Products must be added as supplier SKUs
• Check supplier is active: Inactive suppliers can’t receive orders
• Verify product tracking: Products may need inventory tracking enabled

Stock Not Updating After Receipt

• Do you have Inventory?: Stock updates only happen if you have Inventory — without it, receipts are recorded but stock levels won’t change
• Complete the receipt: Ensure the receipt is fully processed
• Check inventory tracking: Verify tracking is enabled at business and product level
• Verify location: Stock updates apply to the specified receiving location

Order Total Seems Wrong

• Check unit costs: Verify supplier pricing is correct
• Review quantities: Ensure quantities are accurate
• Check tax settings: Verify tax configuration

Related Guides

• Inventory - Stock management and tracking
• Suppliers - Managing supplier relationships
• Products - Product setup including inventory settings

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Effective purchasing management helps maintain optimal stock levels while controlling costs. Create purchase orders proactively based on stock levels and demand patterns to avoid stockouts and overordering.