How to Create and Manage Purchase Orders

What is a Purchase Order?

A Purchase Order lets you track what you need to buy from suppliers and send a structured request by email or text.

Purchase Orders are typically created from a Shopping List after you’ve reviewed and finalized your quantities.

Create a Purchase Order from a Shopping List (Recommended)

Go to Supply Management > Shopping Lists.
Open the Shopping List you want to use.
Select the items you want to order.
Choose Group by supplier (recommended), Group by category, or just select the items you'd like to include.
Use the item actions menu to select Create Purchase Order.
Select your supplier.
Choose delivery or pickup.
Select the requested date.
Click Create Purchase Order.

You can create multiple Purchase Orders from one Shopping List if you use multiple suppliers.

Create a Purchase Order from Scratch

Go to Supply Management > Purchase Orders.
Click Create Purchase Order.
Enter a name for the order.
Select a supplier (required).
Choose delivery or pickup.
Select the requested date.
Add notes if needed.
Click Create Purchase Order.

After creating the Purchase Order, click Add From to import items from:

Shopping List
Ingredients

You can also click Add Custom Item to add something that isn’t listed as an ingredient.

Understanding the Purchase Order screen

Purchase Order details

At the top of the Purchase Order, you can view and update basic information:

PO status: Draft, Sent, Completed, or Canceled
PO name: Edit the name at any time
Total: Displays the total cost when pricing is available

Internal Details

The Internal Details section is for your team and is not intended for suppliers.

PO status
PO name
Internal notes (internal-only)

Order Details

The Order Details section includes supplier-facing information:

Supplier
Order type (Delivery or Pickup)
Fulfillment date (requested date)
Created by and Created on
Notes (included on the Purchase Order)

Associated Shopping Lists

Purchase Orders include an Associated Shopping Lists tab that shows which Shopping Lists contributed items to the Purchase Order.

Understanding purchase units

Shopping Lists calculate ingredients based on recipe quantities (for example, individual stems). Purchase Orders convert those quantities into purchase units (for example, bunches or cases).

Purchase Orders may round up to the nearest purchase unit so you can order in the unit your supplier sells.

Edit and manage line items

Enable Editing

Click Enable Editing to edit any fields that can be updated directly in the table.

Click the green check mark to save changes
Click the red X to cancel changes

Expand All / Collapse All

Click Expand All to view item details, including the source for each item (such as which Shopping List it came from).

Click Collapse All to close all rows again.

Columns

Click Columns to show or hide optional fields (such as the Notes column for line items).

Select multiple items (bulk actions)

Use the checkboxes to select one or more items and perform bulk actions when available.

Each line item includes an actions menu (three dots) where you can edit or delete an item.

Preview and send a Purchase Order

Preview

Click Preview to review the Purchase Order before sending. Preview shows what your supplier will receive.

Show or hide totals

You can choose whether to display pricing totals on the Purchase Order. If totals are hidden, your supplier will only see item names and quantities.

Send

Click Send to send the Purchase Order to your supplier.

Email: Send to your supplier’s email address (you can add CC recipients)
Text message: SMS sends a secure link to view the Purchase Order

Additional actions

From the Purchase Order menu, you may also have options to:

Duplicate a Purchase Order
Download the Purchase Order
Delete the Purchase Order

Purchase Orders are snapshots

Unlike Shopping Lists, Purchase Orders do not automatically update if an order changes later.

A Purchase Order reflects the quantities at the time it was created. If your needs change, you can edit the Purchase Order or create a new one.

Best practices

Review quantities and supplier details before sending.
Use Shopping Lists first for the most accurate totals.
Set up ingredient purchase units correctly for accurate conversion and rounding.