Purchase Orders
Purchase Orders
A Purchase Order (PO) is your formal commitment to a vendor — it defines exactly what you're buying, at what price, and when you expect delivery. In CifraHQ, the PO is the anchor of your entire purchasing workflow: receiving goods, generating the vendor bill, and recording payment all flow directly from it. Working from POs gives you full traceability, prevents price disputes, and keeps your accounts payable accurate from day one.
Purchase Orders list, the anchor of every purchase workflow.
How to create a Purchase Order
- Go to Purchasing > Purchase Orders.
- Click + New.
- Select the Vendor — this locks the default currency, Payment Terms, and Freight Terms from the vendor's record.
- Set the Document Date (defaults to today) and the Expected Delivery Date.
- Add your order lines (see below).
- Save — CifraHQ assigns a PO number automatically based on your Document Numbering sequence.
- When ready to send to the vendor, click Send to advance the PO to Sent status.
Adding order lines
Each line represents one product you are ordering:
- Click Add Line (or Add Bundle to add a pre-defined product bundle).
- Select the Product. The unit price, tax code, and pack size default from the product's settings.
- Enter the Quantity — if the product is pack-size controlled, enter the number of packs and CifraHQ calculates the unit equivalent automatically.
- Adjust the Unit Price or Discount % if this order differs from the product default.
- Confirm the Tax Code — it defaults from the product but can be overridden per line.
Repeat for each product. You can also import lines from a prior PO or copy from a template.
Field reference
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Vendor | The supplier you're ordering from. Locked after the first save — start a new PO if you selected the wrong vendor. |
| Document Date | The date the PO is created. Used for period tracking and aging Reports. |
| Expected Delivery Date | When you expect goods to arrive. Visible on the receiving screen so your warehouse knows what to expect. |
| Reference Number | Your internal reference or the vendor's quote number — useful for matching email threads and Invoices. |
| Payment Terms | Defaults from the vendor; drives the due date on the vendor bill that gets created from this PO. |
| Freight Terms | Who pays shipping and under what conditions (e.g., FOB Destination). Defaults from the vendor. |
| Currency | Defaults from the vendor's currency. Multi-currency POs are converted at posting using the rate set in Currencies. |
| Notes | Internal notes visible to your team. Not sent to the vendor unless you include them in a printed PO. |
Line fields
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Product | The item being ordered. Drives default price, tax code, and Inventory account. |
| Description | Editable product description for this line — useful if the vendor uses different product names. |
| Quantity | Units ordered. For pack-size Products, enter the number of packs — CifraHQ tracks both packs and individual units. |
| Unit Price | Price per unit (or per pack, for pack-size Products). Can differ from the product's standard price. |
| Discount % | Line-level discount applied before tax. |
| Tax Code | Determines what tax rate applies to this line. |
| Subtotal | Quantity × Unit Price minus any discount, before tax. Calculated automatically. |
Document lifecycle
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | In preparation — fully editable, no impact on Inventory or Accounting yet. |
| Sent | Submitted to the vendor. Lines are locked. CifraHQ tracks this PO as an open commitment. |
| Partially Received | Some lines have been received via an Inventory Receipt; remaining quantities are still open. |
| Received | All ordered quantities have been received. The PO is closed for further receipts. |
| Cancelled | Voided before any goods were received. No Inventory or Accounting impact. |
| Archived | Fully processed and closed. Read-only reference only. |
What happens after you send a PO
Once the vendor ships the goods, go to Purchasing > Inventory Receipts and click + From PO — select this PO and CifraHQ pre-fills the receipt with all open lines, quantities, and costs. You can receive all lines at once or do partial receipts if the vendor ships in batches.
After posting the receipt, click Generate Bill on the receipt to create the vendor bill. The bill inherits the PO's vendor, currency, and Payment Terms, and the receipt's landed costs.
Tips
- Partial receipts: If a vendor ships in two deliveries, create two separate Inventory Receipts from the same PO — CifraHQ tracks received vs. outstanding quantities on the PO automatically. The PO stays open until all quantities are received.
- Price lock: The price on a PO line is what gets carried into the Inventory Receipt and the vendor bill. If a vendor changes their price mid-order, update the PO line before receiving.
- Pack sizes: If you order 10 cases of 12 units each, enter Quantity = 10, Pack Size = 12. CifraHQ posts 120 units to Inventory. The vendor bill will show 10 cases at the case price.
- Copy POs: For recurring orders from the same vendor, open an existing PO and use Copy to create a new draft with the same vendor, terms, and lines — then adjust quantities and date.
- Landed costs: After receiving goods, CifraHQ can spread freight and insurance costs proportionally across product lines to give you an accurate per-unit Inventory cost. Set these up on the Inventory Receipt.
Related: Inventory Receipts · Vendor Bills · Vendors · Products
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