What is a purchase order?

"Can you send the usual?" works until the usual changes, the price goes up, or half of it does not arrive. A purchase order writes down what you asked for, so you can check what came.

What a purchase order includes

• The supplier.
• Each item, the quantity and the agreed price.
• The delivery date and where it should go.
• A reference number to match against the delivery note and the invoice.

The purchase-to-pay flow

1. Count — check what you have against your par levels.
2. Order — raise a purchase order for the difference.
3. Receive — when it arrives, check it against the order: items, quantities, condition.
4. Record — put the delivery into stock, noting anything short or damaged.
5. Pay — match the invoice to the order and what was received before paying.

Why it matters

• Fewer short deliveries signed for in full — one of the quiet causes of stock variance.
• Price checks. If the invoice does not match the agreed price, you see it.
• Accurate stock. Deliveries received against an order go into your stock records properly.
• Spending you can see — by supplier and by week.

Common mistakes

1. Ordering by phone with no record. Then there is nothing to check against.
2. Receiving without checking. Count it while the driver is still there.
3. Paying the invoice, not the order. Pay for what you ordered and received.

Tracking it in DUMA

Raise purchase orders to your suppliers in DUMA and receive deliveries against them, so stock goes up by what actually arrived. The Purchasing report shows purchase orders raised and received, by supplier.