Purchase Orders let you track what you’ve ordered from suppliers, how much it costs, and what’s actually been received when the shipment arrives. Everything is linked — create the order, mark it as sent, then receive stock against it when the delivery comes in.

Purchase Order Statuses

A purchase order moves through these stages:

Draft — you’re still building the order; everything is editable
Ordered — you’ve sent it to your supplier; the order is locked
Receiving — the shipment has arrived and you’ve started receiving items
Received — all items have been received and inventory updated

Creating a Purchase Order

Go to Purchase Orders in the sidebar and click Create Purchase Order. Fill in:

Reference — your internal PO number (auto-generated if you leave it blank)
Supplier — select from your supplier list
Destination — the location where the stock will be received
Expected Date — when you expect the delivery to arrive
Notes — anything else relevant (payment terms, special instructions, etc.)

Adding Items to the Order

There are several ways to add line items:

Search — type a product name or SKU; click to add it with a quantity of 1, then adjust
Barcode scan — scan a product barcode; each scan adds one unit
Import from CSV — upload a spreadsheet of SKUs and quantities (useful for large orders); click Import items to get started

For each line item you can set the quantity, cost per unit, and tax rate.

Marking the Order as Sent

Once you’ve placed the order with your supplier, open the purchase order and click Mark as Ordered. The status changes to Ordered and the order is locked from further edits.

Receiving Stock Against the Order

When your shipment arrives:

Open the purchase order
Click Start Receiving to begin a new receiving session pre-loaded with your ordered items
Scan products as you unpack them — the app shows Ordered vs Received quantities for each item
Click Commit when done to update Shopify inventory

If only some items arrive, the PO status moves to Receiving. Once everything is received, it moves to Received.

Tips

Create the purchase order before placing the order with your supplier — that way you’re tracking costs and quantities from the start
Include accurate unit costs to help with margin analysis later
Use the CSV import for orders with many SKUs instead of adding them one by one
Match your reference numbers to your accounting system’s PO numbers to keep records consistent