Send a purchase order

Once you have created a purchase order as a draft, sending it assigns its permanent document number and emails it to your supplier. Sending has no effect on your accounts.

Before you begin

• You need a purchase order in Draft status. See Create a purchase order.
• The order must have at least one line and a Total greater than zero.
• For the email to reach the supplier, an email address is needed — on a supplier contact or on the supplier record itself. The email goes to the contact holding the Purchase-order recipient role (falling back to the primary contact, then the supplier's account email). You can still send (assign the number and lock the order) even if delivery later fails — see Troubleshooting.

Steps

1. Go to Purchases → Purchase Orders and open the draft order (or open it and use the buttons at the top).
2. Select Send.
3. In the confirmation window, review what will happen — it will generate a document number, change the status to Sent, queue an email to the supplier, and make the document read-only.
4. Select Send Purchase Order.

[Screenshot required: Purchase order details page with the Send confirmation window open]

What happens next

• The order is given its document number and its status becomes Sent.
• An email with the purchase order attached as a PDF is queued to the supplier.
• The order becomes read-only — you can no longer edit it.
• On the order you can now track email delivery, use Send Email to send it again, and Download PDF. The Send Email window's To and CC are drop-downs of the supplier's contact people (pre-selected on the Purchase-order recipient role holder); you can pick contacts or type any address, and Send me a copy CCs it to you. The same send window also opens from the envelope button on the order's row in the purchase orders list.

Once the goods arrive, record them with a goods received note. When the supplier's bill arrives, record it as a purchase invoice.

Important notes

• Sending a purchase order does not touch your accounts. It is still an operational document.
• Sending cannot be undone. If you sent an order in error and no goods have been received against it and no invoice references it, you can void it instead — see Understand purchase order statuses.
• The Send me a copy option in the Send Email window CCs the email to your own address.

Troubleshooting

• "Purchase order cannot be sent in status …" — only a Draft order can be sent. If it is already Sent, it has been sent.
• The total is zero. You will see "…total must be greater than zero." Add at least one priced line first.
• The supplier has no email address. You will be told to add one before sending. Add an email to one of the supplier's contacts or to the supplier record, then try again.
• The email shows as Failed. Open the order to see the email status; Sales Scribe retries automatically a few times. You can also use Send Email to try again once the address is fixed. See Emailing documents.

Related guides

• Create a purchase order
• Understand purchase order statuses
• Receive goods with a goods received note
• Emailing documents overview