Purchase orders, the vendor link and receiving

Overview#

Purchase orders record what you're buying, from whom and where it's going. A Stock PO refills the warehouse or a truck; a Special order (for a job) buys parts for one job, and its actual cost lands in that job's costing. You share a printable vendor link (TradesWork doesn't email POs yet), mark the PO sent, and receive what arrives straight into stock at the actual cost.

Before you start#

• Viewing needs inventory.read.

• Creating, editing, sending and receiving needs purchasing.write (Owner, Admin, Dispatcher, Accounting).

• You need at least one vendor and one stock location.

Steps#

Create a PO#

1. Go to Purchasing › Purchase Orders and click New PO. (Replenishment also drafts POs for you.)

2. Pick the Vendor and Type: Stock or Special order (for a job) (then pick the Job (special orders)).

3. Choose Receive into and Required by (optional).

4. Add lines: Pricebook item (or "Not in pricebook" for a free-text part, which isn't stocked), Description, Vendor SKU, Qty, Unit cost. The Expected total updates as you type.

5. Add Notes for the vendor (optional) (for example "Will-call at the Troy branch") and click Create draft.

Send it to the vendor#

1. Open the PO. In Send to the vendor, click Create vendor link.

2. Click Copy link and email or text it to the vendor, or Open / print to print it.

3. Click Mark as sent. ("Marked sent. Share the vendor link or print it; TradesWork hasn't emailed anything.")

The vendor's page is a read-only printable PO with your company name, PO number, vendor, deliver-to, required-by date, reference (job number or Stock), lines and total, and a Print or save as PDF button. Vendors can't confirm or change anything on it.

Edit a PO#

Draft and Sent POs can be edited until something is received. Change the lines and click Save changes.

Receive#

1. Open a Sent or Partially received PO.

2. For each line, enter Receive now (defaults to what's left) and the Actual cost if it differs. For serialized items, enter Serial numbers (one per unit, separated by spaces).

3. Check Receive into and click Receive. ("Received. Stock is on hand.")

4. Partial receipts are fine; the PO becomes Partially received, then Received.

Statuses#

Draft, Sent, Partially received, Received, Closed, Canceled. Use Cancel PO (Draft or Sent) and Close PO (Sent, Partially received or Received) when you're done.

Settings that change this#

• Purchasing › Vendors: vendor details.

• Purchasing › Inventory › Setup: preferred vendors and tracked items.

Tips#

• Receiving at actual cost updates each item's moving average cost, so job costing and inventory value stay right.

• Supplier bills you forward to TradesWork are matched against the PO and what you received (see Accounting › Bills).

Troubleshooting#

• "Mark the purchase order sent before receiving it." → click Mark as sent first.

• "{part}: only {n} left to receive." → you can't receive more than ordered.

• "{part}: enter one serial number per unit ({n})." / "Serial X is already in the system." → fix the serials.

• "A special order needs the job it's for" → pick the job.

• "Add a vendor first" / "Add a stock location first" → set those up.

• "Only draft or sent purchase orders can be edited." → something was received; it's locked.

• "A {status} purchase order can't be marked {to}." → that change isn't allowed.

FAQ#

Does TradesWork email the PO to my vendor? Not yet; emailing POs is coming soon. Share the vendor link or print it.

Can I order directly from a supplier's system? Not yet. Supplier ordering integrations aren't built.

How do I return parts to a vendor? Returns to vendor aren't in the app yet. Record it with a Remove from stock adjustment with the reason.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• Same: stock and job POs, partial receiving, receipts at actual cost.

• Different: no PO emailing or approval workflow yet; you share a vendor link.

• Where it lived: ServiceTitan Inventory › Purchase Orders; Purchasing › Purchase Orders in TradesWork.