Purchase Orders
Use Purchase Orders when your team needs to order materials, parts, or equipment from vendors and track whether each order is still a draft, sent, partially received, fully received, or cancelled.
The plugin is useful for contractors who buy job materials from suppliers, want cleaner vendor follow-up, or need the office to know which ordered items have already arrived before scheduling the next step of a job.
When to use this
Use Purchase Orders when your team needs to:
- Track material or equipment orders from vendors so nothing falls through the cracks between ordering and delivery.
- Give the office visibility into which items have arrived and which are still pending before scheduling the next job step.
- Enforce approval rules on high-value orders so large purchases get manager sign-off before going to a supplier.
- Keep a clear audit trail of what was ordered, what was received, and what was cancelled — including reasons.
Before you start
- Enable Purchase Orders from Settings → Features.
- Set up auto-numbering in Purchase Orders → Settings so PO numbers are consistent and sequential.
- Configure an approval threshold if high-value orders need manager review before being sent.
- Make sure your vendor list is populated so orders can be linked to the right supplier.
- Decide who on the team is allowed to create, send, and receive purchase orders.
How it works
The Purchase Orders page combines status totals, filters, and order cards in one workflow:
- Draft — purchase orders still being prepared.
- Sent — orders already sent to a vendor.
- Partially received — orders where some, but not all, line items have arrived.
- Received — completed orders.
- Cancelled — orders that should no longer be fulfilled.
Create a purchase order
- Open Purchase Orders.
- Select New Order.
- Choose or type the vendor name.
- Confirm the PO number. If auto-numbering is configured, ToolbagCRM suggests the next number.
- Add an expected delivery date when the vendor has given one.
- Add notes for vendor instructions, job context, or internal handoff details.
- Save the order, then use View line items to add the materials or equipment being ordered.
Work with line items and receiving
After the order is saved, open View line items to add each part, material, or equipment line. Line items can include:
- Description
- SKU
- Quantity
- Unit cost
- Notes
When a sent order arrives, select Receive and enter the quantity received for each line. Partial receipt is allowed, so the order can stay open until the remaining items arrive.
Settings
Administrators can open Purchase Orders → Settings to control account-wide purchasing defaults.
Use settings to configure:
- PO auto-numbering — set a prefix, next number, and zero-padding style.
- Approval threshold — require approval before high-value orders can be sent.
Recommended workflow
- Enable Purchase Orders from Settings → Features.
- Configure auto-numbering and approval rules before the team starts creating orders.
- Create draft orders as materials are requested for jobs.
- Add line items so the receiving workflow has quantities to check in.
- Send the order when it is ready for the vendor.
- Receive items as they arrive, using partial receipt when the vendor ships in stages.
- Keep cancelled orders in the list only when your team needs the audit trail.
Tips
- Add line items before you send an order. Line items can only be edited or added while the order is still Draft — once sent, the line list is locked for receiving only.
- Use the Partial filter tab to focus on orders where some items have arrived but the order is still open. These are the ones most likely to need a follow-up call to the vendor.
- If Send is blocked with an approval message, check your approval threshold in Purchase Orders → Settings. Orders above the threshold must be approved before they can be sent to the vendor.
- Enter an optional cancellation reason when you cancel an order. The reason is stored on the order and helps the team understand why a vendor did not fulfill the order.
- Don't delete a sent or cancelled order — use Cancel instead if the order should no longer be fulfilled. Deleted draft orders are removed entirely, while cancelled orders stay in the list for audit history.
- Include the SKU field on line items when the vendor uses part numbers. SKUs are displayed on the receive screen so whoever checks in the shipment can match items quickly.
- Purchase orders track vendor ordering and receiving; they do not replace invoices or customer billing. Use the invoicing workflow for customer-facing billing.
Troubleshooting
The Send button is blocked
If Send is blocked with an approval message, check your approval threshold in Purchase Orders → Settings. Orders above the threshold must be approved before they can be sent to the vendor.
Line items cannot be edited after sending
Line items can only be edited or added while the order is still Draft. Once sent, the line list is locked for receiving only.