Purchase orders and receiving
Create supplier orders, track expected deliveries, and receive accepted stock into the right location.
Purchase orders in Inventory Tracking record what you asked a supplier to deliver. Receiving records what actually arrived, updates physical stock, and keeps partial deliveries and discrepancies attached to the order.
Create a purchase order
Purchase orders can include descriptive lines as well as catalog-linked items. A line without a catalog item can describe a charge or purchase, but it cannot add stock to an item or carry a stock best-by date.
Draft quantities appear in Inventory's Draft orders folder. They are planned purchases and are separate from stock you hold.
- Open Purchase Orders and create a new order, or start from a supplier's Place Order or Reorder Needed action.
- Select the supplier and the destination Inventory folder. Add an assignee, expected delivery date, and notes when useful.
- Add the order lines. Choose a catalog item when the line should affect stock, then enter the quantity, unit, and price.
- Review the subtotal, tax, shipping, discount, and total where those fields are available.
- Save the draft. Review the supplier ordering method before sending the order or marking it placed.
Place and track the order
For an email supplier, the order can show an Order email draft. Open the composer to review the recipients, subject, message, and quantities. For a website supplier, Matte provides the supplier link and ordering details. Phone or other offline methods show the information needed to place the order yourself.
Confirming or marking the order placed moves it out of its draft stage. Outstanding quantities then appear under On order. They do not become physical inventory until a receipt is recorded.
The detail page groups the order's information into order details, lines, deliveries, invoice details, and timeline. Expected dates and assignments help identify work that is still waiting. Edit the draft before confirmation; the ordinary line-editing action is limited to drafts.
Receive a delivery
Only accepted quantities enter physical stock. Rejected quantities remain part of the receipt history. An order can be received in several deliveries, and its status tracks partial and completed receipt.
A receipt key identifies a delivery submission. Reusing the same key for the same order returns the existing receipt instead of adding the stock again. Use a new receipt for a genuinely separate delivery.
- Open an order that is on its way and choose its receive action.
- Check Receipt key and Received date. Add a Packing slip, Invoice number, and Receipt notes if available.
- Select Receive into Inventory folder. Confirm that the folder is the physical place receiving this delivery.
- For each delivered line, enter accepted and rejected quantities with their units. Add a discrepancy note for short, damaged, or otherwise unexpected deliveries.
- Enter the best-by date for catalog-linked stock when you have it.
- Review the confirmation and save the receipt. Check the Deliveries section and the remaining quantities on the order.
Handle differences between ordered and delivered quantities
You can record a partial delivery and receive the remaining stock later. If the accepted amount exceeds what remains on the order, Matte records an over-received warning. Review the actual delivery and unit conversion rather than assuming the order quantity must be right.
An item with unfinished or ambiguous migrated unit setup cannot be received until its units are confirmed. Fix the item first so the order's case, pack, and base quantities agree.
Best-by dates are captured per receipt line. The receiving form does not currently provide a full lot-code entry workflow; add a lot code to the resulting Inventory batch where needed. Prices and invoice information on the order should not be confused with the current-price valuation used by the built-in reports.
Start from low stock
Reorder low stock helps turn stock needs into drafts. Select the destination location and review the eligible items and proposed quantities. Matte groups the resulting purchase orders by supplier.
A suggestion uses the item's effective reorder and par targets and its purchase units or order multiple. These are operational targets, not a demand-forecast recommendation. Confirm the supplier, destination, and quantities before placing the order.
Supplier ordering workflows can reuse a relevant draft and let you add or remove supplier items. Check the existing order when prompted so the same requirement does not become two separate purchases.
Organize the purchasing queue
The list includes operational views such as Assigned to me, Creating order, On its way, Due soon, Overdue, Partially delivered, Delivered, Closed, Canceled, and Archive. Use folders and custom saved views to separate suppliers, locations, or work stages.
Selected purchase orders can be exported or moved to a folder. Managers also have bulk cancel, archive, delete, and reactivate actions for eligible order states. An order with receipts cannot be deleted.
Expected dates drive due-soon and overdue indicators. Incoming deliveries notifications show assigned orders arriving soon or running late; assign an order to the person responsible for receiving it. Enter the expected date yourself—the supplier Lead Time text does not automatically calculate it.
Finish the order and control access
Close an order when the purchasing work is finished, including when no further delivery is expected. Cancel is available for supported unfinished states. Closed or canceled orders can be archived. These lifecycle actions keep the order list useful while retaining receipt history.
Managing purchase orders, receiving deliveries, and editing invoice information are separate permissions. An order's assignee can receive it where the plan includes receiving; assignment does not grant full order management.
The workspace plan controls basic purchase orders and receiving separately. If you can open an order but cannot receive it, check both role permissions and plan availability.