Sortly's Purchase Order feature simplifies your procurement process, making ordering supplies a breeze. Utilize Sortly's intuitive interface to quickly create purchase orders using your inventory data. Easily include details such as item photos, names, costs, and quantities.

Once finalized, seamlessly email the purchase order to your supplier or export it to QuickBooks Online for efficient procurement.

This functionality is accessible through the Premium and Enterprise plans and is also offered as a Feature Preview within the Ultra plan, allowing customers to experiment with select features for a limited time.

If you are not an Enterprise customer and want to learn more, please click here.

• Purchase Order Overview
• Create a Purchase Order
• Edit a Purchase Order
• Purchase Order Approvals
• Receiving and Exporting a Purchase Order
• Connect to QuickBooks Online
• Send Purchase Order to QBO
• Saving Addresses
• Vendor Management
• FAQ

Purchase Order Overview

On the Workflows > Purchasing Tab, you will see a list of your Purchase Orders along with the following information:

• PO Number
• Created by
• Submitted by
• Status - Draft, Ready to Review, Approved, Ordered, Received
• Last Updated
• Ship To
• Vendor
• Pricing/Cost Information

Create a Purchase Order

1. Navigate to Workflows then click on Purchase Orders
2. Click New Purchase Order
3. Enter the Purchase Order number and Status
4. In the Dates section, enter the Order Date, Submitter Name, Date Expected, and Date Received.
5. To add an item to the Purchase Order, type the Item Name in the search field and fill in the additional information.
   • You can also add Items to your Purchase Order from the Item Card:
6. Continue to the Vendor section and enter the Vendor information
7. Enter the Ship To and Bill To information. You can either enter this information manually or select an existing saved address (Please see Saving Addresses for information on entering a saved address)
8. Click Save

Edit a Purchase Order

To edit a purchase order, navigate to the Purchasing tab and click on the Purchase Order you want to edit. Then, click the three dots at the top and choose Edit. From there, enter any updated information. Then click Save, and your Purchase Order will be updated.

 

Note: Purchase Orders in an Ordered or Received status cannot be deleted.

 

Purchase Order Approvals

Should you need to submit the Purchase Order for Approval, navigate to the Purchase Order, and click Edit. From there, change the status to Ready for Review and click Save.

The approver can then log in and click on the Purchase Order, review it, and change the status to Approved.

 

 

Receiving and Exporting a Purchase Order

1. When the items are received, you can automatically update the status by tapping the “Receive Item” button listed next to that item.
2. You can mark the items as either ‘Received’ or ‘Partially Received.’ When you update the status to 'Received' or 'Partially Received' in the purchase order, the quantity of the items will be automatically updated in your inventory. While you can choose to not update the quantity, we do recommend it.
3. Select the item, specify the folder where the item is located, and enter the quantity received and click Receive.
   Items - Items that were ordered in the PO
   Receiving Folder - Folder where item quantities will be added after receiving
   QTY Receiving - Quantity of item being received
   
4. In the example above, we partially received the items.
5. Once the remaining items are received, click Recieve Items again and complete the Purchase Order
6. Finally, export the Received Purchase Order

Connect to QuickBooks Online

Once you've created the Purchase Order, you can connect to QuickBooks Online to send your purchase orders to your existing QBO account.

1. Click on Purchase Order and select Connect to QBO.
2. Follow the onscreen prompts to connect your existing QBO account.
3. Once connected, you will see Send to QBO option

Send Purchase Order to QBO

1. Click on the Purchase Order and click Send to QBO 
2. Fill out the fields to match the information in your QuickBooks Online account and then click Send to QBO. 
3. A successful notification will appear, letting you know the Purchase Order has been sent. You can click the link in the pop up to go directly to your QBO account.
4. You can also go to QBO directly and choose Expenses > Expenses in the side panel
5. Once in the Purchase Order, you will see that the information from Sortly has carried over.
6. If you need to make changes to the Purchase Order, navigate back to your Sortly account, select the Purchase Order, and click Edit
7. Make the changes, click Save, and then Send to QBO. This will update the information in your QBO account. You can check the last time the purchase order was sent to QBO as shown below.

Saving Addresses

With this feature, you can create a maximum of 100 addresses and utilize them in your Purchase Orders. If you set an address as the default Billing or Shipping address, it will automatically appear in the Purchase Order. 

1. Navigate to Settings > Addresses and click on New Address
2. Enter the address and choose if the address is the Default Primary, Shipping, or Billing address, and click Save 
3. The address will now appear in your Saved Addresses
4. To enter the address on a Purchase Order, follow the steps to Create a Purchase Order and select the address in either/both the Ship To and Bill To section

Vendor Management

In Sortly, streamlining your workflow is key to optimizing your efficiency. One way to achieve this is by entering contact information for your vendors. By doing so, you can seamlessly integrate this data into purchase orders, saving you valuable time and effort. Here’s how to do it:

 

1. Navigate to Settings>Vendors
2. Click on New Vendor and enter the vendor's information
3. Click Save, and your vendor will show in the list

 

Adding Vendor to PO

1. Navigate to the PO and click on Select Vendor
2. Click Save and your vendor information will show on the PO 
3. On the main Purchase Order tab, you will see the Vendor listed with the PO Number

FAQ

Why isn’t my purchase order syncing with QuickBooks Online?

When sending a Purchase Order (PO) from Sortly to QuickBooks Online, only expense account types can be selected. If your PO isn’t syncing, check that the designated account in QuickBooks is categorized as an expense account. Other account types, such as income or liability accounts, are not supported for PO syncing.

 

Who can use this feature?

Admins, Owners, and Team Members can all use this feature, but Team Members can only add items to POs they have view permissions for.

 

How do I add an item to a Purchase Order?

To add a single item, go to the item card, tap “Add To,” select “Add to Purchase Order,” enter the quantity and unit rate, and tap “Next.” For bulk additions, select multiple items from the list view and follow the same process, providing details for each item.

 

How do I select a Purchase Order to add items to?

After tapping “Next,” a list of available POs will appear, sorted by their last updated date. Only POs with the status of Draft, Ready for Review, or Approved will be shown. Each PO will display its number, status, and a small card of the item being added. To select a PO, use the radio button; the “Add” button will remain disabled until a PO is selected.

 

Can I search for a specific Purchase Order?

Yes, you can search for POs using the default search function from the PO Home Page. If a relevant result is found, you can select the PO and tap “Add” to proceed. If no results are found, a prompt will appear asking, “Add items to this purchase order?”

 

What if I want to create a new Purchase Order?

Tap “Create New” and enter a PO Number that adheres to the existing validation rules. If the number already exists, you will see an error message: “Purchase Order number is not unique, please try another.” Once a valid number is entered, tap “Add to New Purchase Order.” This will create a new PO saved as “Draft,” with the item added to it immediately.

 

What happens after I add an item to a Purchase Order?

A success message confirms the addition and provides a link to navigate directly to the Purchase Order: “1 Item successfully added to Purchase Order. View Purchase Order (Link to PO).”

 

What if the Purchase Order becomes unavailable during the process?

If a PO becomes locked or deleted during the addition process, an error message will appear: “This Purchase Order is no longer available for selection.” The flow will automatically exit, requiring you to restart the process.

 

How do I exit the flow without making changes?

You can exit the flow at any point by tapping the “x” button.

 

Can Team Members access Purchase Orders? (Premium & Enterprise)

By default, only Owners and Admins have full access to Purchase Orders. However, Team Members can be granted access by an Owner or Admin by going to:

Manage Permissions > Purchase Orders.

 

What can Team Members do with Purchase Orders? (Premium & Enterprise)

If granted access, Team Members will have limited capabilities when working with Purchase Orders:

• ✅ View all items in a PO, even if they don’t have View/Edit access to those items.
• ✅ Remove items from a PO, even without View/Edit permissions.
• ✅ Receive items, but only if:
• They have Edit permission for the folder selected.
• Or they have Move permission for the folder selected.
  (Team Members, Admins, and Owners automatically have Move permissions in folders they can access.)
• ✅ Clone a PO, but only visible items will be included.
• ✅ Export a PO regardless of what is included in the list.
• ❌ Cannot receive items into a folder they don’t have Move permissions for.
• ❌ Cannot delete locked POs (Ordered, Received, Partially Received, Voided).
• ❌ Cannot edit or create Vendors (View-only access).
• ❌ Cannot access QuickBooks Online (QBO).
• ❌ Cannot enable or disable PO access for Custom Roles.

 

Is this available on web and mobile?

Currently, it is only available on the Web version of Sortly.

 

Can I search for items to add to my Purchase Order by scanning?

Yes. When you are searching for items to add to your Purchase Order, select the barcode icon on the right side of the search bar. Scan the barcode or QR code of the item you want to add to your Purchase Order and select the item from the Search drop down.

 

Are there any additional costs associated with accessing or using this feature?

No, this feature is included in the Plan price.

 

How do you submit a purchase order for approval before ordering?

To submit a Purchase Order for approval in Sortly, change the status of the PO to "Needs Review." Once the PO is marked as "Needs Review", the person designated as the reviewer or approver should log into Sortly and review the POs that are marked with the "Needs Review" status. Once that person has reviewed the POs, they can then change the status of the PO to "Approved.”

 

Can I use Sortly to create a purchase order from my current inventory?

Yes, when you create a purchase order you can easily search your inventory and directly pull in the items that need to be reordered. Within the search results, you can also see which items are low stock to make the reordering process even simpler.

 

What is a purchase order number and do I need one?

A PO number, or purchase order number, is a unique alphanumeric code that is assigned to a purchase order so that it can be tracked throughout the order process. In Sortly, you can manually edit the auto-generated purchase order number to meet your company's requirements. PO numbers are found on purchase order documents and help both the business and the vendor reference their orders easily. Purchase order numbers are often required, though you should speak with your business manager to confirm your company's policies.

 

How do you add a company logo to a purchase order?

You can include your company logo on a purchase order by going to the Settings page within Sortly, navigating to the Company Details section, and uploading your log in the Company Logo section.

 

Can I see or use a custom field on purchase orders and invoices?

Currently custom fields cannot be used in purchase orders or invoices, though we have plans to include that capability in the near future.

 

Can you set up vendors to choose from when creating a purchase order?

Yes, you can create Vendors within Sortly by going to the Settings page, navigating to the Vendor section, and adding the Vendor details. Once you have created a Vendor in Sortly, you can add them into a Purchase Order.

 

Can I create a report based on Purchase Orders I’ve created?

No, currently you cannot create reports based on Purchase Orders.

 

Are there limits to the Purchase Order Feature Preview? (What is a Feature Preview?)
Yes, the Purchase Order Feature Preview will not include the ability to integrate Purchase Orders with QuickBooks Online.