# Purchase Order Preferences

The only purchases tab with real settings: when an order closes itself, and the terms and notes every new order starts with.

![Finance Settings with Purchases selected in the left rail and the Purchase Orders tab open, alongside tabs for Vendors, Expenses, Purchase Receives, Bills, Vendor Payments and Vendor Credits.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/purchase-orders/purchase-order-preferences.png)

*Purchase order settings sit on their own tab, beside every other purchase module.*

## Settings

Go to **Settings > Finance > Purchase Orders**. This is the only tab under Purchases that carries settings rather than just custom fields, and it splits into **General** and **Field Customisation**.

| Preference | What it does | Worth changing when |
| --- | --- | --- |
| When orders are closed | Chooses the event that closes an order automatically: when a purchase receive is recorded, when a bill is created, or when both have happened. Both is the default. | You bill without receiving, or receive without billing. |
| Default Terms & Conditions | Text carried onto every new order. | Your purchasing terms should travel with the order. |
| Default Notes | Text carried onto every new order. | Delivery instructions repeat on every order. |

> **Note:**
>
> **Closing on both is the safe default**
>
> Closing on a receive alone leaves an order closed while the invoice is still to come; closing on a bill alone closes it before the goods land. Requiring both is what keeps an open order meaning "something is still outstanding".

## What lives somewhere else

| Expected setting | Where it actually is |
| --- | --- |
| Numbering series | Real, but not here. Purchase order numbering is set with every other document series under the numbering settings. |
| Template | Real, but not here. The order PDF layout is chosen under Customization, Templates. |
| Default delivery location | Not a setting. The warehouse is chosen on each order, and defaults to your primary warehouse. |
| Require an order before a bill | Does not exist. Nothing blocks a bill with no order behind it. |
| Require approval to issue | Not configurable. Purchase orders do carry an approval state, but there is no setting that makes approval compulsory before an order is issued. |
| Approval threshold | Does not exist. There is no value above which an order needs a second person. |

## Approval

An order carries an approval state of its own alongside its order status, so pending, submitted, approved and rejected are all recordable. What is not available is a rule that forces an order through that path: nothing prevents a draft being issued directly. Treat approval as a record of what happened, and put the actual control in who is permitted to issue orders.