# Introduction - Purchase Orders

A purchase order is a formal commitment to buy at an agreed price.

**Video coming soon:** Raising an order, issuing it, and matching it when the goods and the invoice arrive.

It posts nothing and creates no liability, but it is the document that lets you check, when the invoice finally arrives, whether you are being charged what you agreed for what you actually received.

![The Purchase Orders screen listing sixteen orders with columns for Date, PO #, Reference Number, Vendor, Status, Amount, Billed, Delivery Date, Received and Created Time. The first row, PO-00001 against Halberd Bearings Ltd, is Draft for 489.00 and reads Not Billed.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/purchase-orders/purchase-order-list.png)

*Billed and Received are the two columns that say how far along an order is.*

## The three-way match

The reason purchase orders exist is this comparison. Three documents describe the same transaction from different angles, and the differences between them are where the money leaks.

1. **Purchase Order**: What you agreed to buy
2. **Purchase Receive**: What actually arrived
3. **Bill**: What they charged you

Bill against a purchase order and SorviAI Finance shows you all three side by side. Being charged for ten when eight arrived becomes obvious rather than being something you discover at year end.

## Statuses

| Status | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| Draft | Being prepared, not sent to the vendor |
| Issued | Sent, awaiting delivery |
| Partially received | Some quantities arrived |
| Closed | Fully received, or closed short deliberately |
| Cancelled | Withdrawn before anything arrived |

> **Note:**
>
> **A purchase order is not a liability**
>
> Nothing appears in your payables until a bill exists. An issued order is a commitment, which is why it shows on Overview as a commitment rather than as money owed.

## When to bother

Raise one whenever you agree a price before you see an invoice, and always for physical goods. Skip it for a card purchase completed in the same minute, because an order that opens and closes at once is paperwork with no reader.