# Create a Purchase Order

Order what you are short of, from the vendor whose lead time you can live with.

Raising an order changes nothing on your shelf. It makes the units expected, which is what stops the same shortfall being ordered twice.

> **Before you start:**
>
> A vendor, and a view of what you are actually short of.

## Raise one

- **Go to Purchase Orders and raise one**

  Choose the vendor. Their terms and purchase rate list fill in from the record.

  ![The Purchase Orders list with columns for Purchase Order Date, Purchase Order Number, Reference Number, Vendor, Status, Total Amount, Billed and Expected Date, and the action for raising a new order.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/inventory/purchase-orders/purchase-orders-list.png)
- **Add the items and quantities**

  Each line resolves to a variant where the product has them, because that is what will be received.
- **Set the delivery warehouse and the expected date**

  The depot is where the goods should land, and becomes the default on the receive. The expected date is what the vendor's lead time promised, and it is what makes an overdue order findable.
- **Issue it to the vendor**

  A draft order expects nothing. Issuing is what puts the quantity on order.

> **Warning:**
>
> **A draft order is invisible to replenishment**
>
> It does not appear in your expected figure, so the next person to look at the same shortfall will order it again.

> **Tip:**
>
> **Set the expected date honestly**
>
> It is not a target, it is what you will chase against. A date copied from an optimistic quote makes the overdue filter useless.