# Introduction - Purchase Orders

A purchase order is what you asked a vendor for, and the stock it is expected to bring in.

**Video coming soon:** Raising an order, watching it against its expected date, and receiving it in stages.

It is the start of the inbound chain. Nothing on your shelf changes when you raise one, but the units become expected, which is what stops the same shortfall being ordered twice.

![The Purchase Orders screen, subtitled Manage vendor orders, track receiving and billing status. Columns read Purchase Order Date, Purchase Order Number, Reference Number, Vendor, Status, Total Amount, Billed and Expected Date. Orders sit against UK suppliers including Ludgate Safety Equipment, Luton Site Safety Supplies, Stanwick Alloys and Metals and Halberd Bearings, with statuses of Issued or Draft, amounts in pounds, and every row reading Not Billed.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/inventory/purchase-orders/purchase-orders-list.png)

*Status and Billed are separate columns, because receiving goods and being charged for them are separate events.*

## Draft and issued

- **Draft** (not sent): Nothing is expected. The order is a note to yourself while a price or a quantity is still being agreed.
- **Issued** (sent to the vendor): The quantity is on order and shows in your expected figure.

> **Note:**
>
> **Ordering does not increase stock**
>
> The count moves on the receive, because vendors are late and deliveries come up short. An order says what you asked for; only the receive says what turned up.

## Two columns that answer different questions

1. **Purchase Order**: Expected
2. **Purchase Receive**: Arrived, and counted
3. **Bill**: Charged

The **Expected Date** is what the vendor's lead time promised. The **Billed** column is whether their invoice has arrived yet. Those two moving apart is normal, and watching the gap is most of what this list is for.

![A purchase order record showing its number and status, the vendor, the ordered lines with quantities and rates, the totals, and an activity panel at the right recording what has happened to it.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/inventory/purchase-orders/purchase-order-detail.png)

*The order is the anchor: its receives and its bill both hang off this record.*

## Deciding what to order

| Read | Where |
| --- | --- |
| What you hold | The item, per depot |
| What is already committed to customers | Reserved, on the item |
| What is already coming | On order, from open purchase orders |
| When it will land | The vendor's lead time, and the order's Expected Date |
| When you will run out | The reorder point, and Stock Status on the dashboard |

> **Tip:**
>
> **Order against available, not against on hand**
>
> On hand includes units already promised to customers. Ordering against it is how a business with plenty of stock still fails to deliver.