How to Create a Purchase Order, Step by Step

To create a purchase order, give it a unique PO number, add your details and the supplier's, list each item with quantity and agreed price, set the delivery date and terms, and send it before the supplier ships. That is how to create a purchase order a supplier can fulfill without emailing you back. Ask them to quote your PO number on their invoice, so the two documents can be checked against each other at a glance.

What Goes on a Purchase Order

A usable purchase order needs six things: your business details, the vendor's details, a unique PO number, each item with quantity and unit price, the total, and a delivery date. Anything less and the vendor is likely to email back asking for the missing piece before they'll process it.

Building One Step by Step

1. Agree the price first: get a quote or confirm the price with the supplier before you raise the PO.
2. Add your company details: name, address, and a contact for order questions.
3. Add the vendor's details: the supplier you're ordering from.
4. List each item: description, quantity, and the agreed unit price.
5. Set a delivery date: the date you need the order fulfilled by.
6. Send it before work starts: a PO issued after delivery has already happened defeats the purpose.

Our purchase order generator follows the same order, numbers each PO in sequence, and remembers your company details, so raising the next one takes about as long as a quick email. If you are on the other side and a customer has sent you a PO, confirm it with our sales order generator.

How to fill out each field

• PO number: the next number in your own sequence, such as PO-0043. Never reuse one, even for a cancelled order.
• PO date: the date you issue the order. The supplier may quote it on their invoice.
• Your details: business name, billing address, phone, email, and your tax number if you are registered.
• Supplier details: their business name and address as it appears on their quote.
• Delivery address: if it is different from your billing address, such as a job site, write it in full with a contact name.
• Line items: use the supplier's own product codes or descriptions from their quote, so their team can pick the order without guessing.
• Quantity and unit price: the quantity you need and the price you agreed, not a price from last month's list.
• Tax and total: the tax rate and the total you expect to see on the invoice.
• Notes and terms: the quote number you are accepting, delivery instructions, and "Please quote this PO number on your invoice."

Matching the PO to the Eventual Invoice

When the vendor's invoice arrives, check it against the original PO: same items, same quantities, same price. Ask vendors upfront to put your PO number on their invoice: it turns a manual line-by-line comparison into a quick side-by-side check. Our guide to the PO number on an invoice shows what that looks like from the supplier's side.

If an order arrives in parts, match each delivery and each invoice against the lines they cover, and keep the PO open until everything has arrived. If the supplier sends fewer items than ordered, pay only for what was delivered, and either wait for the balance or close the remaining lines in writing so a late shipment can't be invoiced months later.

Keeping the Process Fast

The main reason small businesses skip purchase orders is that writing one from scratch each time feels like unnecessary overhead for a routine order. Once your details are saved and the numbering takes care of itself, knowing how to create a purchase order stops being a chore: you add the supplier, the items and the date, and send.

If more than one person in your business places orders, agree a simple rule for who can raise a PO and up to what amount, and keep every PO in one shared folder. That single habit stops duplicate orders and makes it easy to see what money is already committed before the next invoice arrives.