Purchase order (supplier portal)
What it's for
A purchase order in the supplier portal is one order as the vendor sees it, with the actions to acknowledge it, report shipping, confirm delivery, and invoice for it. It closes the loop without either side sending an email.
Your vendors reach it by opening an order from the portal. The route is
/vendor-portal/purchase-orders/<order>.
Tabs
The page has no tabs. It is the order lines and the actions below them.
Panels and controls
The lines
Description, Qty, Received, and Total — what was ordered and how much of it has been received. Received updating as your office posts receipts is what stops a vendor invoicing for a delivery that never arrived.
Acknowledging
Acknowledge PO confirms the vendor has the order. Until that happens, your office cannot tell an order that has been seen from one sitting in an inbox.
Shipping and delivery
Record partial shipment takes a Shipment note — "Carrier, tracking number, or quantity shipped". Partial shipments are the normal case on a multi-line order, and recording them beats a single all-or-nothing status.
Record delivered takes a Delivery note — "Delivery confirmation or receipt note".
Invoicing
Submit invoice raises the vendor's invoice against the order, with lines carrying a Description, a Kind, a Qty, and a Unit $. It lands in your office for matching against what was ordered and received — see the three-way match on the purchase order.
An invoice submitted here does not become payable by being submitted. It has to match and be approved first, and where the amount exceeds the accepted receipt your office is asked to justify approving it.
What it accepts
| Field | Format | Required | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shipment note | Free text | Yes, to record a shipment | "Carrier, tracking number, or quantity shipped" |
| Delivery note | Free text | Yes, to record delivery | "Delivery confirmation or receipt note" |
| Description | Free text | Yes, per invoice line | |
| Kind | Pick a kind | Yes, per invoice line | |
| Qty | A number | Yes, per invoice line | |
| Unit $ | Dollars | Yes, per invoice line |
How to configure it
- Vendor portal settings decide which actions a vendor may take.
- Bill matching settings decide how a submitted invoice is matched and what variance is tolerated.
- Purchasing settings decide the approval thresholds a bill must clear.
Who can see it
This screen is part of the supplier portal. Vendors and subcontractors reach it with a portal login, and each one sees only their own orders.
Your staff see the same order, with receiving and matching, on the purchase order record.