> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.flowretail.com/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.flowretail.com/docs/day-to-day-operations/purchase-and-receivement/purchase-order.md). # Purchase order What a purchase order holds, how a line's cost is built up, and what becomes the value of your stock. A **purchase order** is what you send a supplier. It carries the products and quantities you want, the prices you have agreed, and where the goods should be delivered — and it is where the cost of your future stock is decided. ## What the order holds | | | | ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Supplier** | Who you are buying from | | **Store** | Who is buying | | **Currency** | The currency the order is placed in | | **Discount rate** | An order-level discount | | **Freight** | Shipping cost for the order | | **Delivery address** | Where the goods go — name, address, postal code, city, country | | **Invoice address** | Where the invoice goes, when it differs | | **Supplier reference** | The supplier's own order number | | **Note** | Free text for the order | | **Reserve after** | A date before which items on this order cannot be reserved | **Reserve after** is worth knowing about. It stops sales staff promising goods from an order that is not due yet — useful for a launch date, or a shipment you know will sit in customs. ## What a line holds | | | | -------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | **Product** and **supplier SKU** | What you are buying, and the supplier's code for it | | **Quantity ordered** | What you asked for | | **Quantity received** | What has actually arrived | | **Quantity reserved** | How much of it is already promised to customers | | **Expected delivery date** | Per line, so a split delivery can be tracked | | **Note** | Free text for the line | ## How a line's cost is built up This is the part that matters, because the result becomes the value of your stock. | Field | What it is | | --------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | | Unit price | The purchase price per unit, **before** discounts | | Discount amount | The discount per unit | | Freight amount | That unit's share of the shipping cost | | **Unit cost** | **What the unit actually costs you** | ``` unit cost = unit price - discount + freight ``` **Freight is part of the cost.** Shipping is not booked as a separate expense — it is spread across the lines and capitalised into the value of the stock. A heavy, cheap item carrying a large freight share can cost you considerably more than its purchase price suggests, and that is what margin will be measured against. That unit cost is what is booked when the goods are received, and then blended into the product's average cost — see [Receiving goods](/docs/day-to-day-operations/purchase-and-receivement/receiving-goods.md) and [How cost price is calculated](/docs/day-to-day-operations/prices/how-cost-price-is-calculated.md). ## Orders in a foreign currency When an order is placed in a foreign currency, the supplier's own figures are kept as they are, and the converted figures are kept alongside them. **Stock is always valued in your own currency.** The converted cost is what reaches the warehouse, not the foreign amount — so a EUR order does not book euros into your stock value as though they were kroner. ## Where orders come from | Source | What it is | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | Manually | You create the order and add lines | | [Max/Min](/docs/day-to-day-operations/purchase-and-receivement/max-min.md) | Suggested quantities to bring stock back up to the maximum | | [Purchase requests](/docs/day-to-day-operations/purchase-and-receivement/purchase-requests.md) | Products customers have already been promised | ## What happens next The order moves through its lifecycle as the supplier responds and goods arrive — see [Purchase order statuses](/docs/day-to-day-operations/purchase-and-receivement/purchase-order-statuses.md). Nothing reaches your stock until a receivement is set to `RECEIVED`. ## Limitations * Cost is fixed when the goods are received. A price correction agreed later does not revalue stock already taken in. * The order carries one status for the whole order, even when a delivery arrives in parts. *** *Last updated 19.09.2026* --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation by asking a question. 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