Purchase Orders & Demand

Small operations buy when the shelf looks empty; larger ones order formally and receive against the order. Both are first-class here — the PO flow is optional, not a gate.

Purchase orders#

A purchase order records what you asked a supplier for: lines, quantities, expected prices, and a shipping status you can update as the order moves (ordered → packed → shipped → delivered). No stock moves — a PO is a promise, not a delivery.

When goods arrive, the receiver creates a purchase against the PO, pulling its lines in. Receiving is honest about reality:

• Partial deliveries work — receive what came; the PO tracks received-vs-ordered per line and shows as partial until the rest arrives, then completed. Several purchases can receive against one PO.
• The PO's status is derived from receipts, not clicked — it can't claim completion the deliveries don't support (admins can override when reality demands).

The PO list doubles as the purchase order report, filterable by order and shipping status — the "what's still coming" view.

Knowing what to order#

Three tools feed the buying decision, all in the Inventory menu:

• Low stock — every ingredient at or below its alert quantity (settable per ingredient, and per location/department for branches that differ). This is the shelf-is-getting-empty list; check it on a schedule, because it's a report you open, not a notification that chases you.
• Purchase demand sheet — the suggested-buy worksheet for turning needs into orders.
• Demand forecasting — projected needs from consumption history, for buying ahead of the curve rather than behind it.

A working weekly rhythm: low stock on Monday morning → demand sheet → POs to suppliers → receive against POs as trucks arrive during the week. Businesses too small for POs run the same loop with direct purchases — the reports don't care which document ends the loop.