Order lines
Order preview
| Description | Qty | Unit price | Line total |
|---|
What a purchase order template actually needs
A PO is a short document. If it carries the fields below it will survive contact with a supplier, a warehouse and an accounts department. Leave any of them out and someone will be sending an email to ask.
| Field | Why it is there |
|---|---|
| PO number | A unique reference, so the order, its delivery note and its invoice can be matched later without a phone call. |
| Buyer and supplier names | The legal entity that owes the money and the legal entity owed it. |
| Order date and needed-by date | One records when you committed; the other is what the supplier actually has to hit. |
| Line table | Description or SKU, quantity, unit of measure and unit price, one row per product ordered. |
| Delivery address | Where the goods go, which is often not the address you get invoiced at. |
| Payment terms | 30 days, pro-forma, on delivery, written down, so it is not quietly renegotiated by the invoice. |
| Totals | Line totals, order value, VAT and any delivery charge. |
| Authorised by | Who in the business approved the spend, and when. |
| Special instructions | Packaging, pallet heights, labelling, booking-in rules, everything that otherwise gets discovered at the loading bay. |
The two fields people forget
Most missing-field arguments come down to the needed-by date and the authorised-by line. Without a needed-by date the supplier schedules to their convenience, not yours. Without an authorisation, nobody can say who committed the money, which is the conversation you do not want at month end.
How to number purchase orders
There is no legal format, but the scheme that ages best is a simple one:
- Prefix, "PO" so it is obvious what the reference is when it appears on an invoice.
- Year, so the number itself tells you roughly when the order was raised, and sorts chronologically.
- Sequence, four digits, zero-padded, never reused.
Two rules matter more than the format. Never reuse a number, and never recycle the number of a cancelled order. A reused reference is how two separate orders quietly become one in your accounts, and how a duplicate invoice gets paid.
The three mistakes this template prevents
- Double-ordering. A PO that ignores what is already on order is how the same line gets bought twice. Always show what is on order alongside what is on hand.
- Ordering to a tidy number instead of a valid one. If the supplier sells in cartons of 24, the only quantities you can place are multiples of 24. A plan that ignores that is a plan you cannot execute.
- Buying without a budget. "Everything the system says we need" is rarely affordable in one month. The real question is which of it protects the most revenue for the money you actually have.
The honest bit: a template does not decide the order
This template, or any template, solves the paperwork. It does not solve the hard question, which happens before you fill it in: what quantities should be on it?
Give the software your purchasing budget, £50,000 or £750,000, and it plans what to order across every product and every supplier to the penny, funding the most urgent revenue first and respecting every supplier minimum order quantity. Move the budget and the whole order book re-plans in under a second. Approved orders export as a CSV ready to import into your ERP, so the plan you agreed is the plan you place.
Frequently asked questions
Is this template suitable for UK businesses?
Yes. It uses British conventions and includes a VAT line, and the CSV opens cleanly in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers. Adjust the 20% rate if some of your lines are zero-rated or exempt.
Can I use it in Excel or Google Sheets?
Download the CSV and open it in either. If you would rather have the underlying maths built for you, the safety stock calculator and the inventory turnover calculator are a good starting point.
Does it replace my ERP's purchase order module?
No, and it is not meant to. Your ERP is where the order lives and gets approved. This template is for when you need a clean PO in seconds, or for the odd order that never makes it into the system. The export is formatted so it can be imported.