# Issue a purchase order (/docs/purchasing/purchase-orders)

A purchase order tells a supplier what to deliver. Open **Purchasing > Purchase orders**.

```mermaid
%% title: Purchase order status flow
flowchart LR
  A[Draft] -->|Approve · e-sign| B[Approved]
  B -->|Issue to supplier| C[Issued]
  C -->|Receive goods| D[Partially received]
  C -->|Receive goods| E[Received]
  D -->|Close short| F[Closed]
  E -->|Close| F
  C -->|Amend · new revision| B
  A -->|Cancel| G[Cancelled]
  G -->|Reset to draft| A
```

## Approve and issue an order [#approve-and-issue-an-order]

<Steps>
<Step>

Open the draft order, for example `PO-2026-0523`. Check the supplier, the unit price, the
**Specification / drawing rev** and **Quality requirements**. The order cannot be approved without
them. An order made from a requisition gets the specification from the item's **Purchase spec**.
If it is empty, choose **Edit**: a draft order takes the item's current **Purchase spec** when the
form opens. If the item has none, enter it. Picking an item on a new order also fills it in.
**PO rev**, **Amendment reason** and **Supplier acknowledgement** show only after an amendment or
an acknowledgement records them.

</Step>
<Step>

Choose **Approve · e-sign** and sign. Each approval level signs in turn. See
[How purchase approvals work](/docs/purchasing/approval-ladder). When the last level has signed
the order is **Approved**. You cannot approve an order you created or whose supplier, quantity or
price you set or changed: the button shows why, and another approver signs it. The order is
approved on its own amount, whatever its requisition was approved at.

</Step>
<Step>

Choose **Issue to supplier** and sign. The order is now **Issued**. For a **Conditional** supplier,
the trail records the tightened inspection note.

</Step>
<Step>

When the supplier confirms, choose **Record supplier acknowledgement** and enter **Supplier
acknowledgement**, the supplier's reference.

</Step>
</Steps>

<GuideStep
  title="An approved order, ready to issue"
  description="The buttons on the right depend on the status."
  src="/guide/purchase-orders/1.png"
  alt="Purchase order PO-2026-0522 on desktop with status Approved and the Issue to supplier button"
  width={1440}
  height={1000}
  callouts={[
    { x: 80, y: 14, caption: "Issue to supplier sends the order." },
    { x: 50, y: 30, caption: "Supplier, item, quantity and unit price." },
    { x: 50, y: 60, caption: "Approval strip with every level signed." },
  ]}
/>

## Change an issued order [#change-an-issued-order]

Choose **Amend · new revision** on an **Issued** order. Enter **Amendment reason**, and change
**Specification / drawing rev** or **Quality requirements** if they changed. Sign. The order gets a
new revision, loses its acknowledgement and returns to **Approved**. Issue it again and record the
new acknowledgement.

## Cancel, reset, close [#cancel-reset-close]

| Button | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| **Cancel** | **Draft**, **Approved**, **Issued** | The order is **Cancelled**. Not possible once goods are received against it. |
| **Reset to draft** | **Cancelled** | The order returns to **Draft**. Every approval level signs again. |
| **Close short** | **Partially received** | The order is **Closed** with what arrived. |
| **Close** | **Received** | Everything arrived. Sign to close. |

Receiving goods is in [Receive goods](/docs/purchasing/receive-goods).

<GuideStep
  title="An issued order waiting for goods"
  description="Receive goods, Amend · new revision and Cancel appear on an issued order."
  src="/guide/purchase-orders/2.png"
  alt="Purchase order PO-2026-0511 on desktop with status Issued and the Receive goods button"
  width={1440}
  height={1000}
  callouts={[
    { x: 80, y: 14, caption: "Receive goods, Record supplier acknowledgement, Amend and Cancel." },
    { x: 50, y: 35, caption: "Supplier acknowledgement reference." },
    { x: 50, y: 62, caption: "Order lines with ordered, received and outstanding quantity." },
  ]}
/>

## If the system refuses [#if-the-system-refuses]

An order cannot be approved or issued while any of these is true: the supplier is not on the list,
is not Approved or Conditional, has no certificate expiry or an expired one, has no re-evaluation
date or is overdue, has no signed quality agreement, supplies an outsourced process with no
control reference, or the order has no specification or quality requirements. The first one found is
shown. See [Purchasing refusals](/docs/purchasing/refusals#purchase-orders) for the exact text.

<NextSteps>

<NextStep href="/docs/purchasing/receive-goods" title="Receive goods" description="Book the delivery into stock." />

<NextStep href="/docs/purchasing/suppliers" title="Approve and manage suppliers" description="Fix a supplier that blocks an order." />

<NextStep href="/docs/purchasing/approval-ladder" title="How purchase approvals work" description="Levels, limits and delegation." />

<NextStep href="/docs/purchasing/refusals" title="Purchasing refusals" description="Every message and what to do." />

</NextSteps>