Free purchase order template

Easy-to-use purchase order template

A purchase order is a document that you send to your vendor when you want to order items for your inventory. It is an effective tool for communicating and saving transaction details.

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Usage Description

To use the purchase order template, download the template as a spreadsheet, fill in the details and print it offline whenever you want.

What are the benefits of a purchase order?

A purchase order is a way to keep track of the items that you order from your vendor. It also helps share the information in a clear way and keep the order process from getting confusing. If you keep a database of all of your purchase orders, you can use it for further analysis in the future. Let's dive deeper into each of these points:

Tracking

The usual problem with small businesses is the difficulty of tracking your activities with a shortage of manpower and time. A purchase order acts as a savior by creating a paper trail of your purchase activities. It makes it easy to share information with your vendors, save it to your devices, and access it later if you need it.

Analysis

Creating a purchase order makes it possible to analyze your business activities and identify trends for better decision-making. When the data is well organized in a database of purchase orders, it can be used to find important insights like the most frequent intervals at which the items are ordered and the items which are bought most regularly.

Better relations

Good communication is important in a business relationship. When your orders are clear, well documented, and easy to understand, you're helping your vendor and making their work easier. That improves the working relationship and increases the goodwill between their business and yours.

Key components of purchase order

Purchase order #

The purchase order number is a unique identification and helps to maintain consistency with your vendor and warehouse staff. Whether you and the vendor are using spreadsheets or order management software, you should both be saving the information for each order under its purchase order number.

Vendor address

Item details

A well-formatted list of items with clear descriptions makes the order easier to understand for both the receiver and the sender. Always include the quantity, rate, and amount for each item.

Notes

The notes section of the purchase order allows you to state any special terms and conditions that you have agreed upon with your vendor. Mentioning them in the purchase order keeps the transaction transparent and it also ensures that the vendor can't claim they weren't advised of the terms.