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Inventory & Manufacturing

Purchase Orders & Receiving

Elijah Johnson · Published · Updated · 7 min read
Purchase Orders & Receiving is the workflow at /inventory/purchase-orders. Purchase orders track what you ordered, from which supplier, and what arrived. List, Inventory to Purchase Orders (/inventory/purchase-orders) - Create, New (/inventory/purchase-orders/new) - Receive, Open a PO to Receive action on the detail screen.
Open a PO to Receive action on the detail screen Create POs with supplier, line items, quantities, and expected costs. Link suppliers on inventory items (supplier name, supplier SKU, cost). Partial receive when only part of a shipment arrives. Update on-hand quantity and cost on receive. Support typical workflow: low stock to PO to receive to inventory updated to review price book costs. Inventory and purchase order permissions for your role. Suppliers and SKUs maintained on inventory items (ServiceFlow does not ship a live big-box product catalog). Locations configured if you track stock by warehouse, shop, or vehicle. Add lines: inventory items, quantities, expected unit costs. Save and mark as ordered per your internal process. Set supplier, supplier SKU, and cost so PO lines match vendor catalogs you use. On-hand quantity and cost update for received items. /inventory/purchase-orders step 4 is Create a purchase order.

Overview

Purchase orders track what you ordered, from which supplier, and what arrived—so inventory quantities and costs stay aligned with shop stock and price book roll-ups.

How to access

  • List — Inventory → Purchase Orders (/inventory/purchase-orders)
  • Create — New (/inventory/purchase-orders/new)
  • Receive — Open a PO → Receive action on the detail screen

How do you create POs with supplier, line items, quantities, and expected costs?

Create POs with supplier, line items, quantities, and expected costs.
  • Create POs with supplier, line items, quantities, and expected costs.
  • Link suppliers on inventory items (supplier name, supplier SKU, cost).
  • Partial receive when only part of a shipment arrives.
  • Update on-hand quantity and cost on receive.
  • Support typical workflow: low stock → PO → receive → inventory updated → review price book costs.

Prerequisites

  • Inventory and purchase order permissions for your role.
  • Suppliers and SKUs maintained on inventory items (ServiceFlow does not ship a live big-box product catalog).
  • Locations configured if you track stock by warehouse, shop, or vehicle.

Step-by-step

Create a purchase order

  1. Inventory → Purchase Orders → New.
  2. Select a supplier.
  3. Add lines: inventory items, quantities, expected unit costs.
  4. Save and mark as ordered per your internal process.

Link suppliers on inventory items

  1. Inventory → edit an item.
  2. Set supplier, supplier SKU, and cost so PO lines match vendor catalogs you use.
  3. Save.

Receive inventory (full or partial)

  1. Open the PO from Inventory → Purchase Orders.
  2. Start Receive.
  3. Enter quantities received per line.
  4. Confirm. On-hand quantity and cost update for received items.

After receiving

  1. Review affected price book bundles if you use Automatic Cost & Pricing.
  2. Run Bulk Price Book Updates if markup needs a pass across a category.

Current limitations

  • No integrated live catalog from Home Depot, Lowe’s, or distributors—you maintain SKUs and costs.
  • Receiving does not auto-update every linked price book sell price.
  • Advanced three-way match (PO vs invoice vs receipt) is limited compared to full ERP systems.
  • Vendor EDI or automated PO submission is not built in—export/send is manual unless you integrate externally.

Roadmap

  • PO cost change alerts for linked price book components.
  • Supplier performance and lead-time reporting.
  • Optional vendor catalog import templates.

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