Create and manage a purchase order in SamBooks

A purchase order commits goods with your supplier before they arrive: here is how to create it, confirm it, send it, and receive it as a delivery note (DN).

What this is for

The purchase order is the first document in the chain with a supplier: it states what you ordered, at what price, and under what shipping and payment terms, before the goods physically arrive. It is not a tax document and it never creates a bookkeeping entry: it exists to track the commitment and, once the goods arrive, to trigger the warehouse receipt through the purchase delivery note (DN). If you work with couriers and carriage-forward shipping, the same order also lets you plan the pickup at the supplier's premises.

Before you start

• The supplier must already exist in your contacts (you can also create it on the fly from the same screen, see below).
• You need the Manager, Administrative, or Logistics role: a Viewer can see purchase orders but cannot create or edit them.
• If your company is on the flat-rate tax regime (RF19), the entire purchasing cycle — including purchase orders — is not available in the sidebar: this guide applies to companies on the ordinary tax regime.
• A note on language: SamBooks' screens are fully translated, but some validation errors coming straight from the server are shown in Italian even when your interface language is English (they are internal safety checks, not yet localized). This guide points out where that happens.

How to do it, step by step

1. Open the purchase orders list

From the left menu open Purchase orders. You'll see a list with the columns Number, Supplier ref., Date, Supplier, Status, and Total. At the top you can filter by Status, by the Open only preset (shows only orders that still have goods to receive), by Supplier, and by Period. If you have no orders yet, the list shows "No orders. Create the first one with «New order»."; if the filters find nothing, it shows "No orders for these filters."

2. Click "New order"

At the top right, click New order: this opens the full-page creation form.

3. Fill in the order, or upload it from a PDF

At the top of the page there is a Fill from PDF or image (OCR) drop zone: upload an order you already wrote elsewhere (or the supplier's order confirmation) as a PDF, JPEG, or PNG, and SamBooks tries to recognize the supplier, lines, dates, and shipping terms. It is always a suggestion to review before saving, never an automatic action.

If you fill it in by hand:

• Supplier: search by name or VAT number in the contact section at the top; if it doesn't exist yet, you can create it on the fly from the same combobox. It is the only truly required field: without a selected supplier, saving is blocked with "Select a supplier."
• Order date: next to the supplier field, defaults to today.
• Supplier order number: an optional field to note the reference the supplier itself uses (different from the sequential number SamBooks assigns to your own order).
• Lines: at least one line with either a catalog item/service or a free-text description, quantity, unit price (the purchase cost, editable), a single per-line discount, and a VAT rate. If you leave every line empty, saving is blocked with "Add at least one line with item or description."
• Payment terms: a section with Payment conditions, Payment method, Payment days, and Starts from (Document date / End of month / Delivery date). As soon as you pick the supplier, these fields pre-fill from its record ("Pre-filled from the supplier record; editable for this order.") but remain editable for this order only; unlike sales orders, there is no Collection account field here (it only makes sense when you're the one collecting money).
• Shipping: choose the transport terms among Not specified, Free (on our account), and Carriage forward (recipient pays) — the hint reminds you that "«Carriage forward» = transport on your account: once confirmed, the order enters pickup planning." Choosing Carriage forward enables two otherwise disabled fields: Pickup address (one of the supplier's addresses, or "Supplier's registered office (no dedicated address)" if it has none — you can add a new one from the New pickup address link) and Delivery warehouse (your receiving warehouse). There is also Requested delivery, the date by which you'd like the goods.
• Notes: free text.

At the bottom right you see live estimated totals (Net, VAT, Total — the server computes the final total on save). Click Create order to save.

Heads up: this form does not flag required fields as you type (it doesn't use the same live validation as other SamBooks forms): if something is missing, you'll only find out when you click the button, via an error message. That's expected behavior, not a bug — don't expect a red asterisk on the fields.

The newly created order starts in draft status, with a sequential number and year assigned automatically.

4. Confirm the order

Open the draft order and click Confirm (visible only on draft orders, no confirmation dialog). The order moves to confirmed status, stock items are marked as on order in the warehouse, and if you chose Carriage-forward shipping, the order enters the pickup planning for logistics. The confirmation message is "Order confirmed (expected in warehouse)." From this point the order can no longer be edited: to change it, you must cancel it and create a new one.

5. Send the order to the supplier (optional)

From the order detail, click Send to supplier to email the order PDF to the address on file in the supplier's record (never to a certified-mail/PEC address). You can also download the PDF yourself and send it through another channel.

6. Receive the goods: "Register DN"

When the goods arrive, open the confirmed order (with lines still to receive) and click Register DN. The Register purchase DN dialog opens: for each line you see the remaining quantity and a pre-filled quantity to receive that you can correct if you received less than expected. Confirm to generate the document: a draft purchase delivery note is created — the order itself still does not move the warehouse. The actual warehouse receipt only happens when, from the Purchase delivery notes page, you open that DN and issue it (see the dedicated guide on receiving goods). Depending on how much you've received, the order moves to partially fulfilled or fully fulfilled as you issue the linked DNs.

You can also receive the goods without going through here: from the Purchase delivery notes page there is a wizard that starts directly from the order (useful if a single DN covers several orders from the same supplier). The result is the same, only the starting point changes.

Editing, cancelling, and deleting an order

• Editing: only an order still in draft can be edited (same form as creation, supplier locked). If you try to open an already confirmed order for editing, you'll see "Order not editable" with the text "Only draft orders can be edited. Cancel the order to release the expected stock."
• Deleting: only drafts can be deleted, with a confirmation dialog ("Delete the draft? The draft will be permanently deleted. This action cannot be undone."). A confirmed order cannot be deleted: it must be cancelled first. If you try anyway, the server refuses with an Italian-language message meaning that only drafts can be deleted and a confirmed order must be cancelled instead.
• Cancelling: available on a confirmed order that has not yet received any goods (if it has received goods, even partially, cancelling is no longer allowed). The confirmation dialog asks "Cancel the document? The document will be cancelled and can no longer be used. Any linked effects (stock movements, commitments) are reversed." If the order has already been fulfilled, even partially, the server refuses — again with an Italian-language message — and the only options left are to handle the remaining part or to work on the linked delivery note instead.

The Chain tab

On the order detail, the Chain tab shows the document chain generated from this order: the Purchase DNs generated (with a badge such as "DN no. 12/2026", a status of "Draft DN" or "Invoiced with {invoice number}", and an Open purchase DNs link) and the linked Purchase invoices (with total and an Open invoice link). If the order hasn't generated anything yet, you'll see "Order still isolated: no downstream documents."

Ask Sam

Everything above can also be requested in chat with Sam, with the same result as the form: "create a purchase order to supplier Rossi Srl for 100 pieces of M6 screws", "confirm order 12/2026", "generate the DN for order 12", "cancel order 8". Both paths are equivalent: whatever you can do from the form, you can also get from chat, and vice versa.

If something goes wrong

• "Select a supplier.": you clicked Create order without choosing a supplier in the combobox at the top.
• "Add at least one line with item or description.": every line is empty; you need at least one line with a catalog item or a free-text description.
• "Order not editable": you're trying to edit an already confirmed order. Cancel it if you truly need to correct it, or leave it as is and handle the difference on the delivery note or the invoice.
• Cancellation is refused: the order has already received goods (partially or fully) through an issued delivery note. You can no longer cancel the order itself: you can, however, cancel the issued delivery note if you also need to reverse that warehouse movement.
• The "Register DN" button doesn't appear: the order isn't confirmed yet, or it has no lines with a remaining quantity to receive (it has already been fully fulfilled).
• An error message appears in Italian: some validation checks run on the server and are not yet translated. If you're not sure what it means, the English guides above cover the same rules in plain language.

Frequently asked questions

How do I send the order to the supplier? From the order detail, click "Send to supplier": an email goes out with the PDF attached to the address on the supplier's record. Alternatively, download the PDF and send it however you prefer.

What does "Carriage forward" mean on a purchase order? It means shipping costs are on you, the recipient: choosing it enables the pickup address at the supplier and the delivery warehouse, and the confirmed order enters the pickup planning for whoever organizes shipments.

Can I edit an already confirmed order? No: only draft orders can be edited. If a confirmed order is wrong, cancel it (as long as it hasn't received any goods yet) and create it again.

What's the difference between our order number and the supplier's number? The number you see in the list (e.g. 12/2026) is the sequential number SamBooks assigns to your order. The "Supplier order number" field is optional and only records the reference the supplier itself uses on its own documents.

Does a purchase order create a bookkeeping entry? No, never: the order is only a commitment document. The general ledger is affected later, when you register the supplier's invoice (or a related expense note/customs declaration).

Does a purchase order move the warehouse? Not even on confirmation: stock items are only marked as on order. The warehouse is actually loaded when you issue the purchase delivery note generated from the order.

Can I delete a draft purchase order? Yes, with the Delete button and a confirmation: deleting a draft cannot be undone. An already confirmed order can't be deleted — it has to be cancelled instead.

How do I set payment terms on the supplier order? They pre-fill automatically from the supplier's record as soon as you select it; you can still change them in the Payment terms section, and the change only applies to this order.

Related guides

• Receiving goods and registering the purchase delivery note
• Managing suppliers