In Ratals ERP, Purchase Orders (POs) are at the heart of your purchasing and inventory workflow. Our PO system was designed to make vendor management, item tracking, and landed cost accounting simple, accurate, and fully connected to your financials. Whether you're creating your first PO, partially receiving shipments, or posting received goods to your books, this guide will walk you through every step.
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create, manage, receive, and post Purchase Orders in Ratals ERP - with screenshots, examples, and explanations to help you understand not just how to use the platform, but also how the data connects across your accounting and inventory modules.
Ratals ERP gives you two ways to access your Purchase Orders, depending on your user permissions and workflow role:
These two access points ensure that both purchasing and accounting teams can manage POs from their respective areas without overlapping permissions. For example, purchasing can create and receive POs, while accounting handles posting and reconciliation.
Once you open the Purchase Orders page, you'll see a table of existing POs filtered by their workflow status. This helps you quickly find which POs are still open, which are awaiting receipt, and which are ready for posting.
Each PO in Ratals follows a clearly defined workflow status. These statuses represent the life cycle of a purchase order and make it easy to track where each one stands at a glance.
Selecting a status filter helps you quickly identify what needs attention - such as open orders awaiting confirmation or shipments that are partially received.
To create a new Purchase Order, click “New Purchase Order” at the top of the page. You'll be prompted to fill in general details about the PO, including vendor, shipping, and billing information.
Start by selecting the vendor from the dropdown menu. The list is populated with vendors you've already created in the system. Vendor details such as address and contact information will automatically fill in.
Next, choose the “Ship To” and “Bill To” locations. These will autofill based on your saved warehouse and billing profiles. You can add or edit these options under their respective admin sections for Vendors, Warehouses, and Bill-To Profiles.
You can also specify optional details like:
Use the Notes To Display On PO field to include notes visible to the vendor (for example, “Ship complete order together”).
Use Internal Notes for comments visible only to your internal team (for example, “Vendor is one week out”).
Once your PO header is saved, click the Sub Item(s) link to open the item section. This takes you to a searchable list of all inventory items available for ordering. From here, you can search, select, and add items to the purchase order. Your current PO items will appear at the top of the section, with your full inventory catalog displayed below.
To make adding items easier, Ratals ERP provides a full-text search that allows you to search by item number, item name, description, or any inventory / custom field. To narrow your results, select the PO's vendor first - this filters the list to only show items associated with that vendor.
By default, when you add an item to a purchase order, the quantity is set to 1. You can update this by clicking the Edit button next to the item, as shown in the screenshot above. Always verify that the quantities and pricing match your vendor's quotation before confirming the PO. The pricing displayed on the PO is pulled from the inventory record for that vendor. If your vendor provides an updated cost, you should update the inventory item's cost for that vendor to keep future purchase orders accurate.
Note: You can only add existing inventory items to a PO. If you need to purchase something not yet in your catalog, create the inventory record first. This ensures the cost is properly allocated to your financials and inventory valuation.
Once you've added all items and reviewed totals, you can download the PO as a PDF or export it for email. This version will include vendor details, ship-to information, taxes, and notes like so:
After sending the PO to your vendor, update the PO status to Sent – Vendor has received the PO. This step is important for tracking workflow progress, especially when managing many open POs at once.
After the vendor reviews the order and confirms acceptance, update the PO status to Confirmed. At this point, do not make item changes, as the PO represents a legally binding agreement with the vendor.
When goods arrive at your warehouse, your team will count and verify the received quantities. If the shipment is partial, note what has arrived and what's still expected.
Click Receive PO in the top-right corner of the PO page. This opens the receiving interface, allowing you to record:
After submitting, the system updates the Quantity Received column for each item and logs the receive date and packing slip reference.
This gives you an instant visual of what's received and what's pending. For items with a “Next Expected Receive Date,” Ratals displays that date both on the PO and on the individual inventory item, so your sales team always knows when more stock is coming in - without needing to open the PO. Example:
Note: The receive date entered on each PO item will display first on the inventory item. If no date is set on the individual PO item, the date entered on the main PO will be shown instead.
Once all quantities have been received and all related bills (such as freight, customs, or vendor invoices) have been entered, it's time to post the PO.
Note: The numbers and values shown in the screenshot below are for demonstration purposes only and do not reflect actual data.
Posting moves the PO from the purchasing workflow into the accounting books. This process is typically handled by accounting, not purchasing, since it creates journal entries and updates financial statements.
Note: The "Post PO" button and related functionality are only available through the accounting admin area at Admin > Accounting > Purchase Orders > All Purchase Orders. Users accessing POs from the purchasing section will not see this option.
During posting, Ratals performs several key actions:
This ensures your books stay accurate and reconciled - inventory and financial data always stay in sync.
Here are a few best practices to keep your purchasing workflow organized and error-free:
Following these habits keeps your PO records accurate and makes financial reporting much smoother.
The Purchase Order system in Ratals ERP is built to give you full visibility and control over your purchasing process - from vendor selection to inventory posting. Every action, from creating a PO to receiving and posting, ties directly into your accounting records, ensuring your books are always clean and your data always accurate.
By using Ratals ERP, you're not just managing purchase orders - you're building a connected workflow that synchronizes inventory, accounting, ecommerce sales, and operational efficiency across your business.
Ratals ERP keeps your purchasing, inventory, and accounting perfectly aligned - so you can focus on running your business, not reconciling spreadsheets.
A Purchase Order (PO) is a formal request to a vendor to supply goods or services. In Ratals ERP, POs connect purchasing, inventory, and accounting, allowing you to track items, costs, and workflow status throughout the procurement process.
You can access POs from either Admin > Accounting > Purchase Orders > All Purchase Orders or Admin > Purchasing > Purchase Orders > All Purchase Orders, depending on your user permissions.
PO statuses represent the life cycle of a purchase order:
No. You can only add existing inventory items to a PO. If you need to purchase a new item, first create it in your inventory so costs are correctly allocated in accounting.
Click the Receive PO button in the top-right of the PO. Enter the quantity received, vendor packing slip number, and the next expected receive date if applicable. Ratals will update both the PO and the inventory item with the received quantity and pending items.
Posting a PO moves it into accounting, creating journal entries and updating inventory assets. This ensures all received items are costed accurately and linked to the corresponding orders, keeping your financials synchronized with inventory.
Notes displayed on the PO are visible to the vendor. Internal notes are only visible to your team and can be used for reminders, status updates, or internal instructions.
No. Deleting or overwriting posted POs can break your financial audit trail. Instead, use adjustments or credit memos to correct quantities or costs while maintaining proper accounting records.
When entering a partial receipt, fill in the “Next Expected Receive Date” field. Ratals displays this date on both the PO and the inventory item, giving your team a clear view of pending stock.