The five steps
Buying stock follows the same path every time. Each step has its own screen, and each document points back to the one before it, so you can always see where a number came from.
- Add the supplier once under Purchasing → Suppliers, with payment terms and currency.
- Create a purchase order under Purchasing → Purchase orders. It starts as a draft. When the lines are final, press Send.
- When the delivery arrives, press Receive on the order and post the goods receipt. Stock goes up at the store and the cost of each item is updated. Goods that are wrong or damaged go back on a supplier return.
- When the supplier's bill arrives, enter it under Finance → Payables and tick the receipt lines it covers. Post it to book what you owe.
- Pay the bill with Record payment. The invoice shows as paid or partially paid.
Where to find things
Purchasing → Purchase orders lists every order with its status and how much has been received.
Purchasing → Goods receipts is the book of every delivery that went into stock.
Purchasing → Suppliers is your supplier list.
Finance → Payables holds supplier invoices and shows what is open and overdue. Finance → Payments lists the money paid to suppliers.
What happens in the background
Posting a goods receipt adds the items to stock at the order's delivery location and re-weights their average cost there. The books record the stock and a "goods received, not yet invoiced" amount.
Posting the supplier invoice turns that amount into a payable to the supplier. If the invoice price differs from the receipt cost, the difference is shown as a variance.
Recording a payment settles the invoice from the bank or cash account you choose.
Not sure what to order?
Two tools can fill an order for you: Suggest from reorder levels inside a new purchase order, and Insights → Replenish, which uses your sales forecast. See "Reorder suggestions" for both.
Always enter the supplier's delivery note or invoice number when you receive goods. It makes the bill easy to match later.