Free purchase order maker

How to make a purchase order in five steps

1. Add your business and the vendor. Type your business details, then the vendor's name, address and contact. If you ticked Remember on this device before, pick the vendor from your saved list.
2. Set the number, dates and job code. Check the PO number, add the order date and the date you need the material, and type the job code so this order ties back to its job.
3. List what you are ordering. Add one line per item with description, quantity, unit and unit price. Use Other charges for shipping, a fee, tax or a discount, then type the payment terms and any notes.
4. Sign it and choose the paper. Type who authorized the order and the date. Pick US Letter or A4, then English, Spanish or side by side for the printed labels.
5. Download the PDF and send it. Press Download PDF and email or print it. For a phone order, send it right after the call so both sides hold the same list in writing.

What a purchase order is

A purchase order, or PO, is a short page the buyer writes before anything is delivered. It says who is buying, who is selling, what is ordered, how many, at what price, where it goes and when it is needed.

It is easy to mix up with the other papers on a job. An estimate or quote comes from the seller and says what they expect to charge. A purchase order comes from the buyer and says what they are asking for. An invoice comes from the seller after the order and says what is owed. A receipt comes last and says it was paid.

What goes in each field

Most of the form is plain facts. These fields deserve a second of thought, because people skip them and later miss them.

Job codes and PO numbers

Each order has a field for a job or project code. It turns a pile of orders into a record of what a job cost. With the code on every PO, you can pull one job's orders at month end and add them up, instead of guessing which lumber delivery belonged to which house.

Keep the code short and use one style across the office: a street number, a customer's last name or something like J-214. If one PO covers material for two jobs, write two orders. Ask the vendor to put the PO number on their delivery slip and invoice, so the paperwork finds its own way back to the right folder.

The tool numbers orders like PO-2026-0001: the letters PO, the year and a four-digit counter that goes up by one. The counter is kept only if you tick Remember on this device. Without the tick you set the number yourself, and you can always change it by hand. Never reuse a number. A gap in the sequence is harmless, but two different orders with one number are not.

Writing line items that get the right material

Most delivery mix-ups come from a line two people read differently. Each line has a description, quantity, unit and unit price, and the tool multiplies quantity by unit price for the line amount.

• Describe the item the way the vendor sells it: size, grade, color, finish, brand or model number. Studs alone is vague; 2x4x8 stud, kiln dried is clear.
• Pick a unit that matches how the price is quoted: each, box, bag, roll, ft, sq ft or sheet. A price per foot multiplied by boxes gives a wrong total.
• Put one item on each line, so the delivery can be checked line by line.
• Type the price you were told. If you do not know it yet, leave it at zero and say so in the notes, so nobody takes the page as a priced order.
• Money is worked out in whole cents. Each line is rounded once to the nearest cent, and the subtotal adds those rounded lines, so a hand calculation with odd quantities can land a cent away.

Shipping, fees, tax and discounts

Below the lines is one manual Other charges line, with a label and an amount you can edit. Use it for delivery, a fuel fee, a restocking fee, tax or a promised discount.

The tool does not calculate tax or shipping. If the vendor quoted the tax on the phone, type that figure and label it. If not, leave it for their invoice. For what is taxable in your area, check your local rules or ask your accountant.

The page shows the subtotal of the lines, the other charges and the total. You can choose USD, CAD, MXN, EUR, GBP or AUD, but the tool does not convert between them, so pick the currency the vendor bills in.

Matching the delivery and invoice to the PO

The point of a PO is what you do with it afterward. When the truck arrives, check what came off against the lines and mark anything short, damaged or substituted before the driver leaves. When the vendor's invoice arrives, compare items, quantities and prices with the order, and look for the PO number and job code.

If something does not match, you have a dated page to point to. Calling a supplier with the PO number and the line in question is a short conversation.

Keep each PO with its delivery slip and invoice, one folder per job. Add up the invoices by job code and you have the real cost of materials.

Phone orders and Spanish-speaking suppliers

Fill in the form while you talk or just after, download the PDF and email it with one line: here is the PO for what we just ordered, please confirm the price and delivery date.

If the supplier or the person unloading the truck prefers Spanish, set the print language to Spanish. If the office wants both, choose side by side and every printed label appears in English and Spanish on the same page.

Only the labels are translated. What you type, such as item descriptions, notes and terms, is printed exactly as typed, with no automatic translation, so write those parts in the language the reader uses, or in both.

The blank form, saved vendors and your privacy

Blank form prints the page with empty boxes and ruled lines to fill in by hand at the counter or in the truck. It keeps your business details at the top.

Nothing you type is uploaded, and there is no account. The PDF is made in your browser. Without the tick, the only thing kept is a draft for this browser tab, which disappears when you close the tab. If you tick Remember on this device, you can save vendors and pick them again later, and the counter is kept too. All of it stays on this device. Press Clear saved data to delete it. On a shared computer, leave the box unticked.

The saved list is not a backup. If you clear your browser data or change computers, it is gone.

Frequently asked questions