Purchase Order Tracking

PO Tracking is the page that answers "what is still out at the vendor?" without opening a single order. Every purchase order you have raised is listed there, grouped by the vendor supplying it, so one screen shows everything that is out for production.

Open it from PO Tracking in the sidebar. The page heading reads PO Tracking and under it "Every purchase order you've raised, grouped by vendor." It is a Pro feature.

The page shows the purchase orders for the location you are working in, so on a multi-office account switch location to see another branch's purchase orders.

Reading the page

A Vendors list runs down the left, each vendor with a count of the orders behind it. Click a vendor to load their purchase orders into the table on the right, under a heading that names the vendor and says how many purchase orders across how many orders.

The table has a row per purchase order:

• PO #: click it to open the PDF saved when the purchase order was generated. On a purchase order covering several orders it opens the combined document. If no PDF is stored for it, MonuDesk asks PDF missing for {PO number}, and Regenerate rebuilds it from the order's current details under the same PO number and date and saves it to the order's documents.

• Order: the order number, or a list of them when the purchase order covers more than one. Click one to open the order popup without leaving the page.

• Items: the pieces on the purchase order, as small badges.

• Vendor order # and Confirmed: the vendor's own reference number for the job and the date they confirmed it. Confirmed fills itself in when the vendor acknowledges an emailed purchase order or you press Approve, and a date you already typed is kept.

• Date: when the purchase order was raised.

• Status: Not sent until the purchase order is emailed from Conversations; Awaiting, with an Approve button, once it has been emailed; and Acknowledged once the vendor clicks Acknowledge Purchase Order in the email. Press Approve when the vendor confirmed another way, for example by phone, and the row moves to Acknowledged.

• Actions: the three icon buttons described below.

A completed purchase order stays in the table with its row struck through, so you can still see what was ordered and when.

Until you have raised your first purchase order the page reads No purchase orders yet, "Purchase orders will appear here once you've ordered from a vendor."

Active, Completed, All and search

Three filters sit above the table:

• Active: purchase orders still out at the vendor.

• Completed (N): the ones you have marked completed, with a count.

• All: everything.

Next to them is a search box, "Search PO #, vendor, order...". It matches the PO number, the vendor, the order number and the vendor's own order number, so you can find a job by whichever number the person on the phone is reading out.

The three row actions

Every purchase order row ends with three icon buttons.

Vendor confirmation details (the clipboard icon) opens Vendor confirmation for {PO number}, where you record the reference number the vendor gave you for this purchase order and the date they confirmed it. Those two values fill the Vendor order # and Confirmed columns, and the vendor's order number is one of the things the search box matches.

Mark completed (the check icon) marks every row sharing that PO number as received, and the purchase order moves from Active to Completed. Its tooltip then reads Completed, click to reopen; clicking again moves it back to Active and never touches inventory.

Marking a purchase order completed is also when MonuDesk offers to add the received stones to your inventory quantity. That step has its own article: Marking a Purchase Order Completed and Adding the Stones to Inventory

Delete purchase order (the trash icon) asks Delete {PO #}?: "This permanently removes the purchase order. To keep the record but clear it from the list, mark it completed instead." Use Mark completed when you want the history; delete only when the purchase order should never have existed.

Emailing a purchase order to your vendor

At the top right of the page, next to the heading, is a button reading Send a PO straight to your vendor. It opens a short explainer rather than a form: "Every PO goes out of MonuDesk as an email your vendor gets instantly, and their reply stays next to the order." The sending itself happens in Conversations, and the explainer lays out the four steps.

1. Open Conversations: your vendor threads sit next to your orders.

2. Connect the order: link the thread to the order the purchase order belongs to.

3. Attach the PO: pick it straight from that order's documents.

4. Send it and track the confirmation: your vendor confirms with one click in the email, and it shows up here in the Status column.

A purchase order sent from a conversation goes to that conversation's email address. The one-click confirm button is included only when every recipient is the vendor's own email; anyone else receives the same email without it, so press Approve once the vendor confirms.

You can also send straight after generating: a purchase order for a single vendor that has an email address brings up a prompt at the bottom left with a Send in Conversations button, which opens Conversations on that vendor's email address.

The full walk-through of the email itself, including Send me a test and Send again, is in the article How to Email a Purchase Order to Your Vendor.

The footer of the explainer has an Open Conversations button that takes you there. On a Pro plan it also reads "Included in your Pro plan".

Who can do what

Opening PO Tracking needs the Show orders page permission. Recording a vendor confirmation, marking a purchase order completed or reopening it, and adding received stones to inventory all need Edit quotes and orders (Order management, Settings → Team). Deleting a purchase order needs Delete orders.

With the default roles:

• Owner and Office: everything on the page.

• Sales: can confirm, complete, reopen and add stones to inventory, but cannot delete a purchase order.

• Field and Shop: can open PO Tracking, but cannot change or delete purchase orders.

The to-do advances automatically

When you generate a purchase order that covers a stone item, the order's Stone to-do moves from Must Be Ordered to Ordered, so you don't have to update it by hand. A PO that covers the foundation moves the Foundation to-do the same way. The order itself stays in its stage on the board.

Vendor and PO number at a glance

The order's task line shows the vendor name and PO number, so you can see who is making a stone and its PO without opening the order.

Related articles:

• Marking a Purchase Order Completed and Adding the Stones to Inventory

• How to Generate a Purchase Order

• How to Add and Manage Vendors