To start, navigate to the Purchase Orders section on your sidebar, and go to "External POs" (or click here). The Purchase Order (PO) tool in Thrive is a comprehensive system developed to streamline inventory management by enabling effective ordering and syncing of quantities. It ensures that stock needs are met efficiently through both manual and automated features.
Then click "Create PO," as shown here:
POs can also be created 1 by 1 via a spreadsheet by using our Spreadsheet Bulk Upload and hitting the "Actions" button instead of "Create PO".
Short on time? Try our AI Assist Purchase Order Tool!
Our faster, smarter way to handle POs and receiving. Change prices by margin, receive cases as singles, auto-update default costs, and more — all in one powerful tool!
PO Number, Date Created, and Date Expected fields will be pre-populated but are editable. Here's more information on each of those fields:
PO Number — This is a number for your internal tracking. It will appear on the PO. If no number is selected, Thrive automatically counts up from the last highest number.
Date Created — This is the creation date for the PO. It can be backdated if necessary.
Date Expected — This is when you expect to receive the PO.
The checkboxes for Sent to Vendor (and Date Sent) and Paid help you know what's already done.
Pro Tip
When you click the gear wheel in the top right corner and "Email PO," that will automatically check the Sent to Vendor field and notate the Date Sent.
Next, you can select your Vendor and Bill To location. Once you choose a billing location, we'll automatically assume you want the same shipping location. You can also edit the Shipping Location if that's different.
Vendor — The Vendor from whom you are ordering.
NOTE: Products must be assigned to that vendor to place a PO.
Bill To — The location designated as the billing address.
Ship To — The Location where products will be received.
Once those above fields are complete, you can start adding products! Important to Know, creating a purchase order alone will not update your catalog or sync quantities to connected sales channels. For inventory updates to take effect, you must complete these steps:
Create your purchase order.
Receive the purchase order in the system when items arrive.
Upon receiving, the quantities will automatically sync with your connected sales channels.
Your products must be assigned to Vendors in Thrive to create a PO, unless you are using our AI Assist PO Tool.
First, you'll need to create vendors or assign products to existing vendors. You can learn more here.
Sending to your Vendor
Once all your products have been added, you can email the PO direction to your vendor from Thrive.
Click the gear wheel in the top right corner while the PO is in any state, and you'll see the "Email PO" option as shown here:
The email address that populates will be based on the information you have entered into their Vendor profile. There's also an option to CC other email addresses and add a note, as shown below.
Download or Duplicate your PO
Download your PO as a PDF or CSV. This allows you to easily send Purchase Orders to vendors as email attachments or print them if you need a hard copy.
Or, you can duplicate a PO to reorder the same products.
POs are permanently stored in Thrive, so your records are always securely backed up.
The vendor phone number and vendor ID will be included in the PDF download.
Things to Note:
Products ordered, but not yet received will appear on the In-Transit Report.
The Message to Vendor and Notes fields are editable at any status. (Draft, Open, Partially Received, etc.)
Vendor SKUs are editable in the Draft, Open, and Partially Received statuses. They are not editable when in the Complete or Canceled status.
The PO Number is not editable once you start receiving products on the PO.
Troubleshooting Missing Items: If you can't find specific products when creating a PO, check that the item is enabled for the location where you're creating the purchase order. Items not enabled for a location won't appear as options.
To resolve this issue, go to the 'Locations and Integrations' tab and ensure your catalog is properly cloned to the desired location.