Purchase orders
A purchase order (PO) is how you track equipment and parts procurement from suppliers. Purchase orders help you manage what needs to be ordered, track order status, and link orders to inbound shipments as items arrive.
Example: Your supply chain team needs 50 units of a specific part to build assemblies for an upcoming project. A purchase order is created for the supplier with the part details, quantities, and expected delivery date. When the supplier ships the order, an inbound shipment is created against the PO to track the delivery. Once the shipment is received, the parts are added to inventory and become available for assembly.
Purchase orders are part of the procurement workflow for managing inbound goods:
List all purchase orders
To see a list of all purchase orders, navigate to the purchase orders page. Purchase orders are listed in a table with the following information:
PO number - Purchase order reference number automatically assigned by Hardfin (e.g., PO-2026-0001)
From/to location - The supplier location and destination location for the order
Items - The parts and products included in this PO with their quantities
Expected date - When the order is expected to be delivered
Status - Whether the PO is draft, open, partially received, received, or cancelled
Notes - Any additional information about the purchase order
Use the tabs to filter purchase orders by status. Use the search to search all purchase orders.
Purchase order status
Purchase orders progress through different statuses as they are processed:
Draft - Order is being prepared but not yet sent to the supplier
Pending - Order has been sent to the supplier and is awaiting delivery*
Shipping - Order is being shipped to the destination location
Partial (partially received) - Some items have been received but the order is not complete
Received - All items in the order have been received
Cancelled - The PO has been cancelled and is no longer valid
The status automatically updates as shipments are created and received against the purchase order.
Add a purchase order
To create a new purchase order, click the "Add purchase order" button and a window will appear. Enter the appropriate details for the order:
Order details
"From" location (supplier)
"To" location (destination) - required
Expected date - When you expect the order to be delivered
Items - Parts or products to be ordered with quantities - required
Notes - Any additional information about the PO
Once all required information is entered, click "Create purchase order" to confirm. The PO will be created in draft status.
Not all fields are required to create a purchase order. At minimum, you need to specify the "To" locations and at least one item to order.
View a purchase order
To view a purchase order, click the PO in the purchase order list. It will open the full PO details page showing:
Order details (PO number, locations, expected date, status)
Line items (parts or products ordered with quantities)
Shipments (inbound shipments recorded against this PO)
Notes
Files
From the PO details page, you can take action on the purchase order.
Take action on a purchase order
Several actions can be taken on a purchase order:
Edit - A draft or open PO can be edited to change order details, items, or quantities
Send to 3PL - Send the PO to the 3PL to be processed*
Record shipment - Create a new inbound shipment against the purchase order to track delivery
Cancel - A purchase order can be cancelled if it is in Draft status
These actions appear at the top right of the purchase order details page.
Sending POs to 3PLs
If the "To" location is a 3PL location, you can send the PO to your 3PL to be processed by selecting the "Send to 3PL" action. This option will appear instead of "Record shipment" action. This option only appears if your organization has third-party fulfillment enabled.
When you select "Send to 3PL," the PO will be sent via your third party's API, including:
Expected items and quantities
Notes (if supported)
Files (if supported)
When your third party responds to confirm the PO, the status will automatically move to "Pending."
Third-party status updates
As the third-party provides further updates on the PO over time (such as shipments delivered and received), the PO will automatically move to Partial and Received. If the third party cancels your PO, the PO status will automatically move to Cancelled.
Want to learn more about third-party fulfillment? Read more about third-party fulfillment. Contact your customer success manager to enable third-party fulfillment for your organization.
Recording shipments against purchase orders
Once items begin shipping for a PO, you can record inbound shipments against the PO to track deliveries. When creating an inbound shipment, you can select the purchase order from a dropdown, and the shipment will automatically populate with:
From and To locations from the PO
Items and quantities from the PO
Link to the PO for tracking
As shipments are received against a purchase order, the PO status automatically updates from Open to Partially received to Received. The details of each shipment appear underneath its corresponding line item (on the Line items tab) and listed by shipment (on the Shipments tab).
This makes it easy to:
Track which items from the PO are being shipped
See how many units were ordered, how many have been recorded in shipments, and how many are still needed
Maintain a clear link between procurement commitments and actual deliveries
Cancelling purchase orders
If a purchase order needs to be cancelled (supplier unable to fulfill, order no longer needed, etc.), you can cancel the PO from the details page. Cancelled purchase orders remain in the system for record-keeping but are no longer active.
A purchase order can only be cancelled if it is in Draft status. Once shipments have been received against a PO (Partially received or Received status), the PO cannot be cancelled.
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