Purchase order template for parts, supplies and services
Updated · Reviewed by Israel Margulies, founder and CEO of High Point GPS
A purchase order (PO) for buying parts, supplies or outside work from a vendor: who is buying, what, how many, at what price, where it ships and when it's needed, with an approval signature.
A purchase order is your written offer to buy. Once the vendor accepts it, both sides have the same record of the items, quantities, prices and terms, and your receiving and accounts payable can match the delivery and the invoice against it.
Put the work order or machine number on every PO for parts. Months later, that is what links the cost to the repair it was bought for, and it shows which machines use the most parts.
Purchase order
Fields: Company name and address · PO no. · Date · Vendor · Vendor contact / phone · Ship to · Bill to · Requested by · Needed by · Work order / machine no.
Log columns: Item / part no. · Description · Qty · Unit · Unit price · Amount
- Totals. Subtotal, sales tax, shipping and total.
- Payment terms. For example net 30, and how you pay.
- Delivery. Ship method, delivery date and who to call on arrival. Partial shipments allowed or not.
Fill it in the right way
- Give every PO its own number and never reuse one.
- Fill in the vendor, ship-to and bill-to details, and the date the items are needed by.
- Add one line per item with the vendor's part number, quantity, unit and price.
- Write the work order or machine number the parts are for.
- Get the approval signature your spending limits require, then send the PO to the vendor.
- When the delivery arrives, check it against the PO before you sign for it.
Tips
- Ask the vendor to put your PO number on the invoice; it makes matching invoices fast.
- Set approval limits: small POs approved by the supervisor, large ones by the manager.
- Keep the vendor's part number and yours on the same line to avoid wrong parts.
- Close out POs once everything has arrived, so open orders stay easy to see.
Do it in FleetZap
- Inventory, purchase orders and vendors are included in FleetZap, with reorder points and low-stock alerts.
- FleetZap turns low stock into purchase orders to your vendors.
- Parts used on a work order come out of stock, so the count on the shelf stays true.
- Parts, labor and outside work add up to the real cost of each machine.
FleetZap Maintenance
Work orders, PM, parts, compliance, assets and KPIs. Explore FleetZap Maintenance.
Frequently asked questions
What should a purchase order include?
A PO number and date, the buyer and vendor, ship-to and bill-to addresses, each item with quantity, unit and price, the totals, payment and delivery terms, and an approval signature.
What's the difference between a purchase order and an invoice?
The purchase order is the buyer's request to buy at agreed terms; the invoice is the vendor's bill after delivery. Matching the two (and the delivery) is how you catch wrong quantities or prices.
Why put a work order number on a PO?
It ties the parts cost to the repair and the machine, so each machine's real cost is complete.
Do small purchases need a PO?
That's your policy. Many businesses skip POs under a dollar limit and use a company card, but keep the receipt with the work order.