Purchasing: suppliers, purchase orders and reorders from low stock

What does purchasing cover in EasyTaskr?

Everything between "we are running low" and "it is on the shelf". You keep a list of suppliers, make purchase orders for them, follow each order until it arrives, and count the goods in against it. Stock goes up the moment the delivery is saved, and the order shows what is still to come.

Buying well is mostly about timing. Order too late and you run out of the products that sell best. Order too early or too much and cash sits on the shelf, which is why purchasing is as much a cash flow question as a stock one.

How do I set up suppliers?

Under Suppliers, press Add supplier and enter the company name, a short code, the country, a contact person, phone and email. The code cannot be changed later, so pick something simple. A supplier's page then shows the products they supply, their purchase orders, their payment terms and which orders are still open.

Set each product's usual supplier when you add it. That one field is what lets EasyTaskr group a reorder list by supplier, so you send one order to each instead of working through a long mixed list.

How does a purchase order move from draft to received?

Each purchase order has a clear status, and it can only move forward in sensible steps:

The list of purchase orders has Open orders and All orders views, plus a board. Orders past their expected delivery date are marked late, so a missing delivery is noticed before the shelf empties.

How do I order from low stock?

On the purchase orders screen, Order from low stock gathers every product under its reorder level onto one page. The lines are grouped by each product's usual supplier, with the quantity that brings stock back up already filled in and a total at cost for each supplier.

You change any quantity, or leave a line out, then press Review the drafts. That makes draft purchase orders and nothing else. Each one says it was made from low stock and asks you to check the quantities before sending it. Nothing goes to a supplier on its own.

If AI suggestions are on, the purchase orders page also shows products likely to run out, with about how many days each has left and a suggested quantity. Behind each suggestion is a chart of what actually sold each day for the last 30 days, so you can see why it thinks so. Create purchase order starts a draft with those lines for you to check.

Step by step: from low stock to goods in

1. Open Purchase orders and press Order from low stock.
2. Look down each supplier's group and change any quantity you disagree with.
3. Leave out lines you do not want this time, such as a product you are about to stop selling.
4. Press Review the drafts to make one draft purchase order per supplier.
5. Open each draft, add an expected delivery date and any notes, and check the total.
6. Send the order to the supplier your usual way, then set it to Sent to supplier.
7. When the supplier confirms, set it to Confirmed.
8. When the delivery arrives, open the goods-in screen and choose the purchase order.
9. Scan or count each case; each line shows what was ordered, what has already arrived and what is arriving now.
10. If a price has changed, type the new cost on that line.
11. Save the delivery; stock goes up at once and the order moves to part received or received.

How should I decide how much to order?

Order enough to last until the next delivery plus a safety margin, and no more. A worked example: a product sells 30 a week, the supplier delivers in 1 week and you order every 2 weeks. You need cover for 3 weeks, which is 90, plus safety stock of half a week, 15, making 105. With 25 on the shelf, the order is 80. Order 200 because the price per case is a little lower, and about 95 extra sit on the shelf for three more weeks, money that could have paid a bill. Our reorder point guide has a calculator for the first half of this sum.

What is the difference between receiving and Mark received?

Both put stock up, but they suit different deliveries. Receiving against the order, line by line, is the careful way, and it is the one to use when deliveries are often short or prices change. Mark received on the purchase order is the quick way for a delivery you trust: it adds the stock from every line at once and asks which warehouse it went to if you have more than one. Pick one way per order; once an order has been marked received in one go, it cannot also be counted in line by line, so stock is never added twice.

What should I check when a delivery arrives?

Check three things before you save: the count, the condition and the price. Count against the order, not against the supplier's delivery note, because the note says what they meant to send. Set damaged cases aside and leave them out of the count, so you are not paying for stock you cannot sell. And compare the price on the supplier's invoice with the cost on the order; a small rise on a fast seller quietly eats your margin if nobody notices.

What should I set up first?

Add your main suppliers and set each product's usual supplier. Fill in cost prices and reorder levels on the products that sell most; a reorder list is only as good as those numbers. Then run Order from low stock once a week on the same day, so ordering becomes a routine rather than a reaction. For keeping the rest of your stock accurate, see the stock control guide.