A purchase order is the document that turns "can you send us 40 of those?" into a record both sides can rely on. It states exactly what is being bought, at what price, how it should be shipped and when it needs to arrive. This purchase order generator produces a clean, numbered PO with an authorization line in a couple of minutes, with no software to install and no account to create. Everything happens in your browser, and the finished PO downloads as a letter-size PDF.

Small businesses often skip purchase orders because they feel like big-company paperwork. In practice a PO is what saves you when a supplier delivers the wrong quantity, bills a different price, or ships to the wrong address. Having it in writing means a two-minute phone call instead of a two-week argument.

A purchase order is issued by the buyer and sent to the supplier. It is an offer to buy. When the supplier accepts it (by confirming, shipping or simply starting work), a contract is formed on the terms written on the PO. That is why the item descriptions, quantities, prices and delivery date need to be precise.

It is not an invoice. The invoice comes later, from the supplier, and should reference your PO number. It is also not an estimate or quote; those come from the seller before you commit. If you are the seller and need to price a job, use the estimate generator instead.

The PO number is the thread that ties the whole transaction together. The supplier prints it on the packing slip and the invoice; your receiving team checks the delivery against it; your bookkeeper matches the invoice to it before paying. Keep the series sequential and unbroken (PO-001, PO-002, PO-003) and never reuse a number, even for a cancelled order. If you buy for more than one site or department, add a short prefix such as PO-WH2-018 so the number itself says where the order originated.

Write the PO number in the subject line of the email you send the supplier, and ask them to quote it on everything. The terms included by default on this template say exactly that.

Accountants call it three-way matching: before an invoice is paid, it is compared against the purchase order (what was agreed) and the delivery note or receiving report (what actually arrived). If all three agree on items, quantities and prices, the invoice is approved. If they disagree, the discrepancy is resolved before any money leaves the account.

You do not need an accounting system to do this. Keep a folder of PO PDFs, and when a supplier invoice arrives, open the PO with the matching number and check it line by line. Short deliveries, price creep and duplicate invoices all get caught at this step, and the PO is what makes it possible.

Even a two-person business benefits from a rule about who can commit the company to spending money. A workable process looks like this:

1. Request. Whoever needs the goods drafts the PO and puts their name in the "Requested by" field.
2. Approve. Someone with purchasing authority reviews the items, quantities and total, then signs the "Authorized by" line (on paper or by replying "approved" to the PDF).
3. Send. The approved PO goes to the supplier with the PO number in the subject line.
4. Receive. When the delivery arrives, check it against the PO and note any shortfalls.
5. Pay. Match the supplier's invoice to the PO and the delivery before releasing payment.

Set a threshold (for example, anything over $500 needs a second signature) and stick to it. The "Payment terms" field on the PO lets you state up front when the supplier can expect to be paid, which avoids chasing emails later.

If you are on the selling side, bill against a customer's PO with the invoice generator and confirm payment with the receipt maker. For service and maintenance jobs that need scheduling and sign-off rather than shipping, use the work order generator.