What Should a Purchase Order Include?

A supplier ships you sixty units instead of the eighty you agreed on the phone, and when you call to ask why, they read back a number that doesn't match what you remember. Nobody is lying; there's just nothing in writing that both of you agreed to at the time. A purchase order fixes that before it happens: one document, sent before the order ships, that both sides can point to if a number gets disputed later.

This is a field-by-field anatomy of what a purchase order needs, whether you're writing one in a spreadsheet, a dedicated app, or Shopify's own admin. The fields are largely the same regardless of what tool produces them.

Why a purchase order needs structure

A PO isn't paperwork for its own sake. It's the record that settles three questions if anything goes wrong: what was ordered, at what price, and by when. Without it, a dispute comes down to whoever remembers the phone call better. With it, you're both looking at the same document.

That's also why a two-line email doesn't hold up the same way. It's missing the structure that makes a PO something both sides can actually search and point back to later, not just an informal note.

Header fields — who, where, and when

Line item fields — what and how much

Each product on the order needs its own line, not a single combined total:

• Product or SKU identifier — your own SKU, the supplier's SKU, or both if they differ
• Description — enough detail that whoever receives the shipment can match the box to the line without guessing
• Quantity ordered — the number you're committing to on this line
• Unit cost — the agreed cost per unit, not a rounded estimate
• Line total — quantity × unit cost, so the math is checkable at a glance

Terms and dates

Payment terms

Net 30, net 60, a deposit plus balance on delivery: whatever you agreed, write the actual terms on the document. "We'll sort it out" is not a payment term.

Currency

If you order internationally, state the currency the cost figures are in. A cost of "500" means something very different in US dollars versus a supplier's local currency.

Delivery and shipping terms

Who's responsible for freight, and at what point ownership transfers to you, at the supplier's dock or at yours. For international orders this is usually stated as an Incoterm (FOB, DDP, and so on); for domestic orders a plain sentence covering the same point is enough.

Optional but useful fields

• Notes to the supplier — packaging instructions, labeling requirements, anything outside the standard line items
• Tags or reference numbers — useful once you're running dozens of open POs and need to filter or search them
• Cost adjustments — a place to record a change after the fact, like a price increase, without editing the originally agreed figures

Shopify's own native purchase order tool mirrors this same structure closely: supplier selection, a destination location, per-line product, quantity, supplier SKU, cost and tax, plus a reference number, supplier notes, payment terms, and tags. If you're creating one specifically inside Shopify, the full Shopify purchase orders guide walks through the actual screen, step by step.

A complete PO is also the input the rest of the process depends on. See how a purchase order fits into the full reorder-to-receiving sequence if you're building that workflow from scratch.

Filling in eight or nine fields correctly, every time, for every order, is the part that gets skipped when you're moving fast. It's also what StockCue fills in for you: every field above gets populated automatically from the reorder recommendation that triggered the PO, not typed in from memory.

Frequently Asked Questions

What fields does a purchase order need?

At minimum: supplier details, a PO number, order and expected delivery dates, ship-to location, line items with quantity and unit cost, and payment terms. Everything past that, notes, tags, cost adjustments, is useful but optional.

What's the difference between a PO number and an order number?

A PO number identifies your purchase order, the document you sent your supplier. An order number identifies a sale to one of your own customers. They're unrelated numbering systems that happen to look similar.

Does a purchase order need payment terms?

It should. Without stated terms, a supplier will assume their own default terms apply, which may not match what you agreed verbally. Writing the actual terms on the PO removes that ambiguity before an invoice arrives.

What happens if a purchase order is missing a required field?

It depends what's missing. No quantity or cost on a line item makes the order effectively unenforceable, since nobody can confirm what was agreed. Missing an optional field like notes or tags won't cause a dispute, but makes the PO harder to search and reconcile later.