Spotlight Form: The Digital Purchase Order (PO)
Crafting an accurate, professional, and accessible Purchase Order is critical when collaborating with suppliers and customers.
A successful Purchase Order not only clearly documents materials, products, or equipment requested, but also helps to ensure projects remain within budget, along with vital agreement-specific details, like prices, quantities, and more.
What information should I include in my Purchase Order (PO)?
Your digital Purchase Order (PO) should not only include a description of requested products, but should also detail agreed-upon prices and quantities, shipment information, applicable discounts, and any necessary technical details. Your Purchase Order should also list a PO Number, for easy location and reference if necessary. With GoFormz, your Purchase Order number can be automatically generated and can later be used to pre-populate data within corresponding fields.
For example, if a completed Purchase Order was assigned the PO Number #98076, this number could later be used within an Invoice to instantly populate a customer or seller’s contact information, project details, and more. These key details help set customer and/or seller expectations while simplifying the management of a project budget. These details can help to settle any misunderstandings or disputes.
Why should I be using digital Purchase Order forms, rather than paper or fillable PDFs?
Digital Purchase Orders not only expedite PO completion but also increase the accuracy of order prices (via instant calculations) and drastically streamline the order process. Leveraging a digital solution to complete Purchase Orders also simplifies form recall, making it easy to search for completed POs, automatically tag digital Purchase Orders with a customer, project, or seller name, and so much more.
While paper Purchase Orders require manual completion, delivery, information rekeying, and filing, digital Purchase Orders can automatically update connected databases, systems of record, and integrated applications, with completed form PDFs and collected data. For example, a PDF of a completed Purchase Order can be automatically emailed to an entered customer or seller email and used to update connected systems (like Procore, Salesforce, and more). Additionally, with GoFormz, your business can run reports across completed Purchase Orders, simplifying trend analysis.
How do I digitize my existing Purchase Order for use on phones and tablets?
Digitizing your Purchase Order is quick and easy. Simply upload a PDF or JPG of your existing form to the GoFormz Template Editor, drag-and-drop fields onto your form, add logic, calculations, and customizations, and start filling out your digital PO using the GoFormz mobile app (available on iOS, Android, and Windows). Learn more here.
Key fields and features
Drop Down menus - Simplify the entry of frequently ordered material information, department details and more, with Drop Downs filled with previously captured data.
Automatic Calculations - Instantly and accurately calculate product price totals, no manual math required.
Table fields - Thoroughly outline product details, quantities, costs and more, using Table fields. Tables can be optimized with simple logic (like Automatic Calculations), allowing users to streamline data entry and improve accuracy.
Text fields - Easily include product descriptions, terms and conditions, leverage speech-to-text capabilities, and more.
Automated Workflows - Streamline the completion of frequently completed tasks (e.g. emailing documents, uploading completed forms to other business systems, or running reports) by automating your data capture and processing workflows.
To learn more about digitizing your Purchase Orders with GoFormz, check out our Starter Guide or explore our ready-to-use Starter Form Templates (free and available in every GoFormz account!).
