How purchasing works
Purchasing is one way stock flows into a store — you place an order with a supplier, the goods arrive, and the order is marked received. This page explains the moving parts; the step-by-step guide covers how to drive them.
Franchise Ordering from franchise-linked stock? See Purchase from Franchisor.
The flow, end to end
An order moves through three hands. Admin creates it and marks it Ordered. The header's truck badge surfaces the pending delivery to every signed-in user. When the goods arrive, staff (or admin) opens the badge and marks the order Received — and at that moment the order's lines automatically restock the store's inventory and post a Material expense entry.
The order's life
Every order moves through one of four statuses. The first two are working states; the last two are terminal.
Draft
An order being prepared. Supplier, expected delivery, lines, and quantities are all free to edit. Nothing is committed — the order has no effect on inventory or expenses yet.
Ordered
The order has been placed with the supplier. Lines and the expected delivery date can still be edited (e.g. adjusting quantities after a supplier confirmation). Inventory and expenses remain untouched until the goods are received.
Received
Terminal status. Marking an order as received writes a Material expense entry per line, restocks each line item in inventory, and locks the order from further edits. Choose this when the goods are physically on hand.
Cancelled
Terminal status. Nothing is committed to inventory or expenses. Use this for orders that were never fulfilled or are no longer needed. Edits are locked once cancelled.
Receiving wires Orders to Inventory and Expenses
Marking an order Received does three things in a single step:
- Every line restocks inventory — the received quantity is added to that store's stock for the matching master inventory item.
- Every line creates a Material expense entry — quantity × unit cost, automatically filed under the Material category for that store.
- The order's status flips to Received and it locks from further edits.
You don't enter the same purchase twice. Receiving an order is the single moment that the Orders, Inventory, and Expenses sides all line up — no manual reconciliation, no double bookkeeping.
When to use Orders vs. recording directly under Expenses
Both paths bring stock in and post a Material expense. Pick the one that fits how you actually buy:
- Use Orders when you place a planned purchase with a known supplier you want to track over time — multiple lines on one order, an expected delivery date, and a per-supplier history of what you spend with them.
- Use Recording expenses directly for one-off purchases — a quick run to the supermarket, a single item bought without a supplier on file. Faster, no supplier setup, same end effect on stock and expenses.
Read next
Place & receive orders
The step-by-step walkthrough — create an order, edit it, and receive it on arrival.
Set up your inventory
The master inventory items that orders restock — defined once on the owner side.
Recording expenses
The other path to bring stock in — direct entry under the Material category, no supplier needed.
Everything below applies only once your store has joined a franchise. These features stay hidden until you connect, so a single, unconnected store can stop here. See Joining a franchise.
Ordering through a franchise
Once your store is connected, two more sources appear alongside your own suppliers on the Create Order dialog — your franchisor's central stockhouse and approved partner suppliers — and both run through the same place-and-receive loop above.
How those sources work is in Purchase from Franchisor; the step-by-step walkthrough is in Franchise ordering. For what connecting sets up in the first place, see Joining a franchise.