Purchase order software that goes from running low to received in a few taps

Add each supplier with a name, a phone number for WhatsApp, an email and a note, such as delivers Tue & Fri, order by 2 pm. In your catalogue, give each item its supplier, its cost price and its low-stock level. If you buy in packs, add the pack size and the cost per pack: a 25 kg sack of flour, a carton of 24 bottles, a box of 100 nail tips.

Already keep suppliers in a spreadsheet? Import the list; a supplier with the same name is updated rather than added twice. Subcontractors can be imported the same way, with their papers and when they run out.

Running low lists counted items at or below their low-stock level, grouped by supplier, each with a suggested amount to order. Press Make an order and a draft purchase order is made for that supplier at each item's cost price, in packs where you buy in packs. Change the quantities, add a note for the supplier and check the total cost before you send it.

Purchase orders move from Draft to Sent to Received, or Cancelled, and each has its own PO number, so the paperwork from both sides can be matched.

Each PO is an A4 page with your details, the supplier, the deliver-to address, every item with its code, quantity and unit cost, the total, and a line asking the supplier to confirm, deliver and quote the PO number on their delivery order and invoice. Download it as a PDF, print it, or send it. On WhatsApp it opens a ready-written message on your own phone with a private link to the PO. By email it goes from your own mailbox, or opens your email app if your mailbox isn't connected.

When the delivery comes, open the PO and enter what came now for each line. Goods received adds the quantities to your stock and records the cost under Expenses. If only part arrived, the PO shows Part received with how many are in so far, say 18 of 24, and stays open for the rest. If the rest isn't coming, close it short.

Once everything has arrived, the supplier's bill goes to Accounts › Bills, due in 30 days, or is recorded as paid if you paid on delivery by cash or transfer. Because the cost is recorded as the goods arrive, Expenses & profit shows what you spent on stock without a separate step, and Accounts on Business adds bank matching and a balance sheet.

A café buys milk weekly and coffee beans every fortnight. On Monday morning, Running low shows oat milk at 8 cartons against an alert at 12, and house beans at 3 kg against an alert at 5. Make an order creates two drafts: 2 cases of 12 cartons from the dairy distributor at S$38.40 a case, and 2 bags of 5 kg from the roaster. Both are sent from your phone's WhatsApp in a minute, each with its PO link already written in. On Wednesday the milk arrives one case short, so you receive one case and the PO shows Part received. The second case comes on Friday, the PO closes, and the bill is waiting under Accounts › Bills.

Typing in suppliers' paperwork is where mistakes creep in. On a purchase order, upload the supplier's delivery order PDF and press Read the delivery order. Each item is found by its code or name and the quantity filled in, with a note such as 7 of 8 items found, and a warning if the DO mentions a different PO number. Check the numbers, then confirm.

Under Bills to pay, upload the supplier's invoice PDF and the supplier, invoice number, dates, total and GST are filled in for you to check before adding; the PDF is kept with the bill.

Some of the buying is people, not goods: an electrician on a renovation, an illustrator for a design studio, a photographer for an event. Send part of a job to a subcontractor with what's needed, a brief, a due date, the agreed price and any files. They open it by a private link with no account, accept or decline, and mark it done with their files and their invoice. The agreed price becomes a bill to pay, due in 30 days, and the order shows your margin.

Subcontractors never see your customer's details or the prices you charge. If their trade needs a licence or insurance, record it: work can't be sent once it has run out, and the Today screen warns you 30 days before.