Purchase order tracking for small businesses, from request to receipt
Purchase order tracking for small businesses: a purchase request form and PO fields to copy, a PO log for Excel or Google Sheets, and three-way matching.
Purchase order tracking means following every order from the moment someone asks to buy something until the supplier is paid: request, approval, purchase order, delivery, invoice check, payment. For a small business, a PO log with one record per item ordered, showing its status, expected date and quantity received, is enough to start.
This guide is for owners and office managers at trades, shops and service companies that buy parts, stock or supplies and lose track of what’s ordered, approved and delivered. It covers the process in plain words, a purchase request form and PO fields to copy, a PO log for Excel or Google Sheets, and how to check an invoice before you pay.
How we researched this: in October 2026 we checked every spreadsheet step on Microsoft’s and Google’s own help pages, and the QuickBooks Online details on Intuit’s.
What is purchase order tracking?
A purchase order (PO) is the order you send a supplier: what you’re buying, how many, at what price, where to deliver it and by when. Its number is how you, the supplier and the supplier’s invoice all refer to the same order.
Tracking purchase orders means anyone can answer four questions about an order without calling around: was it approved, was it ordered, did all of it arrive, and has the supplier been paid? When nobody can, the same things go wrong:
- Two people order the same parts, or nobody does.
- A delivery comes in short, and nobody notices until a job is waiting on the missing part.
- An invoice gets paid for goods that never arrived, or gets paid twice.
- Someone approved a purchase in a text, and nobody can find it later.
A PO log fixes most of this with four statuses everyone uses the same way: Ordered, Part received, Received and Paid.
What are the steps in the purchase order process?
Buying anything for the business follows the same six steps, whether you write them down or not. Each step leaves a record you’ll want later.
- Request. Someone asks to buy something: what, how many, from whom, roughly what it costs and why. The record is the purchase request.
- Approve. The person who can say yes approves it, rejects it or asks for changes. The record is who decided and when.
- Order. The approved request becomes a purchase order, sent to the supplier. Ask the supplier to confirm the price and delivery date. The record is the PO, its number and the confirmed date.
- Receive. When the delivery arrives, someone checks it against the packing slip and notes what came and what’s missing. The record is the receiving entry, with the slip number.
- Match the invoice. Before paying, check the supplier’s invoice against the PO and what was received. This is three-way matching, covered below.
- Pay. Pay what matches, and note the date. The order is closed.
In a five-person shop, one person might request, order and receive, while the owner approves, checks invoices and pays. That’s fine. What matters is that each step is written down where everyone can see it.
What should a purchase request form include?
A purchase request form, also called a purchase requisition, is how someone on your team asks to buy something. Keep it short enough to fill in on a phone, but complete enough that the approver can say yes without a phone call. These fields cover it:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Request number | REQ-1083 |
| Requested by | Carlos Diaz, service tech |
| Date | Oct 6, 2026 |
| Needed by | Oct 10, 2026 |
| Items and quantities | 6 rolls of 3/4” PEX tubing, 40 ball valves, 50 push-fit couplings, 4 expansion tanks |
| Estimated cost | $1,325 |
| Supplier | Metro Pipe Supply |
| Quote or price source | Quote Q-7710, or a link to the supplier’s price |
| Job or account | Job 2291 (Hill St) and van stock |
| Why it’s needed | Boiler swap booked for Oct 13 |
| Urgent | No |
The approver adds four more: the decision (approved, rejected or sent back for changes), their name, the date, and a comment when the answer isn’t a plain yes.
Set approval limits by amount
Write down who approves what, so requests don’t wait on the owner. Limits like these are a good start:
- Up to $250: no approval needed.
- Over $250: the requester’s manager approves, or the owner in a small shop.
- Over $2,500: the manager approves, then the owner.
Name a backup for each approver for when they’re away, and agree how fast requests get an answer, such as within a day. If requests keep getting lost in email and texts, approval workflow software sends each one to the right person by its amount.
How to collect purchase requests
A Google Form can save every request to a Google Sheet (Google help), where the approver fills in the decision columns. An app with a request form goes further: each request goes straight to its approver, and the requester can see where it stands.
What’s the difference between a purchase request and a purchase order?
A purchase request, or purchase requisition, is internal. Someone on your team asks to buy something, and a manager approves it or doesn’t. Nothing is committed yet, and the supplier never sees it.
A purchase order goes to the supplier. It lists exactly what you’re buying and at what price, and once the supplier accepts it, it’s an agreement to buy. One approved request usually becomes one PO, though several requests to the same supplier can go on one order. Put the request number on the PO, so every order traces back to who asked for it and who approved it.
What goes on a purchase order?
A PO has two parts: the order details at the top and one line for each item.
Order details:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| PO number | PO-1047 |
| Date | Oct 7, 2026 |
| Supplier, contact and your account number | Metro Pipe Supply, Rita Alvarez, account MPS-20418 |
| Deliver to | Main warehouse, 18 Dock Rd |
| Needed by | Oct 10, 2026 |
| Payment terms | Net 30 (pay within 30 days of the invoice) |
| Ordered by | Jen Park |
| Request number | REQ-1083 |
| Notes for the supplier | Call Jen before delivering |
One line per item:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Item | 3/4” push-fit coupling |
| Supplier’s part number | PF-34C |
| Quantity | 50 |
| Unit price | $6.10 |
| Line total | $305 |
Add the subtotal, tax, shipping and total at the bottom. Number your POs in order (PO-1046, PO-1047) and never reuse a number: it’s what the packing slip and the invoice will quote back to you.
How do you track purchase orders in Excel or Google Sheets?
A PO log, a list of every order and where it stands, works well in a spreadsheet for a small team, as long as it handles partial deliveries. The trick is to track quantities per item, not per order, because a delivery is often short on one item while everything else arrives. Use two tabs.
The example is a plumbing contractor’s order, but the log works the same for a rental yard ordering bearings, LED tail lights and 7-pin plugs from a few suppliers, or a shop restocking its shelves: one record per item ordered, whoever the supplier is.
1. A PO log tab, one record per item ordered
Each line of a PO gets its own record, so PO-1047 takes four. Three columns fill themselves in.
| Column | Example, after the first delivery | How it’s filled |
|---|---|---|
| A. PO number | PO-1047 | Typed |
| B. Request | REQ-1083 | Typed |
| C. Supplier | Metro Pipe Supply | Drop-down |
| D. Item | 3/4” push-fit coupling | Typed |
| E. Qty ordered | 50 | Typed |
| F. Unit cost | $6.10 | Typed |
| G. Ordered on | Oct 7, 2026 | Date |
| H. Expected on | Oct 10, 2026 | Date the supplier gave you |
| I. Qty received | 20 | Formula (step 3) |
| J. Still to come | 30 | Formula (step 3) |
| K. Status | Part received | Formula (step 3) |
| L. Invoice number | 55120 | Typed when the bill comes |
| M. Paid on | Date, once the whole line is paid |
Make Supplier a drop-down so every PO spells it the same way. In Excel, choose Data > Data Validation and set Allow to List (Microsoft help). In Google Sheets, choose Insert > Dropdown (Google help).
2. A Receiving tab, one record per item per delivery
Whoever unpacks a delivery adds a record for each item that came, with the packing slip number. Copy the item name from the PO log, so the two match exactly. Here are the couplings on PO-1047 once both deliveries are in (the first delivery also added a record each for the tubing, valves and tanks):
| Column | First delivery | Second delivery |
|---|---|---|
| A. Date | Oct 10, 2026 | Oct 16, 2026 |
| B. PO number | PO-1047 | PO-1047 |
| C. Item | 3/4” push-fit coupling | 3/4” push-fit coupling |
| D. Qty received | 20 | 30 |
| E. Packing slip | 88213 | 88391 |
| F. Received by | Carlos | Jen |
3. Add the formulas
Put these in row 2 of the PO log and fill them down. They work the same in Excel and Google Sheets.
Qty received (column I) adds up every delivery of this item on this PO with SUMIFS (Microsoft help, Google help):
=SUMIFS(Receiving!D:D, Receiving!B:B, A2, Receiving!C:C, D2)Still to come (column J) is what’s left to arrive, or 0 for a cancelled line:
=IF(K2="Cancelled", 0, MAX(0, E2-I2))Status (column K) stays blank on empty rows, and reads Paid only once the whole line has arrived and been paid:
=IF(E2="", "", IF(I2>=E2, IF(M2<>"", "Paid", "Received"), IF(I2>0, "Part received", "Ordered")))After the first delivery, the couplings line of PO-1047 reads 20 received, 30 still to come, Part received, while its other three lines read Received. When the last 30 arrive and Jen logs them, the couplings line turns to Received too. A line paid for only part of what was ordered stays Part received until the rest arrives. If a supplier cancels a line, type Cancelled over its status: its Still to come drops to 0, so it’s never flagged late.
4. Flag late orders
Select the log’s records from row 2 down (for example, A2:M500), then add a conditional formatting rule that colors a record when something is still to come and its expected date has passed:
=AND($J2>0, $H2<>"", $H2<TODAY())In Google Sheets, choose Format > Conditional formatting, then “Custom formula is” (Google help). In Excel, choose Home > Conditional Formatting > New Rule, then “Use a formula to determine which cells to format” (Microsoft help).
When a supplier gives you a new date for a backorder, change Expected on for that line, so a late flag always means the order is really late.
5. Review open orders every week
Once a week, filter the log to records with something still to come and sort them by Expected on. Chase anything late, and check that every line marked Received has an invoice number. Once a month, count each supplier’s late lines and invoice mismatches, to see who you can rely on. If you also keep stock counts in a workbook, see our guide to inventory management in Excel.
What is three-way matching?
Three-way matching is how you avoid paying for parts that never showed up. Before you pay a supplier, check three records:
- The purchase order: what you agreed to buy, at what price.
- The packing slip or receiving record: what actually arrived.
- The invoice: what the supplier is billing.
If all three agree on each item’s quantity and price, pay. If they don’t, find out why first.
Here’s the invoice Metro Pipe Supply sent with PO-1047’s first delivery:
Two lines match. The valves are billed at $7.60 against $7.25 on the PO, and all 50 couplings are billed though only 20 arrived. Pay $1,142 now: everything that arrived, at the PO price. Hold $197: $14 until Metro corrects the valve price, and $183 until the last 30 couplings arrive.
The usual mismatches, and what to do about each:
- Short delivery: pay for what arrived, or ask the supplier to bill the rest when it ships.
- Price above the PO: the PO price is what you agreed. Ask for a corrected invoice or a credit.
- Charges that aren’t on the PO, such as freight or restocking fees: check the quote, and ask about anything you didn’t agree to.
- No PO number on the invoice: ask the supplier to quote it on every bill, so each invoice finds its order.
For a service with nothing to count, such as a repair visit, compare the invoice with the PO alone. That’s a two-way match.
When do you need purchase order tracking software?
A PO log in a spreadsheet works while one or two people do the buying and receiving. These are the signs it’s falling behind:
- Deliveries get logged days late, so nobody trusts the Still to come column.
- Approvals happen in texts and hallway yeses, and the log never shows who said yes.
- People type over the formulas, or two people edit the same record at once.
- Crew leads need to check an order from their phone, and the sheet is too wide to read there.
- A part runs out while its reorder sits in someone’s inbox.
Where to go next depends on what you buy:
- You already use QuickBooks Online. Purchase orders are included in the Plus and Advanced plans. When the bill comes, you add the PO to it, change the quantities for a partial delivery, and QuickBooks closes the PO once all of it has been billed (Intuit help).
- You buy stock you keep on shelves. Your POs and your stock counts belong in the same place, so a delivery adds to stock as it’s received. Our guide to building an inventory management app covers the stock side.
- You have a purchasing team and many approvers. Dedicated purchasing software is built for companies with a purchasing department.
- You want your own process as an app. That’s what GoodTaco builds.
Track purchase orders with GoodTaco
Already keep a PO log like the one above? GoodTaco is an AI app builder: upload your Excel or CSV log with its spreadsheet to app tool (no account needed to try, and columns of repeated choices, such as status, become drop-downs), or connect a Google Sheet with the Google Sheets app builder, which reads and writes the same sheet. Then describe one app with your requests, approvals and deliveries in it:
Starting fresh? Two GoodTaco templates take a purchase from request to receipt, in apps your team uses in any browser, including a phone’s.
The approval workflow template handles the request and the sign-off:
- Anyone on your team sends a purchase request with what it is, the vendor and the amount.
- Your limits decide who approves it. The sample uses the same $250 and $2,500 limits as above.
- Approvers approve, reject or send a request back with a comment the requester sees.
- Overdue requests are flagged, and when an approver is away, the person covering for them can decide.
- Every request keeps its history: who sent it, who decided and when.
The inventory management template handles the purchase order and the delivery:
- The overview lists what’s running low, grouped by supplier, and Start an order fills in a PO with suggested quantities.
- The expected date fills in from the supplier’s lead time.
- Email supplier writes the order out in an email for you to send, or you can print it or save it as a PDF.
- When a delivery arrives, enter what came for each line and the packing slip number. Stock goes up in the location you pick, and the order shows Part received until the rest arrives.
- Late orders are flagged.
The samples are a garden center’s requests and a plumbing and heating contractor’s stock, so rename the people, suppliers and items to yours. Using both? Put the request number in the PO’s notes, so every order points back to its approval. Change either app by asking, such as adding an invoice number to every order.
GoodTaco is free to start. Paid plans start at $9 a month, and Pro at $49 a month includes 10 users; bigger teams talk to us about Enterprise.
Know what’s on order, what’s arrived and what’s still to come. Start free, no credit card needed.
Frequently asked questions
What is purchase order tracking?
Purchase order tracking is following each order from the purchase request to payment: who asked for it, who approved it, when it was ordered, what arrived, whether the invoice matches and when the supplier was paid. A small business can do it with a PO log in a spreadsheet or with an app.
How do I track purchase orders in Excel or Google Sheets?
Use two tabs. A PO log has one record per item ordered, with the PO number, supplier, item, quantity ordered, unit cost and expected date. A Receiving tab has one record per item per delivery. A SUMIFS formula adds up what has arrived, a second formula shows what's still to come, and a status formula reads Ordered, Part received, Received or Paid.
What should be included in a purchase request form?
The person asking, the date, when it's needed, the items and quantities, the estimated cost, the supplier, a quote or price source, the job or account it's for, why it's needed and whether it's urgent. The approver adds the decision, their name, the date and a comment.
What is the difference between a purchase request and a purchase order?
A purchase request is internal: someone on your team asks to buy something, and a manager approves it or doesn't. A purchase order goes to the supplier and lists exactly what you're buying and at what price. Once the supplier accepts it, it's an agreement to buy.
What is a three-way match?
A three-way match checks three records before you pay a supplier: the purchase order, the packing slip or receiving record, and the invoice. If they agree on each item's quantity and price, you pay. If the invoice bills for more than arrived, or at a higher price than the PO, you hold that part and ask the supplier.
How do you handle a partial delivery on a purchase order?
Record what arrived for each item with the packing slip number, and keep the order open, marked Part received, with the rest still to come. Ask the supplier when the rest will ship, update the expected date, and pay for what has arrived or ask the supplier to bill the rest when it ships.
Does a small business need purchase orders?
Not for everything. A quick buy at the supplier's counter with a company card can skip it. Use a purchase order whenever a supplier will deliver or bill you later, so the delivery and the invoice have something to be checked against. Also set an amount above which a purchase needs approval first.
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