Overview
A Purchase Order (PO) in Luminous lets you formally order products from a supplier, track the order through its production and shipping lifecycle, and receive inventory against it when goods arrive. Creating one takes three steps inside a guided form.
Step 1 – Open the Purchase Orders page
- In the left navigation, go to Inventory → Purchase Orders (the URL ends in
/orders). - You will land on the list page, which has tabs for All Incoming, Active Orders, Draft Orders, Cancelled Orders, Completed Orders, Line Items, Shipments, and Receiving Reports.
- Click the Create Purchase Order button in the top-right corner.
Step 2 – Set Purchase Order Details (Tab 1)
The first tab collects the header information for the order.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Choose Supplier | Select the supplier (also called a factory) this order is going to. This field is locked after the PO is saved, so choose carefully. |
| Order Type | Bulk Order (standard production run) or Sample Order. |
| Incoterm | The shipping terms agreed with the supplier (e.g., FOB, EXW). Changing this resets related shipping fields. |
| Payment Terms | Agreed payment terms (e.g., Net 30). |
| Tracking Info | Optional free-text field for any tracking reference. |
| Order Date | The date the order is placed. |
| Requested Ship Date | The date you are asking the supplier to ship. |
| Arrival Due Date | The date you expect goods to arrive at your warehouse. |
| Invoice Date | The supplier invoice date, if known. |
| Freight Method | Used together with the destination warehouse to look up transit calendar days. You can configure transit lanes under the transit matrix settings. |
| Alternate ID | One or more optional reference codes (e.g., a supplier PO number). |
| Default Ship to Address | Where goods should be shipped — choose a warehouse, a custom address, or (if enabled) a supplier address. Selecting Warehouse requires you to pick a specific warehouse from the next dropdown. |
| Client / Invoice # | Optional links to one or more clients or invoices already in Luminous. |
| Private Note / Public Note | Internal and supplier-facing notes. You can @-mention staff members. |
| Custom Fields | Any tenant-configured custom fields for purchase orders will appear here. |
| Supplier Order Type | Optional. Choose None, Drop Ship, or Transfer Order. |
| Original ETA | Auto-calculated from pickup date + transit matrix once first calculated; frozen after that unless you check "Recalc Original ETA on save." |
| Override transit days | Optional manual override of the transit-matrix calendar days used for the ETA calculation. |
| Recalc Original ETA on save | Checkbox — forces the Original ETA to recalculate from the transit matrix on save instead of keeping the frozen value. |
| Supplier Currency | The currency this PO is priced in (Base/USD or a foreign currency, if multi-currency is enabled). |
When the required fields are filled in, click Next.
Step 3 – Add Purchase Order Items (Tab 2)
This tab is where you add the SKUs you are ordering.
Adding line items
You have several options:
- Quick Add – Opens a multi-select to pick existing SKUs from the catalog at once.
- Add New SKU / Add New Variant SKU – Adds a blank row where you search for a product by SKU or name.
- Add Item(s) button at the bottom of the table – Adds 1, 5, 10, 25, or 50 blank rows.
- CSV / Excel upload – Upload a spreadsheet using the template you can download from the same row. Unmatched SKUs are flagged so you can correct them.
Filling in each line
For every line item, provide:
- Product – Search and select the SKU.
- Qty – The quantity ordered. A warning appears if the quantity is below the supplier's minimum order quantity.
- UOM – The unit of measure for the order quantity (e.g., Each, Case).
- Unit Cost – The per-unit cost. The Line Total calculates automatically.
Optional columns (Expected Ship Date, Expected Arrival Date) can be turned on from the Columns menu in the toolbar.
Container fill gauge
If your products have carton dimensions on file, a summary card at the top of the tab shows the total volume (m³) and weight (kg) across all lines. Enter a Container target value to see a fill-gauge that turns yellow at 85 % and red when full.
Additional fees (if enabled)
Below the line items table, an Extra Costs section lets you add order-level fees (e.g., freight, duty estimates) that will factor into inventory cost layers.
When you have at least one line item, click Next.
Step 4 – Review and Save (Tab 3)
- Optionally add Tags to help filter the PO later.
- Review the order summary — supplier, incoterm, order type, payment terms, dates, and all line items.
- Click Create Order. The PO is saved and you are taken to the PO detail page.
Tip: You can also click Back at any point to correct earlier tabs.
After saving – Managing the PO lifecycle
Editing the PO
On the PO detail page, click Edit (top-right) to return to the same form. Note: line items that already have a Receiving Report linked to them cannot be removed until the report is deleted first.
Copying a PO
Click Copy on the detail page to open the form pre-filled with the same supplier and line items. This is useful for repeat orders.
Updating the status
POs move through a milestone workflow. From the PO detail page, go to Actions → Update Status to advance the order through its stages:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | The order has been placed. |
| Production Started | The supplier has begun production. |
| Production Completed | Manufacturing is finished. |
| In Transit | Goods are on their way (you can record a vessel number and inland tracking). |
| Completed | Goods have been fully received. Remaining incoming inventory is deducted automatically. |
Some milestones (Production Active, Delivered) are optional and can be shown or hidden in Settings → Purchase Orders → Statuses.
Receiving inventory
When goods arrive, go to Actions → Receive PO on the PO detail page (or use the Receiving Reports tab on the list page). This creates a Receiving Report that records quantities received and updates your on-hand inventory.
Quick tips
- You can bulk-update quantity, cost, or downpayment across multiple selected line items using the Bulk Update dropdown on Tab 2.
- The Active Orders and All Incoming tabs on the list page show open POs. Once marked Completed, POs appear under Completed Orders.
- Use the Bulk Actions menu on the list page to update estimated arrival dates or export PDFs for multiple POs at once.