Overview
Suppliers in Luminous now support their own Custom Fields — the same way Sales Orders, SKUs, and other records already do — plus a set of Purchase Order defaults (Incoterm, Warehouse, Order Type, and lead-time offsets) that automatically fill onto a brand-new Purchase Order the moment that supplier is selected, plus a default ship-to address. Use this when you want a supplier's typical warehouse, lead times, Incoterm, or shipping address to populate automatically instead of entering them manually on every PO.
Custom Fields on Suppliers are generally available — any admin who already has access to Custom Fields and Suppliers can use them, no flag required. Purchase Order Defaults / auto-fill is gated behind an account-level feature flag your Luminous team turns on per tenant. If you don't see the Purchase Order Defaults section on a supplier, or a new PO isn't auto-filling, that flag is the most likely reason — contact Luminous Support to confirm it's on for your account.
How It Works (Step-by-Step)
Add a custom field to Suppliers
- Go to Manage > Custom Fields and click Create Custom Field.
- Give the field a Label, choose its Type, and check Supplier under Custom Field Objects.
- Click Save.
- The field now appears on every Supplier's create/edit form, under its own Custom Fields section, ready to fill in. Values you enter are saved with the supplier and included as a column when you export the Supplier list to CSV or Excel — suppliers with no value set simply show a blank cell.
Configure a supplier's Purchase Order defaults
- Go to Manage > Suppliers
- Click the three-dot menu on the supplier's row and choose Edit Record, then find the Purchase Order Defaults section (it sits above Bank Details and Supplier Address on the same Update Supplier panel).
- Fill in any combination of the following (the section also contains Default Payment Terms and Default Currency):
- Default Incoterm — CIF, DDP, EXW, FCA, or FOB.
- Default Warehouse — the warehouse this supplier's POs should ship to.
- Default Order Type — Drop Ship or Transfer Order. (This fills the separate Supplier Order Type field on a new PO — it does not change the PO's main Order Type, e.g. Bulk Order.)
- Default Requested Ship Date Offset (days) — number of days after PO creation.
- Default Arrival Due Date Offset (days) — number of days after PO creation.
Leave any of these blank if you don't want them applied automatically.
- To set a default shipping address, scroll to Ship to Addresses and click Add Ship to Address. The first address you save is automatically marked Default; add a second and you'll see a Set as Default link next to it instead, since only one address can be the default at a time.
- Click Save.
How new Purchase Orders auto-fill from a supplier
- Go to Purchase Orders and click Create Purchase Order.
- Choose the supplier from the Choose Supplier field.
- Incoterm, Supplier Order Type, Requested Ship Date, and Arrival Due Date fill in immediately based on that supplier's saved defaults — the two date fields are calculated as the PO's Order Date plus the configured offset. If the supplier has a default ship-to address (or a Default Warehouse with its own address), the Ship to Address fills in too.
- All auto-filled fields remain fully editable on the PO. If you type or select something yourself before choosing the supplier, that value is left alone — only fields you haven't touched get filled in from the supplier's defaults. The same protection applies when you Duplicate an existing PO and then change its supplier: the duplicate keeps its original Incoterm and Order Type rather than picking up the new supplier's defaults.
Key Features / Options
| Setting | What It Does | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Default Incoterm | Pre-fills the Incoterm field on new POs for this supplier | Supported values: CIF, DDP, EXW, FCA, FOB |
| Default Warehouse | Pre-fills the receiving warehouse / ship-to address on new POs | Overridable per PO |
| Default Order Type | Pre-fills the Supplier Order Type field (Drop Ship or Transfer Order) | Distinct from the PO's main Order Type field, which is unaffected |
| Default Requested Ship Date Offset (days) | Sets Requested Ship Date = Order Date + this many days | |
| Default Arrival Due Date Offset (days) | Sets Arrival Due Date = Order Date + this many days | |
| Ship to Addresses | One or more saved addresses per supplier; one is marked Default | The default pre-fills new POs for this supplier |
| Custom Fields | Adds flexible, supplier-specific data points | Defined once via Manage > Custom Fields (check "Supplier"), then filled in per-supplier; same custom fields engine used elsewhere in Luminous |
Tips & Best Practices
- Set supplier defaults once during setup so you're not re-entering the same dates, warehouse, Incoterm, and order type on every PO.
- If a supplier ships from multiple locations or has variable lead times, leave the relevant default blank and set it manually per PO instead.
- Defaults populate new POs only — they don't retroactively update POs already in progress.
- Anything you've already typed or selected on a new PO before choosing the supplier is preserved — auto-fill only touches fields you haven't set yet.
- Duplicating a PO and switching its supplier will not pick up the new supplier's Incoterm/Order Type defaults — the duplicate intentionally keeps the original's values.
FAQs / Troubleshooting
Q: I don't see the Purchase Order Defaults section, or my new POs aren't auto-filling.
A: This half of the feature requires an account-level flag that your Luminous team enables per tenant. Contact Luminous Support to request it.
Q: I don't see a "Supplier" option when creating a custom field.
A: Custom Fields on Suppliers are not flag-gated — any admin with existing access to Custom Fields and Suppliers should see it. If it's missing, check your user permissions rather than assuming it's a rollout issue.
Q: I set a Default Requested Ship Date Offset / Arrival Due Date Offset on the supplier, but my PO shows a different date.
A: The date is calculated from the PO's own Order Date at the moment you choose the supplier — if you'd already entered a date yourself before selecting the supplier, that value is preserved instead of being overwritten.
Q: Can I use Custom Fields on suppliers the same way I use them on SKUs or CRM records?
A: Yes — supplier custom fields use the same custom fields engine as the rest of Luminous, and values are configured the same way: define the field once under Manage > Custom Fields, then fill in a value per record.
Q: What Incoterms are supported?
A: CIF, DDP, EXW, FCA, and FOB.
Q: Why does my PO's Order Type still say "Bulk Order" after I set a Default Order Type on the supplier?
A: Default Order Type fills the Supplier Order Type field (options: Drop Ship, Transfer Order), which is separate from the PO's main Order Type field. That's expected — the two aren't linked.
Q: If I duplicate a PO and change the supplier, will it pick up the new supplier's defaults?
A: No — a duplicated PO keeps its original Incoterm and Order Type regardless of which supplier you switch it to.
Additional Help
To request access to Purchase Order Defaults, or with questions about supplier defaults and custom fields, contact Luminous Support through the Help & Tutorials button in the app, or email help@joinluminous.com.