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Template Purchase Order
for Excel and Word.Why use a template for purchase orders?
Managing purchase orders shouldn’t slow your team down. Manual POs often come with errors, inconsistent details, and approval delays that frustrate both finance teams and suppliers. Zahara’s Purchase Order template provides a clear, standardised structure that keeps everything accurate from the start.
Because this Purchase Order template is designed to work seamlessly with Zahara’s AP automation software, every PO is instantly recognisable, easy to track, and ready for smooth processing. That means fewer errors, faster approvals, and complete visibility across your purchasing.
Take the guesswork out of purchase orders... Read more
Types of Purchase Order
Free Template Purchase Order Downloads
Purchase Orders (POs) are essential tools for businesses to manage their procurement process effectively. By using POs, companies can control costs, track expenses, and streamline their finance operations.
A Purchase Order is a legally binding document that outlines the details of a transaction between a buyer and a supplier. It includes information such as the quantity, description, price, and terms of the goods or services being purchased. By clearly stating these requirements, POs help to prevent misunderstandings and disputes with suppliers.
POs also play a crucial role in budget management. By issuing POs before making a purchase, companies can ensure they stay within their budget and only spend money on approved items. This helps to prevent overspending and keeps finances in check.
Furthermore, POs help to improve efficiency within the finance team. By having a standardised process for ordering goods and services, companies can reduce the risk of errors and delays in processing payments. This allows the finance team to focus on more strategic tasks and improve overall productivity.
In conclusion
Purchase Orders are a valuable tool for businesses looking to control costs, manage expenses, and improve efficiency in their finance operations. By implementing a PO system, companies can streamline their procurement process and ensure they get the best value for their money. You can customise our free purchase order templates for Word and Excel to suit your business. Certain elements are essential for a purchase order, regardless of your business type.
The key elements of a Purchase Order Template are:
- Order Date
- Specific unique number – The PO Number
- The buyers contact details
- Delivery address
- Supplier name & address
- The price you want said items for
- List of the goods or service you wish to purchase
- Email address for the supplier to send their invoice
- State your required payment terms
- Your required payment terms
- Specify the currency
3-Way Matching Explained
When you create a PO and send it to the supplier, they’ll soon deliver the goods or services you ordered. They’ll then send you an invoice for how much you owe, which can be matched to the original PO. You may also receive a delivery note or goods received note (GRN), which is the third element. This should arrive before the invoice, and it serves as recognition that you’ve received what you asked for. In this instance, your finance team may now be working with three sets of data to help you crosscheck- hence the term 3-way matching.
Why are companies pursuing Purchase Order Automation?
These days more and more companies are turning to automated software to handle the creation and distribution of purchase orders. Why? There are a number of reasons... Top of that list is for greater control around what your company spends.
If you’re a medium-to-large business with a lot of outgoings it can be difficult to keep accurate track of where your money is being spent. With an automated purchase order system, you’ll have greater control over who can raise purchase orders and which POs can be sent out. Problematic duplicate orders and even fraud can be eliminated. What you're essentially getting is better control over your bottom line.
On top of that everything that you leave to your employees, from raising purchase orders to submitting expense claims, is streamlined and simplified – as are the approval workflows that can redirect a task if something gets flagged or an employee is off sick.
Would you like find out more about Zahara’s purchase order software?
Our Purchase Order Software streamlines the entire purchase order process. You can easily create, approve, and track purchase orders in a one place, eliminating paper-based hassles and reducing human error. Say goodbye to manual data entry and tedious approval chains. Our intuitive, user-friendly interface allows you to generate purchase orders effortlessly, customise templates, and set up automated approval workflows tailored to your needs. You can find out more here or speak to one of our specialists today.
How Zahara Works.
Frequently Asked Purchase Order Template Questions
Word works for occasional purchase orders. For regular use, consider tools that handle numbering, approvals and supplier details automatically. Excel can help with calculations but it’s easy for versions to drift and layouts to break. A dedicated purchase order software keeps things consistent and auditable.
Purchase order software will help you cover many mundane tasks. You can create POs in the app and then send them out for approval before they even go to the supplier. The system will store all your records and automatically match them to the supplier invoice when they arrive. Instead of trying to track lots of random documents, there’s an entire audit trail so you can have complete control and oversight. An extremely professional and accurate system for helping with accountability.
Yes, the Purchase Order template is free, with no strings attached.
PDF is the safest way to send a purchase order to a supplier. Both these templates open in Word or Excel, and Microsoft allows you to send as a PDF via File → Share → Send as PDF. With Zahara, you can email the PO as a PDF and also export PO data (JSON/CSV) for suppliers who prefer data files.
A purchase requisition comes one step before the PO—it’s the request to buy something. A purchase request (PR) typically needs approval from management before a company employee can buy something and spend money. Once approved, the Purchase Order will follow.
A purchase requisition is an internal document that is essentially a request to buy something for the organisation, often subject to approval. Purchase orders are a formal request to a supplier for goods or services at a set price and within a specific time—effectively an offer of a contract.
Yes! It is crucial to save your Purchase Orders. We recommend converting the document into a PDF as soon as you send it, and storing all of them in a secure folder.
When you send a PO to a supplier, you ask them to provide goods at the price you want, like making a contract. If they accept your order, you have a contract and must complete your part by making the purchase.
This is why it’s so key to have a robust approval process and full audit trail so you’re never caught out!
If the supplier sends an invoice that matches your order, it will be processed faster. Without a matching PO, you must manually cross-reference all your orders. Purchase order software, like Zahara, automatically matches the invoice to the adjacent purchase order, making the whole process smoother and safer.
Here is a helpful blog article that we recommend reading: How to implement purchase orders
A purchase order is a request for goods. An invoice is a request for payment. The PO is sent to let the supplier know what you need, and the invoice comes from them to let you know what to pay.
