Sales order vs purchase order is one transaction seen from two sides. The buyer raises the purchase order: a request to the seller for goods at a price, with a number the buyer's bookkeeper will match the invoice to. The seller replies with the sales order: a confirmation of what will be supplied, at what price, with what discount, tax, shipping and deposit. The figures should agree, and where they do not the sales order is where the seller says so. This guide is written from the seller's side, which is the side this site works; purchase orders are served from the estate's purchase hub.
The purchase order: the buyer's request
A purchase order comes from the buyer and says what they want, how many, at what price they expect, where to ship it and by when, under a number their accounts payable will match the invoice against. It is the buyer's authorisation to spend. For the seller it is the input: the sales order is written in reply to it, and the purchase order number goes on the sales order and later on the invoice so the buyer's bookkeeper can match all three.
The sales order: the seller's confirmation
The sales order is the seller's document. It confirms the goods and the quantity, states the price the seller will actually charge, applies any discount, adds the tax and the shipping, and splits the total into the deposit due on confirmation and the balance due on the invoice. The worksheet on this site works those figures on the page from the seller's own inputs, free, and the paid plan keeps the order against the customer with a status.
When they disagree, and what the record does
A purchase order at one price and a sales order at another is a negotiation, and the sales order is where the seller states the terms it will supply on. Once confirmed, any change is a dated line on the sales order, and the invoice reads from it. Jobcardo keeps the seller's side: the sales order with its lines, its status and its history, exported for the invoice. The buyer's side, raising and managing purchase orders, is a different product for a different buyer.
Questions people ask about sales order vs purchase order
Which comes first, the sales order or the purchase order?
The purchase order, from the buyer. The sales order is the seller's confirmation in reply. The invoice follows the shipment.
Does the seller need a purchase order to raise a sales order?
No. Many small customers order by email or phone; the sales order confirms the agreement either way, and a purchase order number is added when the buyer has one.
Does Jobcardo handle purchase orders?
No. It works the seller's sales order; purchase orders are the buyer's document and this estate serves them from its purchase hub.