PO Flow Knowledge Base

Creating your first purchase order

Start with a supplier, add line items, and save your first PO as a draft or send it directly.

Navigating the dashboard

The dashboard shows an onboarding checklist, KPI cards, and an open-POs-by-status overview.

Installing PO Flow

Install PO Flow from the Shopify App Store to start a 14-day free trial on any plan.

Quick start guide

Recommended setup order: install, add suppliers, assign suppliers to products, then create your first PO.

Connecting to Shopify

PO Flow connects through Shopify OAuth with standard read scopes for products, inventory, and orders.

Receiving inventory

The Receive Stock modal records what arrived, syncs Shopify on-hand inventory, and creates a receipt record.

Creating a purchase order

Create a draft PO with a supplier, expected delivery date, and line items from search or import.

Editing a purchase order

Drafts are fully editable; once a PO is sent or received, some fields lock to protect the audit trail.

Adding line items

Add line items by product search, CSV import (full or SKU-only rows), or by importing from a Shopify order.

Purchase order statuses

A PO has one of six statuses; if it uses an approval workflow it also has a separate approval-request status.

Closing and cancelling a PO

Close a PO when no more stock will arrive; cancel a draft that you no longer need.

Adjusting line item costs

PO Flow does not have a separate discount field; adjust unit cost directly or use landed costs for freight and duties.

Duplicating a purchase order

How to copy an existing purchase order to quickly reorder from the same supplier.

Purchase order history

Every PO has an activity log of edits, status changes, receipts, emails, and integrations; export it as CSV.

Quantities and costs

Set a quantity and unit cost per line; cost auto-populates from the variant's inventory unit cost where available.

Partial receiving

Receive less than the ordered quantity to move the PO into partial status; receive again later to complete it.

Sending a PO to the supplier

Click Send to Supplier to email the PO PDF; Pro plans can customize the subject, body, and CC/BCC.

Importing a PO from a Shopify order

Turn a Shopify order's line items into one or more draft purchase orders grouped by assigned supplier.

Correcting or deleting a receipt

Reverse an entire receipt or correct individual line quantities to fix mistakes; inventory updates automatically.

Assigning suppliers to a product

Use the Product Suppliers block on a Shopify product page to assign one or more suppliers with a primary.

Managing supplier contacts

Add multiple contacts per supplier and mark one as primary for emails and notifications.

Editing supplier details

Open a supplier from the Suppliers list to edit contacts, address, terms, internal notes, and supplier products.

Adding a supplier

Add a supplier with contact details, terms, lead time, and the matching Shopify vendor name.

Archiving a supplier

Archive a supplier to hide them from the active list while keeping all related purchase orders intact.

Currency and tax

Default currency lives in Settings; tax is entered per purchase order on the PO form.

Configuring settings

Settings is organized into PDF branding, PO defaults, numbering, sender, carriers, cost management, and integrations.

Email notification settings

Set the sender name and reply-to address used when emailing POs and returns to suppliers.

Custom PO types

All plans include drop ship and will call types; Growth and Pro plans can add custom PO types from Settings.

User access and approvers

PO Flow follows your Shopify staff access; approvers are a separate concept used by Pro approval workflows.

Shipping carriers

Maintain a list of preferred carriers to pick from when creating a purchase order.

PO number formatting

Set a prefix, year, and starting number for purchase orders; lock the format to prevent accidental changes.

PDF branding

Customize the PDF documents PO Flow sends to suppliers with your logo, colors, font, and footer text.

Products are not showing up

Product search relies on Shopify; if products are missing, check scopes and that the product is in your Shopify catalog.

PO Flow is not appearing

If PO Flow does not appear in your admin, check install status and approve any new permissions Shopify prompts you for.

Contacting support

Open the Support page from the main menu, pick a request type and priority, and submit your message.

Cannot send a PO

A PO will not send if the supplier has no email, the PO has no line items, or the status does not allow sending.

Inventory is not updating

Inventory only updates when you receive stock against a PO; review the receipt for the correct location and quantities.

Common error messages

A short list of error messages you may see in PO Flow and what each one usually means.

Reports and analytics

Eight built-in reports with CSV export, available on the Pro plan; choose a date range to scope each report.

Slack integration

Connect Slack for PO Flow notifications and the /hollis slash command in any channel; Growth and Pro.

Creating a replacement PO from a return

When a return is resolved with a replacement, generate a new draft PO copied from the returned line items; Pro only.

Approval workflows

Require approval before POs are sent; choose single, group, multi-level, or amount-based workflows on the Pro plan.

Cost update on receipt

Automatically update product cost in Shopify when stock arrives using replace or weighted average; Pro only.

QuickBooks Online sync

Connect PO Flow to QuickBooks Online to sync purchase orders or bills; available on Growth and Pro.

Shopify Flow triggers

Seven Shopify Flow triggers for PO Flow events such as created, sent, approved, received, and returns; Pro only.

Hollis AI assistant

A chat assistant that answers questions about your PO Flow data; available on Growth and Pro plans.

Landed cost tracking

Add freight, duties, or other landed costs to a PO and allocate them across line items; Growth and Pro.

Supplier credits

When a return is resolved as a credit, PO Flow records the credit amount and lets you apply it to future POs.

Supplier returns

Create a Return to Supplier from a received PO to track items being sent back; available on all plans.