Purchase order statuses explained

Purchase order statuses

Every purchase order in PO Flow has a status that reflects where it is in the purchasing workflow. Understanding statuses helps you track what needs action and what is complete.

Status definitions

• Draft — the PO has been created but not yet sent to the supplier. It can be fully edited. A PO returns to Draft if an approval request is rejected.
• Pending Approval — the PO has been submitted for approval and is waiting for an approver to review it (Pro plan). The PO cannot be sent while in this status.
• Approved — the PO has been approved by all required approvers. It is ready to be sent to the supplier.
• Sent — the PO has been marked as sent to the supplier. The PO number is locked at this point.
• Partial — some but not all line items have been received. The PO remains open until all items arrive.
• Received — all line items have been fully received. Shopify inventory has been updated.
• Returned — a return to supplier has been created against this PO.
• Cancelled — the PO has been cancelled. Cancelled POs are read-only and do not affect inventory.

How statuses change

Status changes happen automatically based on your actions. Marking a PO as sent changes it from Draft to Sent. Receiving all items changes it from Sent or Partial to Received. You cannot manually set a status — statuses reflect the actual state of the PO based on what has happened.

Filtering by status

Use the status filter on the Purchase Orders list page to view POs by their current status. This is useful for finding all POs that need receiving, all overdue POs, or all POs pending approval.