# Placing purchase orders

Build orders from your par levels, send each vendor a PDF purchase order by email, and check what arrived against what you ordered.

For: Admins, Managers · On: Web · [Help Center](https://www.mays.app/help) › [Inventory](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory) · Last updated October 12, 2026 · Mays Team

Build orders from your par levels, send each vendor a PDF purchase order by email, and check what arrived against what you ordered.

You can also build, create and send orders from ChatGPT, Claude or Grok; it always shows the vendor, email address and total and waits for your yes before anything is sent. See [Connect Mays to ChatGPT, Claude or Grok](https://www.mays.app/help/ai-automation/connect-mays-to-chatgpt-or-claude#let-it-make-changes).

**Before you start:** your items need vendor prices and par levels, and your vendors need their delivery days and minimums. See [Inventory items](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/inventory-items) and [Vendors and vendor catalogs](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/vendors-and-vendor-catalogs).

**Where:** **Inventory → Orders** on the web. Orders are grouped in tabs: **Draft**, **Placed**, **Received** and **Cancelled**.

## Build orders with the order form

1. Click **New order**.
2. Narrow the list with **Search items**, **All vendors**, **All categories** or **Below par**. The **On hand / par** column turns orange for items below par.
3. Click **Order to par**. For every item below par, Mays fills in the packs you need: par minus on hand, divided by the pack size and rounded up.
4. Check the **Vendor** for each item. Each item starts on the vendor with the lowest price per pack, which isn't always the cheapest per unit when pack sizes differ.
5. Change any **Qty** (in packs). The **Total** updates.
6. Check the summary for each vendor at the bottom (see below), then click **Create orders**. Mays makes one draft order per vendor.

![The Order form after Order to par: items below par in orange, a vendor and price per case for each, quantities filled in, and summaries for Metro Restaurant Supply ($259.00, no delivery schedule set), Harbor Coffee Roasters ($186.00, arrives Tue, Oct 13, order by Sun, Oct 11, 5:00 PM, with the note that the order window for Tue, Oct 6 closed) and Sunrise Dairy Co. ($129.20, add $20.80 to reach the $150.00 minimum, arrives Thu, Oct 8, order by Wed, Oct 7, 2:00 PM)](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__purchase-orders__01-order-form.21abed4dcd.png)

Each vendor's summary shows its total and lines, how far you are from its minimum (*Add $20.80 to reach $150.00 minimum*), and when the order would arrive and by when to send it (*Arrives Thu, Oct 8 · order by Wed, Oct 7, 2:00 PM*). That's always the next delivery you can still make. If a nearer delivery's order window has already closed, a note under it says so (*Order window for Tue, Oct 6 closed*), so you know the order will come on the later truck.

**Which items are listed:** every item that has a price from a vendor this location orders from. A price set for all locations shows at every location. If a vendor is ticked for your location but only has a price saved for another location, the order form still lists the item at that price and marks it *Vendor's price at Mizner Park* (the other location's name). Ask an admin to set a price for all locations, or add one for your location, to replace it.

**On a phone:** each item takes two lines: the name, category and **On hand / par** first, then the vendor, **Qty** and total.

**Suggested orders:** the Orders page also has **Suggested orders**, one per vendor, built from your par levels using the cheapest price per unit. Click **Create order** on one to make it a draft.

## Review and send a draft

1. Open the order from the **Draft** tab.
2. Change **Qty**, **Pack**, **Size** or **Unit $**, remove a line with **×**, or add one with **+ Add item…**.
3. Add **Notes (on email + PDF)** for the vendor, and **Internal notes (private)** for your team.
4. Leave **Cc location** ticked to send the location a copy, if the location has an email address.
5. Click **Send order**.

![Draft order number 102 to Sunrise Dairy Co.: the vendor's order email, contact and phone, 4 cases of Oat milk at $22.50 and 2 cases of Whole milk at $17.80 for $125.60, a note for the vendor, and the Discard draft and Send order buttons](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__purchase-orders__02-po-draft.cffeb1a1fa.png)

**What Send order does** depends on the vendor's order method:

- **email:** Mays emails the vendor a PDF purchase order and moves the order to **Placed**. The subject reads like *Sunrise Dairy Co. Order # 102 was placed by Ava Admin at…*. When the vendor replies to that email, the reply shows under **Vendor email** on the order.
- **manual:** the order moves to **Placed** so you can phone or text it in. If the location or vendor has an email address on file, Mays emails it anyway.
- **Online ordering** set up by the Mays team places the order on the vendor's website.

If the email can't be sent, the order stays a draft and the failure is noted under **Vendor email** on the order.

## After you send

- **Resend** emails the PDF again.
- **Cancel order** cancels it; **Discard draft** does the same for a draft. Orders can't be deleted.
- Orders are numbered per location, starting at 100.

## Check a delivery against the order

When the vendor's invoice is posted (see [Vendor invoices](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/vendor-invoices)):

1. Open the order.
2. Under **Receive · 3-way match**, pick the invoice in **Pick posted invoice…** and click **Match**.
3. Mays shows *✓ Invoice matches the order exactly.* or a table of **Ordered**, **Invoiced**, **Qty Δ** and **Price Δ** for each item.

The order's **Received** column fills in, and the order moves to **Received**, or stays **Placed** as *partial* if something is short. To see the week's expected and received deliveries day by day, see [Receiving deliveries](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/receiving-deliveries).

## Good to know

- **Orders don't change stock.** Stock goes up when you post the vendor's invoice.
- **Quantities are in packs.** A line of 4 at *6 / case* is 24 count units.
- **Who:** admins, and managers at their own locations.
- **Prices imported from Craftable apply to every location** when the item is shared by all locations. Only a location-only item gets a location-only price.
- **Evening orders:** the date on the PDF and in the email is the date in UTC, so an order sent in the evening can show the next day's date.

## Related articles

- Inventory: [Vendors and vendor catalogs](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/vendors-and-vendor-catalogs) — Vendors are the suppliers you buy from. Set how each one takes orders, which locations use it, and each location's delivery days, cutoff and minimum order.
- Inventory: [Inventory items](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/inventory-items) — Items are what you count, order and cost, like a carton of oat milk or a pound of espresso. Each has a count unit, other units such as a case, and vendor prices.
- Inventory: [Vendor invoices](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/vendor-invoices) — Record what vendors delivered and charged. Scan or photograph an invoice, upload its PDF, share it from your phone or email it in, and the AI drafts it; check the lines next to the document, then post it to add the stock and update your prices.
- Inventory: [Running stock counts](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/stock-counts) — A count records what's on your shelves. Submitting it sets each counted item's stock on hand and shows how far it was from what Mays expected.
- Inventory: [Inventory at a glance](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/inventory-overview) — Inventory tracks what you stock, what it costs and what you use, from items and vendors to counts, orders, invoices and waste. It's part of the Pro plan.
- Inventory: [Receiving deliveries](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/receiving-deliveries) — See the week's deliveries day by day, the orders you're expecting and what actually arrived, and check each delivery against its order.
- Inventory: [Stock on hand](https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/stock-on-hand) — See what a location has on hand right now, set each item's par level and spot what's below par. Counts, deliveries, waste, sales and transfers keep it current.

## Still need help?

Send us a support request and a real person on the Mays team will get back to you.

[Contact support](https://www.mays.app/contact?topic=support) · [Call +1 (561) 286-3939](tel:+15612863939)

Canonical: https://www.mays.app/help/inventory/purchase-orders