Purchase order generator.

What a purchase order is for

A purchase order (PO) is the buyer's written instruction to a vendor: these items, in these quantities, at these prices, delivered by this date. When the vendor accepts it, it generally becomes the record of what was agreed. It protects both sides. The vendor knows what to supply and what they will be paid. The buyer has a reference number to match against the delivery and the invoice that follows, which is how many small businesses catch double billing, wrong quantities and price changes.

This generator builds a one-page PDF purchase order in your browser. Nothing is uploaded. You enter your business details, the vendor, a PO number, a date and a "Required by" date, one line per item, a tax rate and an optional discount, then press Preview and download.

Filling in the form

• Your business: name, address, email and phone. These print at the top right of the PDF under the heading PURCHASE ORDER.
• Vendor: name and address, printed in a VENDOR block on the left, beside the PO number and date.
• Document number: it opens as PO-0001 and is also the download file name. The page does not count upwards for you, so choose a scheme and stick to it. A year prefix such as PO-2026-0007 keeps numbers unique across years.
• Required by: opens 30 days after today. This is the delivery date you need, not the payment date. It only prints if the box is filled in.
• Currency: CAD, USD, EUR or GBP. It changes how amounts are formatted, not their value.
• Items: one line each as description | quantity | unit price.

Two things catch people out. The page has no separate ship-to field, so if goods are going to a site that is not your business address, write the delivery address in the notes. And the notes box opens with "Payment due within 30 days. Thank you for your business." Replace that with the terms you actually want, such as "Net 30 from receipt of goods and a correct invoice. Quote the PO number on the invoice."

How the totals are worked out

Each line total is quantity times unit price. The subtotal is the sum of the lines. The discount is a flat amount in your currency, subtracted from the subtotal, and the tax rate is applied to what is left. Total equals subtotal minus discount plus tax.

Worked example

The form opens with two sample lines: 100 widgets (1 inch) at 2.50 each and 50 brackets at 4.00 each. The line totals are 250.00 and 200.00, giving a subtotal of 450.00. At the default tax rate of 13 percent, tax is 58.50 and the total is 508.50. If the vendor gives you a flat 20.00 off, the taxable amount is 430.00, tax is 55.90 and the total is 485.90 (430.00 plus 55.90).

Type prices as plain numbers. A price written as 1,250 is read as 1, because the page stops reading at the comma. Lines with fewer than three pipe-separated fields are ignored, and a description cannot itself contain the pipe character.

Getting the tax side right

A purchase order is a pre-purchase document, so the tax you show is an expectation, not a tax invoice. The vendor's invoice is what a GST/HST registrant uses to claim input tax credits. Under the Input Tax Credit Information (GST/HST) Regulations, supporting documentation for a purchase of $100 or more and under $500 must show the supplier's name and registration number, the date, the total, and the tax amount or a statement that tax is included. At $500 or more it must also show your name, the terms of payment and a description of each supply sufficient to identify it. Practical consequence: state on the PO that the vendor's invoice must show their GST/HST number, and keep PO and invoice together.

The default 13 percent is the Ontario HST rate. The rate depends on where the supply is made, so change it for other provinces, or to zero for supplies that are zero-rated or when you are buying from a vendor who does not charge tax.

Records and good control habits

The Canada Revenue Agency lists purchase receipts, contracts, work orders and delivery slips among the documents that support business transactions, and says required records are generally kept for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. A PO sits alongside those documents. Keep the PDF, the vendor's acceptance (an email will do), the delivery slip and the final invoice in the same place.

A few habits make a PO more useful:

• Describe goods precisely enough that the delivery can be checked against them. In Ontario, the Sale of Goods Act (section 14) implies a condition that goods sold by description will correspond with the description.
• Fix the price and the currency before the vendor starts work.
• Say who can approve extra items. Written change orders are better than phone calls.
• Use one PO per order, so each invoice can be matched to a single number.

What this tool does not do

It does not email the vendor, track approvals, receive goods, convert the PO into a bill, or manage numbering and budgets. It applies a single tax rate across every line. For complex ordering, treat this PDF as the document and track the numbers in a spreadsheet or your accounting package.

Related tools

The quote generator is the vendor's side of the same exchange, the invoice generator bills after delivery, and the receipt generator acknowledges payment. Planning the work first? See the estimate generator.