User Guide: How to Create Purchase Order from Buying Calendar

This guide will walk you through using the Buying Calendar page to get an overview of recommended purchases and how to directly create Purchase Orders from these suggestions.

Overview

The Buying Calendar page provides a dynamic view of products that may need reordering based on sales velocity, current stock, lead times, and other replenishment settings. It helps you proactively manage inventory and streamline your purchasing process.

You can view suggestions in a List View (grouped by date periods and then by suppliers) or a Calendar View (showing suppliers needing orders on specific dates/weeks/months).

Accessing Buying Calendar

Navigate to the "Buying Calendar" section from the main inventory or procurement menu.

Filtering Suggestions

At the top of the page, you'll find several controls to refine the suggestions:

Store Location Filter:


Select a specific store location to see suggestions relevant only to that store.


Choose "All Locations" to see an aggregated view based on your access.

View Mode (List & Calendar):


Day: Shows suggestions for individual days. In Calendar view, this shows a 7-day outlook.


Week: Groups suggestions by week. In Calendar view, this shows an 8-week outlook.


Month: Groups suggestions by month. In Calendar view, this shows a 6-month outlook.


The date range for these views is automatically calculated based on the current date.

Display Mode:


Calendar View: (Default) Provides a visual calendar layout. Days/weeks/months with pending suggestions will highlight suppliers and their total order values. Clicking on a supplier chip in the calendar opens a detailed dialog.


List View: Displays suggestions in a hierarchical list, first by date period (e.g., "Week of Oct 26 - Nov 01"), then by supplier within that period.

Note: If recent replenishment settings are still processing, a warning message will appear, indicating that the current report reflects previous settings.

Understanding the Suggestions

List View

Date Period Header: Each period (e.g., week or month) will have a header showing the date range, the number of suppliers with suggestions, and the total estimated order value for all suppliers in that period.

Supplier Card:


Each supplier within a period is displayed on a card.


The card header shows the supplier's name, an avatar, the number of products suggested for ordering, and the supplier's typical lead time.


The total estimated order value for that specific supplier is also displayed.


You can click on the supplier header to expand/collapse the list of products.


Unassigned Products: If products are not yet assigned to a supplier, they will appear under an "Unassigned Products" group. You'll need to assign these to a supplier (via the "Manage Suppliers" button, which navigates to the Suppliers page) before a Purchase Order can be created for them.

Product Details (when expanded):


Product Name, Type, and Reorder Date.


Current Stock: Actual inventory quantity.


Reorder Point: The stock level at which a reorder is recommended.


Order Value: Estimated cost for reordering the suggested quantity of this product.


Reorder Quantity: The system's suggested quantity to order.


Lead Time: Vendor's lead time for this specific product (if available).

Calendar View

The calendar displays cells for days, weeks, or months based on the selected View Mode.

Cells with suggestions will show "chips" for each supplier, including their avatar, name, and total estimated order value.

Clicking on a supplier chip in a calendar cell will open the Supplier Details Dialog.

Supplier Details Dialog

This dialog provides a focused view of all products suggested for a single supplier for the selected period/date.

Header: Shows supplier details, total order value, and the "Create Purchase Order" button.

Product List: A table lists each product with detailed information:


Product Info (Image, Name, SKU, Barcode, Vendor, Type, Status)


Sales History (Current Stock with color-coded stock level, Incoming Stock, Daily Sales, Total Sales, Days Remaining, Stock Value)


Reorder Info (Reorder Quantity, Lead Time, Reorder Point, Reorder Date, Unit Cost, Total Replenishment Cost)


Actions (e.g., remove product from this specific suggestion list for PO creation - this does not affect future suggestions).

Creating a Purchase Order

You can create a Purchase Order directly from a supplier's suggestion:

Initiate PO Creation:

List View: Click the "*Create Purchase Order**" button on the supplier's card header.

Calendar View / Supplier Details Dialog: Click the "*CREATE PURCHASE ORDER**" button in the dialog's header.


If the supplier is "Unassigned Products," the button will be "Manage Suppliers." You must assign products to a supplier first.

Select Delivery Location:

A dialog titled "*Select Delivery Location for Purchase Order**" will appear.


You must select a delivery location from the dropdown. This is the store location where the goods for this specific PO will be received.


The dropdown lists all available store locations.


The "Confirm & Create PO" button will be disabled until you select a location.

Confirm and Create:

Once a delivery location is selected, click the "*Confirm & Create PO**" button.


The system will create a new Purchase Order with a "Draft" status.


It will include all the suggested products for that supplier (excluding any you may have removed in the Supplier Details Dialog, or items with zero suggested quantity).


The selected delivery location will be assigned to the Purchase Order.


The expected delivery date will be estimated based on the supplier's lead time.

After Creation:


A success message (e.g., "Purchase Order #PO1052 for Supplier X created.") will appear.


You will be automatically navigated to the detail page of the newly created Purchase Order.


You can then review, edit, and submit the Purchase Order for approval or sending to the supplier as per your company's workflow.

If a Purchase Order has already been created for a specific supplier from a suggestion in your current session, clicking "Create Purchase Order" again for that same supplier might show an informational message and/or navigate you to the already created PO.

Important Notes

The suggestions are based on the latest data and settings available at the time of loading the page.

Always review the suggested quantities and products before creating a Purchase Order to ensure they align with your current needs.

The "Total Order Value" is an estimate based on the suggested quantities and the latest known unit costs.

This concludes the user guide for the Buying Calendar page. If you have further questions, please contact your system administrator or support team.

Updated on: 09/05/2025