Purchase Order Management Checklist

Filter the approved-vendor list on the SKU's primary source. Cross-check last 90 days of fill-rate and on-time delivery in the buyer scorecard before defaulting to the incumbent — a vendor with a 78% fill rate is costing you sell-through.

Get pricing tier, minimum order quantity, case pack, freight terms (FOB origin vs. destination), and quoted lead time in writing. Vendor email confirmation attaches to the PO record for the three-way match later.

Standard threshold: store manager approves under $5,000; district manager approves $5,000–$25,000; director of operations approves anything higher. Confirm your company's matrix before routing.

For POs routed to the Director of Operations, attach the margin analysis and sell-through projection. Director sign-off must precede transmission to the vendor — retroactive approvals create AP exceptions.

Send via the vendor's preferred channel (EDI 850, vendor portal, or email PDF). Include ship-to, mark-for, and routing-guide compliance details — wrong routing is the most common reason for chargebacks on inbound freight.

Vendor returns an EDI 855 or written confirmation with committed ship date and any line-level changes. File the acknowledgment against the PO record. No acknowledgment within 48 hours = follow up; do not assume the order is in queue.

Post the expected receipt date in the receiving calendar so the stockroom isn't blindsided by a 40-case drop on a tight-staffing day. Include carrier, tracking number, and pallet count if known.

If the committed ship date passes without an ASN (EDI 856) or tracking, contact the vendor's account rep within one business day. Document the new ETA and decide whether to substitute, cancel, or expedite.

Match carton count on the bill of lading to the actual count on the truck. Note any shortage, damage, or seal break on the BOL before the driver leaves — once you sign clean, the carrier and vendor will both refuse adjustment.

Open every carton and scan units against the packing slip and PO line. Don't trust the case-pack label — vendor pick errors and substitutions are a top source of phantom inventory.

Submit the claim through the vendor portal or RGA process within the contracted window (typically 5–10 business days). Include photos, packing slip, BOL annotations, and the affected PO line. Late claims get denied as a matter of course.

Receive only the verified piece count, not the PO quantity. The variance between PO and receipt is what surfaces on the open-PO aging report and drives the eventual write-off or vendor chargeback.

Match PO, receiver, and invoice on quantity, unit cost, and extended total. Tolerance is typically $5 or 2% per line — anything over routes to AP exception. Freight and handling lines are the usual culprits.

Contact the vendor's AR team with the PO number, receiver, and the line-level variance. Request a corrected invoice or credit memo — do not pay-and-chase. Document the resolution thread on the PO record.

Schedule the ACH or check release per the agreed terms (Net 30, Net 60, 2/10 Net 30). Capture early-pay discounts when cash flow allows — 2/10 Net 30 is an effective ~36% APR if you skip it.

Bundle PO, vendor acknowledgment, BOL, packing slip, receiver, invoice, and payment confirmation under the PO number. Retention is 7 years for sales-tax and income-tax substantiation in most states.

Log fill rate, on-time delivery, damage rate, and invoice accuracy against the scorecard. Vendors trending below 90% on any metric for two consecutive quarters get a corrective-action conversation before the next buy cycle.

Pull the 4- and 8-week sell-through report on the received SKUs. Anything under 40% sell-through at week 8 flags for the next markdown cadence; anything over 80% flags for a reorder review.