Purchases & Sales
The Purchases & Sales feature streamlines the entire inventory process, from purchasing and receiving to selling and shipping. You can manage your orders, track inventory, and analyze your sales.
Key Highlights
Order Management: Create and manage purchase orders and sales orders.
Status Tracking: Monitor order progress with clear status labels.
Invoicing: Send invoices to partners via email or export to PDF for printing.
Bundled Items: Simplify grouped items by creating bundles.
Custom Pricing: Set custom prices for specific orders, and apply taxes/discounts.
Returns Management: Manage returns and refunds for specific orders.
Sales Reports: Analyze your sales data with detailed reports.
Purchases & Sales are different from Inventory Transactions (Stock In, Out, Adjust, Move). Both features help manage inventory quantities, but they serve different purposes.
Use Purchases & Sales when you need purchase or sales records, pricing, or invoices.
Use Transactions for quick internal updates that don’t require any documents.
Purchases
Go to Purchases & Sales > Purchases to create and manage purchase orders.
Purchase Order Status
Draft: Order has been saved but hasn’t been sent to the supplier yet.
Ordered: Order has been placed with the supplier.
Partially Received: Some items have arrived, but others are still pending.
Received: All items in the order have been received.
When you create a PO, it’s immediately reflected in your Sales Reports (except for drafts).
Inventory is updated only after the purchase order is created and the Stock In process is completed.
Draft or Ordered → No inventory change
Partially Received or Received → Inventory updated
Note: Order numbers are generated in sequence (e.g., PO-000107, PO-000108, …)
Sales
Go to Purchases & Sales > Sales to create and manage sales orders.
Sales Order Status
Draft: Order has been saved but not confirmed.
Confirmed: Order is confirmed, but items haven’t been shipped yet.
Partially Shipped: Some items have been shipped; others are still pending.
Shipped: All items have been shipped and delivered to the customer.
Pro Tip: Use BoxHero's Sales Reports to:
Track key metrics like sales price, quantity, and profit
Analyze sales performance over a selected date range
Identify trends and pricing opportunities
Returns
You can streamline customer returns by linking them directly to your original sales orders.
Sales Return Status
Requested: The return request has been initiated, but the items have not yet arrived at the location.
Partially Received: Some items from the original sales order have arrived, while others are still pending.
Received: All items in the return have been physically received and added back into inventory.
Option 1: Create a Return by Order Number
Use this method if you have the customer's receipt or invoice handy.
Navigate to
Purchases & Sales>Returnsin the side navigation bar.Click + Create Return.
Enter the Sales Order Number in the search field. The system will automatically pull up the original item details.
Select the items being returned and save the order.
Option 2: Create a Return from the Sales List
Use this method if you need to browse for the original transaction first.
Go to
Purchases & Sales>Salesand locate the specific order the customer wants to return.Click on the order to open the Details view.
Click the + Create Return button under the "Returned Items" section.
(Optional) Enter the return details in the memo field for better tracking and communication with your team.
For a detailed guide on the Returns feature, check out our blog:
Order Settings
You can send your orders via email, print them, or save them as PDFs.
Add or edit supplier and customer information in
Data Center>Partners.Update your company information in
Settings>Team.
A. Print Layout
Customize what information appears on your purchase orders and sales invoices. You can set different layout templates for each document type.
Go to: Settings > Orders > Print Layout
Layout Settings
Company Logo — Add your brand image to the top right of the document.
Document Labels — Change the terms shown on the document.
Document Title (Purchase Order, Invoice, Packing Slip, Delivery Note)
Supplier (Vendor, Seller, From)
Recipient (Customer, Bill To, Ship To, Buyer)
Display Options — Choose which fields to include on the document.
Available options: Item photos, SKU, Barcode, Pricing, Memo
Item Attributes: Select which item attributes to display in the item details section of the document.
B. Custom Fields
If you need additional fields such as a contact person's email address or bank account details, you can add custom fields while creating a purchase order or sales order.
If you frequently use the same fields, save them as a template.
Go to: Settings > Purchases & Sales > Custom Fields to add a new custom field, and any saved fields and their values will appear automatically whenever you create a new order.
Custom field settings apply at the team level, so all team members will see the same fields. Make sure to set the default values only for information that should be shared across the team.
C. Taxes
You can apply taxes to your orders and choose how they’re calculated:
Inclusive: The tax is already included in the item price.
Exclusive: The tax is added on top of the item price.
If you regularly apply the same tax rate to your orders, you can set it as the default.
D. Discounts
You can also apply discounts to your orders:
Percentage Discount (e.g., 10% off)
Fixed Discount (e.g., $5 off)
Note: When both taxes and discounts are applied, discounts are calculated first, followed by taxes.
Price Lists
Price lists let you save different prices for specific clients, promotions, or special agreements. Along with your default cost and sale price, you can create additional price sets and apply them when you create a purchase order or sales order.
You can create a price list under Data Center > Price Lists.
Price lists can be set up separately for purchase and sales types. Add item prices manually or upload them all at once using an Excel file.
Note: Items not included in the selected price list will show a unit price of 0 when the list is applied to a new order.
When you create an order, click on the Unit Price field to choose a price list. If you switch to another price list while editing, the unit prices will update based on the one you selected.
If you want to see an item’s default cost or sale price while creating an order, you can adjust your display settings.
Go to Settings > Team, and under Display Settings, choose Cost, Price, All Attributes. This shows the item’s registered prices along with all of its attributes.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
I updated an order, but the item quantity didn’t change.
If the order already has Stock In or Stock Out records, updating the order itself won’t change inventory levels. To update item quantities, you also need to edit the related Stock In or Stock Out transactions.
What's the difference between Purchases & Sales and Inventory Transactions?
Workflow
Create an order (P.O. or S.O.) first, then process it upon shipment or arrival.
Update stock levels immediately by selecting an item and entering the quantity.
Method
Link inventory changes to specific orders for better tracking.
Use Stock In for arrivals and Stock Out for shipments.
Purpose
Order management with real-time inventory updates.
Manual stock adjustments and simple quantity levels.
How do I select a location in an order?
You don’t choose a location while creating the order. Locations are selected when the items are received or shipped via inventory transactions (i.e. Stock In and Stock Out).
If I update an item’s cost or sale price, will it change the amounts in existing orders?
No, updating item prices does not change any orders that have already been created. Existing orders keep their original prices.
How do I delete tax or discount options?
You can manage tax and discount options under Settings > Orders.
Why aren't returned items showing in my Sales Report?
Returns are reflected in your Reports > Sales based on the return date. Make sure the return date falls within the date range you’re viewing.
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