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Importing Purchase Orders

Last updated 22/01/2021

How to bulk import Purchase Orders in a few simple steps.

Overview

Purchase Orders can be imported into the system in bulk, using our easy to use import wizard.

Purchase Orders to be imported should be prepared in a spreadsheet, with one row per line item in the order. An example of what the spreadsheet should look like can be found below.

There are a few pre-requisites for importing orders:

  • Orders must contain fewer than 500 line items.
  • Order references must be unique across all modules, i.e. a Purchase Order cannot have the same reference as a Purchase Order.
  • Product Codes must exist in the products module, and codes must be unique.
  • Either the Company Name, or First Name and Last Name, or all three must exist in the CRM.
  • Purchase Order Reference numbers must start with 'PO-'.

Template

Here is a template for a standard Purchase Order; however feel free to add any number of the additional fields mentioned below.

Purchase Order Template (.xls 25kb)

Importing the Data

Once you have prepared your spreadsheet, you are ready to import into the system.

  1. Whilst in the Purchase Order list page, click Actions, then Import Purchase Orders.
  2. Choose between pasting or uploading the spreadsheet data as a .CSV file.
  3. Click Next Step
  4. Match the columns in your spreadsheet to the fields in the dropdown list. An explanation of each field is given below.
    An example from your spreadsheet is provided for your information.
  5. If any products or contacts in your list do not match to entries in Cin7, then you will be given an opportunity to download the spreadsheet so that you can investigate, and if need be import new products or contacts.
  6. All being good, you can continue, by clicking Next Step.
  7. Click Test to see if importing will cause any errors. The results should show a successful import.
  8. Click Import New Purchase Orders to continue.
  9. Your Orders have now been imported! Click Finish, Back to Purchase Orders to go back to the Purchase Order List page.

Importing Products with Sizes

Products with sizes can be imported by including the field 'Size Batch' (see below). The size batch field should contain only the size of the item, so will look something like this:

Order Ref Company Name Item Qty Item Code Size Batch
PO-123 Big Corp Ltd. 10 TS1 S
PO-123 Big Corp Ltd. 10 TS1 M

This will import 10 small t-shirts, and 10 medium t-shirts with code TS1.

Note that each new size should be entered on a new line. However if you would like to consolidate all sizes of an item into one line after importing your order, there is a function to do this:

  1. Find the order you'd like to consolidate, hover over the cog icon, and click Admin.
  2. From the Actions button, top left, click Merge Separate Size Lines Into One.
    This will consolidate all sizes into one item for each product code.

Importing BOMs

BOMs can be imported into an order. Two new fields should be added to the import, 'Item BOM Load' and 'Format':

Order Ref Company Name Item Qty Item Code Item Name Item BOM Load Format
PO-123 Big Corp Ltd. 1 RD1 Radio Make Parent
PO-123 Big Corp Ltd. 1 CS1 Case Use  
PO-123 Big Corp Ltd. 2 SP1 Speaker Use  

This will import a radio, that is made of 1 case and two speakers.

Importing Alternative Units of Measure

You can import Alternative Units of Measure. This will require using the UoM code, and defining the quantity of the alternative unit in the quantity field, like this:

Order Ref Company Name Item Qty Item Code
PO-123 Big Corp Ltd. 10 RG1-Carton
PO-123 Big Corp Ltd. 10 RG1-Carton

Note that the quantity is the number of alternative units - i.e. 5 cartons, not the number of base units.

Fields

The following are fields that can be imported through the order import:

Field Notes
Order Ref Required field. Must be unique. Must begin with 'PO-'
Supplier Invoice No If you enter an Invoice Number, you are advised to include and Invoice Date - see below.
Company Required Field unless using First Name/Last Name. Must match a company in the CRM.
First Name Required Field unless using Company. Must match a First Name in the CRM.
Last Name Required Field unless using Company. Must match a Last Name in the CRM.
Delivery First Name  
Delivery Last Name  
Delivery Company If no delivery address is specified, we'll try to automatically populate this from the linked contact.
Delivery Address 1  
Delivery Address 2  
Delivery City  
Delivery State  
Delivery Postal Code  
Delivery Country  
Billing Company If no billing address is specified, we'll try to automatically populate this from the linked contact.
Billing Address 1  
Billing Address 2  
Billing City  
Billing State  
Billing Postal Code  
Billing Country  
Phone  
Mobile  
Fax  
Email  
Created Date Dates should be formatted as per your Culture Settings in your company profile. If not provided we'll use the current date.
Invoice Date Dates should be formatted as per your Culture Settings in your company profile. If you enter an Invoice Date, you are advised to include and Invoice Number - see above.
ETD Dates should be formatted as per your Culture Settings in your company profile.
Branch Must match the Branch name exactly.
Price Tier Must match the Price Tier exactly.
Internal Comments  
Delivery Instructions  
Tracking Code  
Freight Description  
Freight Cost  
Surcharge Description  
Surcharge Total  
Discount Description  
Discount Total This is the discount in dollars/pounds to apply to the entire order.
Created By  
Sales Rep  
Processed by  
Fully Received Entering a Fully Received date will mark the order as Received, but - importantly - line items will not be receipted in. Therefore this field should only be used when creating historic orders in the system, and not used to dispatch stock. Dates should be formatted as per your Culture Settings in your company profile.
Acceptance Date Supplier Acceptance date. Dates should be formatted as per your Culture Settings in your company profile.
Supplier Inv No  
Item Sort An integer that determines the order of lines within the Sales Order. If not included, line item order will be determined by the order in the spreadsheet.
Item Code Required. Must match a code (SKU) in the products module.
Item Name  
Item Qty Required. Must be a number.
Item Price  
Item Total Discount This is the discount in dollars/pounds to apply to a line item.
Item Option 1  
Item Option 2  
Item Option 3  
Item Notes  
Size Batch Size of an item, if the item has sizes.
When importing Purchase Orders or Supplier Consignments or Adjustments and Stock Control for products is set to 'Batch' you can specify the Batch number for the quantity of the product here. Then after the order is imported, if you set a Received Date, it will populate the Batch no for the product automatically.
Zone You can specify the Zone of an Inventory Specific Location here. After the order is imported, if you set a Received Date it will populate the Bin for the product automatically
Bin You can specify the Bin of an Inventory Specific Location here. After the order is imported, if you set a Received Date it will populate the Bin for the product automatically.
Item Row Format Formats the line items in an order. Use values 'Hide', 'Indent' or 'Bold'. You can also use the value 'Parent' to indicate the parent line of a BOM, in combination with the Item BOM Load field below.
Item BOM Load Indicates that a line item is part of a Bill of Materials - values should be either 'Make' or 'Use'.