Sales Orders

What is a Sales Order?

A Sales Order is a confirmed order from a customer — the step between an accepted quote and an invoice. It represents a commitment to deliver goods/services.

Sales Order vs Quote vs Invoice

Document	Purpose	When
Quote	Proposal with pricing	Before customer decides
Sales Order	Confirmed order	After customer accepts
Invoice	Bill for payment	After delivery/service

Creating a Sales Order

From a Quote

1. Open an accepted Quote → Click Convert to Sales Order
2. All line items, pricing, and customer details carry forward
3. Review and confirm

Manual Creation

1. Go to Sales Orders → Click + New Order
2. Fill in:
   • Order Number — Auto-generated (SO-001, SO-002...)
   • Customer — Contact/Account
   • Order Date — When the order was placed
   • Expected Delivery — Promised delivery date
   • Shipping Address — Where to deliver
   • Payment Terms — How and when payment is expected

Adding Line Items

For each item:

• Product/Service from catalog
• Quantity ordered
• Unit price (can override catalog price)
• Discount (% or fixed)
• Tax rate
• Total per line

Sales Order Fields

Field	Description
Order Number	Unique identifier (auto-generated)
Customer	Who placed the order
Order Date	Date order was confirmed
Delivery Date	Expected delivery/fulfillment
Status	Draft, Confirmed, In Progress, Shipped, Delivered, Cancelled
Payment Status	Pending, Partial, Paid
Subtotal	Sum of all line items
Tax	Total tax amount
Discount	Total discount
Grand Total	Final amount
Shipping Method	How it's being delivered
Tracking Number	Shipment tracking reference

Sales Order Lifecycle

Draft → Confirmed → In Production/Processing → Ready to Ship → Shipped → Delivered → Invoiced

Status Transitions

• Draft — Being prepared, not yet confirmed
• Confirmed — Customer confirmed, ready to fulfill
• In Progress — Being manufactured/prepared
• Ready to Ship — Goods packed, awaiting dispatch
• Shipped — Dispatched to customer
• Delivered — Customer received the goods
• Invoiced — Invoice generated for payment
• Cancelled — Order cancelled by customer or you

Actions

From a Sales Order

• Generate Invoice — Create invoice from this order
• Send to Customer — Email/WhatsApp order confirmation
• Download PDF — Save as document
• Duplicate — Copy for a similar order
• Cancel — Cancel with reason

Fulfillment

• Mark items as shipped (partial or full)
• Add tracking numbers
• Record delivery confirmation
• Handle returns/adjustments

Partial Fulfillment

For orders that ship in multiple batches:

1. Open the Sales Order → Click Ship Partial
2. Enter quantities being shipped now
3. Add tracking number for this shipment
4. Remaining items show as "Pending"
5. Repeat until fully fulfilled

Reporting

Sales Order Reports

• Orders by status (pipeline view)
• Revenue by product
• Orders by customer
• Average fulfillment time
• Backlog (confirmed but not shipped)
• Cancellation rate and reasons

Integration with Inventory

When a sales order is confirmed:

• Stock is reserved (deducted from available quantity)
• Low stock alerts trigger if inventory drops below threshold
• When shipped, stock is permanently deducted
• If cancelled, reserved stock is released back

Tips

• Confirm quickly — Don't leave orders in Draft too long
• Set realistic delivery dates — Underpromise, overdeliver
• Track partial shipments — Customers want visibility
• Auto-invoice on delivery — Set up workflow to create invoice when status = Delivered
• Monitor backlog — Orders waiting too long signal capacity issues