From reorder report to draft PO: what Restock Ops fills in
How Create draft PO turns selected reorder rows into one purchase order per supplier, where each quantity comes from, and why some rows are skipped.
The reorder report answers one question per row: should this item be ordered, and how many. The step after that is where most spreadsheets fall apart. Someone copies the rows into an email, splits them by supplier, rounds the quantities to whatever the supplier will accept, and a week later nobody is sure which version was sent. Restock Ops has a single button for that step, Create draft PO, and this post is about exactly what it does, because a button that creates purchase orders should not be a surprise.
If you have not set up the report yet, start with what counts as a sale in the reorder report and lead times, MOQs and case sizes. This post assumes the rows exist and picks up at the checkbox.
What you select, and what gets used
Each row on the Reorder page has a checkbox. Tick the rows you want to order and the button changes to Create draft PO with the count in brackets. Two filters are then applied before anything is created, and both are worth knowing.
First, only rows with a suggested quantity above zero are used. A row you ticked that currently needs nothing is ignored, not turned into a zero-quantity line. Second, a row needs a supplier. The report lets you set the supplier on each row, and the hint under the table says why: it is the only way the button knows where to order. Rows without one are not guessed. They are reported back by name in the message after the run, under Skipped (no supplier set), so you can assign a supplier and run the button again for those.
One draft PO per supplier
The remaining rows are grouped by supplier, and one draft purchase order is created for each group. The destination is the location the report is showing, the currency is your store's currency, and the status is draft, which means nothing has been promised to anybody yet and every line is still editable. Each row becomes a line on its supplier's PO with the quantity set to the report's suggestion.
If the selection resolves to exactly one supplier and nothing was skipped, you are taken straight to the new PO. Otherwise you stay on the report and a message tells you how many drafts were created and which rows were skipped. The drafts are on the Purchase orders page, newest first.
Because lines are added through the same path as a hand-built PO, the supplier catalog memory applies. If you have ordered this variant from this supplier before, the line arrives with their SKU, your last unit cost and the tax rate already filled in, as described in supplier SKU versus your SKU. First-time lines arrive with those fields empty and you fill them in before marking the PO as ordered.
Where the quantity comes from
The quantity on each line is the report's suggested quantity at the moment you clicked, and it is built in three steps.
Position is what you have plus what is already coming: on hand at the location, plus the open quantity on purchase orders that have been marked ordered but not fully received. Counting incoming stock is what stops the report from suggesting the same item twice while the first order is on the water.
Target is where position should be. If the row has a reorder point, the target is at least one unit above it. If the row has a sales velocity, the target is also at least velocity multiplied by the supplier's lead time plus the days of cover you asked for, rounded up to a whole unit. The larger of the two wins. The gap between target and position is the need.
Rounding turns the need into something the supplier will accept. If the item has a case size, the need is rounded up to a whole number of cases. If the supplier has a minimum order quantity for the item and the rounded need is below it, the quantity rises to the MOQ, itself rounded up to whole cases. The result is the suggested quantity, and it is what lands on the PO line.
| Row | On hand + incoming | Target | Need | Case / MOQ | PO line qty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candle, vanilla | 14 | 60 | 46 | 12 per case | 48 |
| Candle, cedar | 9 | 30 | 21 | MOQ 24 | 24 |
| Wick trimmer | 40 | 30 | 0 | none | not added |
What the button does not decide for you
- It does not pick a supplier. A row with no supplier is skipped and named, never assigned to the most recent or the cheapest one.
- It does not merge into an existing draft. If a draft for the same supplier is already open, you get a second draft; combine them by hand if you prefer one order.
- It does not mark anything as ordered. Incoming stock is only counted from POs marked ordered, so a draft created from the report does not change the report until you send it.
- It does not change quantities for promotions, seasonality or a supplier's delivery day. Those edits belong on the draft, where every line is editable until the PO is marked ordered.
A short routine that works
- Open Reorder, pick the location, and sort stays as it is: rows with a suggestion first, then by days of cover, so the urgent items are at the top.
- Fix any row that shows a dash for velocity or a blank supplier before ticking it. A manual velocity on a new product is better than no row at all.
- Tick the rows, click Create draft PO, and read the message. If anything was skipped, set its supplier and run again for just those rows.
- Open each draft. Check supplier SKU, cost and tax on first-time lines, adjust quantities you know better than the report does, and mark the PO as ordered when it has actually been sent.
The report is a recommendation and the draft is a record of what you decided to do about it. Keeping those two things separate, with one honest button between them, is the whole design. The quantities are explainable, the grouping follows the supplier you set, and nothing is sent until you say so.
FAQ
Why did Create draft PO skip some of the rows I ticked?
Two reasons. A row whose suggested quantity is zero is ignored because there is nothing to order. A row with no supplier set is skipped and listed by name in the message, because the button never guesses a supplier. Set the supplier on the row and run it again.
Does Create draft PO add to a purchase order I already have open?
No. It always creates new draft purchase orders, one per supplier in your selection. If you already have an open draft for that supplier, you end up with two drafts and can merge the lines by hand. Drafts are not counted as incoming stock, so the report is unchanged until one is marked ordered.
Where does the quantity on each PO line come from?
It is the report's suggested quantity when you clicked: the gap between on hand plus incoming and the target, rounded up to whole cases and raised to the minimum order quantity if the supplier has one. The target is the larger of reorder point plus one and velocity times lead time plus days of cover.
Can I change the quantities after the draft is created?
Yes. Every line on a draft purchase order is editable, including quantity, supplier SKU, unit cost and tax, until you mark the PO as ordered. The report gives you a starting point; the draft is where you apply what you know about a promotion, a delivery schedule or a supplier's packing rules.
Try it on your store. Restock Ops adds purchase orders with partial receiving, supplier notes, cost history, barcode labels, scanner stocktakes and a reorder report on top of Shopify inventory. From $19/month, 14-day free trial.