Manage suppliers, purchase orders and supplies

1. Choose the record for the task

Suppliers holds vendor identity, contacts and catalogs. Purchase Orders records what you intend to buy. Received inventory identifies physical stock. Shop Supplies counts consumables and tools by unit, with vehicle or crew labels. Supplier Invoices tracks bills from vendors. These records serve different purposes; creating one does not complete the others.

2. Find a supplier and choose a view

Open Inventory → Suppliers. Search the list, switch Cards or List, and use the available column sorting and page controls. For a multi-location shop, the global location filter includes suppliers assigned to that location plus suppliers available to all locations.

Export downloads the currently loaded supplier rows. Check the search, location and page before treating that CSV as a complete vendor directory.

3. Create a supplier with the right scope

Choose Create. Enter the supplier name, select one or several type chips and enter a lead contact where useful. In a multi-location shop, choose a shop location or leave the supplier available to all locations. Review the values and create the supplier.

Add type extends the shop’s available type choices. That custom type is saved separately when entered; cancelling the supplier draft does not remove an already-added type. Prefer an existing matching type when one is available.

4. Edit supplier identity and billing details

Open the supplier and use Edit supplier beside Supplier Info. Update the name, types, billing-address fields and notes. An address suggestion can populate the remaining address fields; review each part. Save applies the supplier edit, while Cancel discards that draft. Contacts have their own editor and save behavior.

5. Maintain ordering contacts

In Contacts, choose Add contact or the pencil beside an existing person. Enter name, role, email and phone; use the additional contact-method controls for other labelled numbers or addresses. Select the product line and Primary contact when appropriate, then Save.

A primary contact can be specific to a product line or general. Order Now uses those choices when suggesting its recipient; inspect the actual To field before sending. Deleting a contact removes that contact record. It does not delete the supplier.

6. Store supplier catalogs

Use Catalogs & Price Lists to upload or drop vendor documents. Open the intended attachment and use its remove control when appropriate. These are reference files on the supplier record. Uploading one here does not import its prices into a SlabOS price list; use the separate price-list workflow for that task.

7. Read the supplier’s orders and stock

The Purchase Orders section opens linked orders in the PO editor. Legacy orders may also appear through a matching vendor name. In Stock lists this supplier’s available or on-hand slabs; allocated and consumed pieces are outside that list. Check the main inventory filters when following an inventory link.

The financial cards summarize recorded PO totals and supplier invoices. PO totals describe orders rather than cash paid. Check the underlying orders, invoice amounts and status before interpreting the cards.

8. Record and review supplier invoices

Choose Record invoice to enter Invoice #, Amount, Issued and Due dates, notes and an optional document. Save the record and review the invoice list. The status selector offers Unpaid, Partial and Paid and saves its change separately.

This is an invoice tracker; changing status does not send a bank payment. The visible status selector does not ask for a partial payment amount. Do not assume choosing Partial by itself records how much was paid. Review the actual balance and supporting payment records.

9. Find and customize the purchase-order list

Open Purchase Orders. Search by PO, supplier or status; use sortable columns and pagination. Views selects a saved view. Customize lets you choose columns, rows per page and available filters, then Apply offers the supported temporary or saved-view choices.

Saved views and personal defaults affect how the list is presented. Check the active view before looking for an order. Export downloads the currently loaded PO rows, with order dates, quantities, costs, job and location information.

10. Set the purchase-order header

Choose New PO. Enter PO # and select the supplier. Custom name allows a one-off vendor name; it does not create a complete supplier record or its ordering contacts. Review Status, Order Date, Expected and Received dates, location or Ship-To Location, Cost List and Tax Rate where shown.

Assign to Job links the PO to the intended work. Check the selected job’s identity. Header dates, order status and physical receipt quantities are separate values. When the order has line items, their amounts and tax determine its total.

11. Add a catalog material or fixture

Select the supplier first, then Material / Catalog. Product Type routes the picker: stone types use a price list, material and color; plumbing uses the available vendor and product choices. The price list supplies the cost basis. Verify a prefilled cost against the vendor’s actual order.

For stone, inspect thickness, slab dimensions, Price per sq ft and Buy by. Per-slab cost depends on the slab’s area; buying by square foot uses square-foot quantity and rate. Use Custom Item (One Time) when offered for an item outside the catalog. Review its description and cost before Add item.

12. Add equipment and miscellaneous lines

Choose Shop Equipment & Misc for a description-based line. Bill by supports Unit, Sq Ft and Ln Ft. Enter the quantity in the selected unit and the corresponding unit cost, then Add item. Review the added line and its total. The line’s Remove control removes it from the current draft; save the PO to persist that change.

13. Save and reopen the PO

Review the supplier, job, dates, location, every line and total, then Create PO or Save Changes. Reopen the saved order to confirm its values. Cancel discards the open PO draft. Attachments and email actions have their own behavior and are not undone by cancelling a later header edit.

14. Attach the order and receipts

Save a new PO first, then reopen it to use Attachments. Upload the physical PO, delivery paperwork or receipts and open the saved file to verify it. Upload and delete controls depend on Purchase Order Files permissions. Removing an attachment is separate from deleting the order.

15. Review an order email before sending

System emails use the SlabOS mailing engine by default. To send them through your own Gmail or Outlook account, connect that mailbox and enable Send system emails as me in its connection settings. Connecting a mailbox alone does not change system-email delivery.

Save the PO’s final lines before Order Now. The email composer uses the supplier’s contacts, selected product line and the available PO email template. Check To, Subject and Message, including quantities, dimensions, thickness and any instructions.

Send Order sends the email. Cancel closes the unsent composer. Changing an order’s status to Ordered is not the same as sending it. Review sent information and the Emails section to confirm what was actually communicated.

16. Receive supported slab items against an order

On a saved PO, Receive Items opens the remaining quantities for each line. Select only delivered lines, adjust Receive Now and choose Delivery Date. Confirm the product and quantity before Receive. A line can be received in batches of up to 50 items.

This receiving action creates inventory slabs, writes receipt rows, updates received counts and advances the PO to Partial or Received. If the PO has a job, the new slabs are allocated to it. The dialog explicitly states that it creates slabs: use the appropriate tile, flooring or consumables inventory workflow for other product types instead of treating this control as a universal stock receipt.

17. Understand receipt rows and status changes

Expand Receipts to inspect descriptions, quantities, delivery dates, serial and batch numbers and existing allocation details. Editing or adding these receipt rows records paperwork in the PO draft; it does not itself create new physical stock.

Saving a change to Received also makes still-ordered inventory items already linked to that PO available and sets their received date. Reversing the PO status does not automatically reverse those stock changes. Check delivered quantities and linked inventory before using the status selector.

18. Reconcile or remove an order

After receiving, reopen the PO and compare its line counts, Receipts, linked inventory and job. Partial deliveries should leave the undelivered quantity visible. The View Slabs button includes the linked slab count and opens the related inventory.

Delete PO removes the order and its line items and attachments after confirmation. Previously received slabs remain in inventory without that PO link. Review dependencies and receipt evidence before deleting an order.

19. Find supplies that need attention

Open Shop Supplies, or Install Supplies for a flooring shop. Search names, variants, brands or notes; filter Category and Vehicle / Crew. Shop (unassigned) finds stock without a vehicle or crew label. Low stock shows items at or below their minimum threshold.

Read Quantity together with Unit. A box count is not an each count or a square-foot total. The minimum is a reorder reminder; reaching it does not place an order automatically. On a narrow screen, scroll the table sideways to reach its remaining columns and actions.

20. Add or edit a supply

Choose Add Supply or the row’s Edit control. Select a category and type or choose a catalog item. Review Item name, Variant, Brand, Quantity, Min (reorder at), Unit, Location and Notes. Catalog choices may fill suggested values and variants; verify the actual product. Save and reopen the row.

Counts use whole units. Location is a descriptive shelf or storage position. A new custom category is saved to the shop’s choices separately; cancelling the supply draft does not remove that category.

21. Assign supplies to a vehicle or crew

Choose an existing Vehicle / Crew label or New vehicle / crew and enter a recognizable name. Leave the selection empty for shop stock. This labels where the supply is held; it does not create an employee, schedule an event or allocate a quantity to a job. For tile or flooring job-quantity allocations, use the separate stock workflow.

22. Count stock and verify the saved quantity

The row’s minus and plus buttons save a one-unit change immediately. Minus is disabled at zero. For a larger correction, open Edit and set Quantity to the actual count, then Save. Check the saved value and low-stock state afterward. These controls record a count; they do not issue a purchase order.

23. Add a photo or starter catalog

The supply editor offers Add photo or Replace photo. Review the preview and save; photos are compressed automatically. Reopen the saved row to verify the image.

Load starter set asks for confirmation before adding the built-in consumable catalog at zero quantity. It skips existing name/variant matches. It does not claim that those items are physically in stock. Count and edit the resulting rows before relying on their quantities.

24. Finish with a record check

Compare the intended supplier and contact, saved order, actual received inventory and any consumable count changes. Keep supplier invoices and payment evidence separate from order totals. Reopen important records to confirm the result, and use related guides for price-list setup, slab inventory and tile or flooring job allocations.

Check the result

• Supplier, contact, job and location match the intended purchase.
• Line quantities, billing units and received inventory agree with the delivery.
• Supply counts and minimums are in the same whole unit; unsaved drafts and immediate saves are distinguished.