14 Free Purchase Order Templates in Google Sheets, Google Docs, and Other Formats

Every business needs goods and services to run. Usually, this means ordering from other companies. A purchase order is used in business-to-business transactions. It is a formal request from a buyer to a seller for those vital goods or services. In this post, we’ve listed some customizable purchase order templates in Google Docs, Google Sheets, PDF, Word, and Excel formats to help you get started, along with some tips to enhance your purchase order.

Purchase Order Template

This template is a standard format for businesses to create and send purchase orders to vendors. It includes fields for vendor and shipping details, item descriptions, quantities, and total costs. It’s ideal for businesses of all sizes to manage and track orders efficiently, ensuring clear communication with suppliers.

Printable Purchase Order Template

This printable purchase order template is designed for businesses that need a clear and simple format for ordering goods or services. It features sections for vendor and shipping details, item descriptions, quantities, and total costs. With its straightforward structure and space for comments and terms, it’s ideal for companies looking to maintain consistent documentation for inventory or supplier management. Its print-friendly design makes it perfect for both digital use and hardcopy records.

Purchase Order Email Template

A simple email format for sending purchase requests, featuring placeholders for item descriptions, quantities, and prices. It’s ideal for small businesses or freelancers who want to communicate purchase needs quickly and professionally, helping vendors prepare formal quotes.

Purchase Order Request Template

This template is designed for departments or teams to request purchases through an internal approval process. With fields for requestor information, budget codes, vendor details, and item descriptions, it helps streamline the order process within organizations. It’s ideal for ensuring transparency and tracking requests before final purchase orders are issued.

Purchase Order Request Form

This form is designed for internal use, allowing teams to request approval for purchases before placing an order. It features sections for requestor details, vendor information, delivery preferences, and a breakdown of the order. This template is ideal for organizations needing a structured format to streamline purchase approvals and manage procurement efficiently.

Simple Purchase Order Template

A straightforward template for creating standard purchase orders, featuring fields for company details, item descriptions, quantities, and pricing. It’s suitable for small businesses or individuals needing a basic yet structured format for regular purchases and order tracking.

Blanket Purchase Order Template

This template is used for ongoing purchase commitments, featuring fields for estimated quantities, material authorizations, and release schedules. It’s perfect for companies that order the same items frequently, helping maintain consistency and simplifying the reordering process.

Merchandise Purchase Order

A comprehensive template for retail or office merchandise orders, including fields for detailed descriptions of desks, cabinets, and other office furnishings. It’s suitable for businesses looking to streamline furniture or equipment purchases, offering a structured format for large inventory orders.

Property Purchase Order Form

This template is designed for property transactions, with fields for buyer and seller details, property descriptions, and closing requirements. It’s ideal for real estate agents or legal professionals handling property sales or transfers, ensuring all relevant information is captured.

Purchase Order Agreement Template

A detailed agreement template for complex purchase orders, covering contract terms, item specifications, delivery schedules, and payment plans. It’s suitable for projects involving large equipment or specialized materials, ensuring both parties agree on the terms before proceeding.

Purchase Order for Scheduled Drugs Template

Tailored for medical facilities or authorized entities, this template includes sections for specifying controlled substances, dosage forms, and regulatory details. It’s especially useful for pharmacists, healthcare providers, or licensed buyers handling regulated drug orders, ensuring compliance with legal standards.

Purchase Order Terms and Conditions Template

This template provides a comprehensive outline of purchase order terms, covering topics such as compliance, delivery, warranties, and payment terms. It’s suitable for companies that want to standardize their purchasing agreements with vendors, ensuring clarity and protection in their transactions.

Restaurant Purchase Order Form Template

A detailed template for restaurant owners or managers to order menu items, ingredients, or kitchen supplies. With sections for appetizers, salads, main courses, and drinks, it’s ideal for organizing and managing stock purchases based on seasonal or weekly needs, ensuring menu consistency.

Vehicle Purchase Order Form

Tailored for auto dealers or buyers, this template captures detailed vehicle specifications such as make, model, year, and VIN. It also includes sections for trade-in information and additional cost details, making it suitable for vehicle purchases where comprehensive documentation is required to complete the transaction.

What Is a Purchase Order?

A purchase order (PO) is a legal document that a buyer issues to a seller, often used in business-to-business transactions. The document confirms a request for goods or services and outlines the terms of the sale, such as the price, quantity, delivery date, and payment method. Once both parties have signed the purchase order, it becomes a legally binding contract.

What Is a Purchase Order Template?

A purchase order template is a professionally designed form that you can download, modify, or fill out to save time. These easy-to-use documents can be customized for any business, style, or purchase quantity. Primarily, it records the terms of the purchase and ensures that both the buyer and the supplier are clear about what is being purchased. The template includes the names and addresses of the parties involved, the date of the purchase, the items being purchased, the quantity and price of each item, the total cost, and the terms of the purchase.

Your purchase order templates do more than get you sales. They also become legally binding contracts. When the seller accepts the order, the document becomes a contract and a legally binding agreement to purchase the goods or services described. This form helps ensure that all the necessary information is included in the purchase agreement and that both parties understand the terms. It also helps to protect the business from liability if there are any problems with the purchase.

Essential Elements of a Purchase Order Template

The elements of a purchase order include all the necessary information to request what you need. This includes contact and shipping information, payment details, due dates, and a chart table showing precisely what you are asking for. Below is an outline of where these items typically appear on the page for easy reference.

• Logo (Optional but highly recommended): Your company logo or name in large print.
• Title: “Purchase Order.”
• Your Contact Info: Company name and contact information.
• Internal Records References: Purchase order information such as the order number, date, and vendor.
• Purchased From and Headed To: Names and contact information for both the business you are buying from and the shipping destination.
• Shipping Info: The shipping method, terms, and expected delivery date.
• Payments: Payment terms and due date.
• Order: A table for the order, typically at the bottom of the page or covering a second page. This includes columns for the item, description, quantity, price per item, and total. At the bottom of the list, include standard lines for taxes, fees, and the total cost.

Who Uses the Purchase Order Template?

Businesses that purchase goods or services from suppliers typically use a purchase order template for B2B sales. In short, the buyer’s business uses this form to request goods or services from the seller. Typical users include retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers, contractors, and other companies that buy goods or services from suppliers.

In large businesses, purchase orders are often handled by management or specific staff members tasked with ordering. For example, in a restaurant, the person filling out purchase orders might also manage staff, take stock forms from cooks, and create lists of what is needed to keep operations running smoothly. Depending on the company, these forms may also be used by executive assistants, business owners, or others with knowledge of the business’s needs.

What Are the Benefits of Using a Purchase Order Template?

There are many benefits to using a purchase order template. One of the most important benefits is that it helps ensure that all relevant information is included in the purchase agreement. It also helps to protect the business from liability if there are any problems with the purchase. Furthermore, a purchase order template allows the buyer to compare suppliers and products to find the best deal. This will save the business time and money. Another benefit of using a purchase order template is that it helps to ensure that the goods or services are delivered on time and as agreed upon in the purchase agreement.

How To Use a Purchase Order Template

Using a purchase order template is simple:

• Download the Template: Choose your writing program—MS Word, Excel, and Open Office are all compatible.
• Customize the Form: Modify the top of the form to represent your business with a name or logo.
• Identify Goods or Services: Determine the goods or services needed and the required quantity.
• Fill Out the Template: Enter the details of the purchase, including the names and addresses of the parties, date, items, quantity, price, total cost, and terms.
• Send the Purchase Order: Send the completed purchase order to the supplier.
• Await Supplier Response: The supplier reviews the terms and accepts or rejects the purchase order.

Invoice Vs. Purchase Order

Invoices and purchase orders both deal with the sale of goods and services, but they serve different purposes. Below is a breakdown of their key differences:

Invoice

• Created by the seller and sent to the buyer.
• Typically generated after a purchase has been made.
• Lists goods or services provided and the price for each item.
• Is a payment request, not a contract.
• The buyer cannot reject an invoice since they have already received the goods or services.

Purchase Order

• Created by the buyer and sent to the seller.
• Generated before goods or services are provided.
• Lists goods or services to be provided, along with the price for each item.
• Becomes a legally binding contract once accepted by the seller.
• The seller can reject a purchase order.

The Four Types of Purchase Orders

There are four different types of purchase orders to be aware of. Each of the following is a specific purchase order style, and we’ve included details of what each does and when to use it in your business dealings. Not every business uses all four of these different POs, but it’s still important to understand what each variation is meant for.

• Contract Purchase Order (CPO)- The contract purchase order is both the simplest version of a PO and the most complex. These forms create an agreement for future purchase orders. Additionally, CPOs set up the guidelines and some obligations under that agreement. Unlike most purchase orders, these forms do not make specific requests for items to be delivered but rather a contract that allows businesses to work together more easily in the future.
• Blanket Purchase Order (BPO)- A blanket purchase order is for things you need to restock regularly but don’t know the quantity in advance. Because this type of order can be problematic for vendors to fill, they are more likely to limit the amount you can order for each item.
• Planned Purchase Order (PPO)- Planned purchase orders are printed in advance because they anticipate the need to restock items. These may be regular or irregular deliveries, but they are always needed to keep certain things in your business. For example, photographers always need chemicals for development, photo paper, and film. Still, they may not need it every week, and some months are busier than others necessitating a more frequent restocking. These are typically used to order standard quantities.
• Standard Purchase Order (SPO)- A standard purchase order is one of the two most common forms of a purchase order. These forms are used when a company only needs to make a single purchase or when the purchase isn’t regular. For example, if you run a wedding and event venue, you may only need chairs for a banquet hall once, with replacements a few years later, or you may need tablecloths, but only when the old ones have been damaged or too stained to wash.

How to Send a Purchase Order

If you’re ready to send a purchase order, there are a few steps you’ll need to follow. First, you need to find a seller with what you want to purchase. Then you’ll need to gather the necessary information about the buyer, which typically means your own business and the seller. The data should include contact information and details about the goods or services you propose to buy. Next, you’ll need to create the purchase order, which you can do quickly using a professional template. Feel free to bookmark this page to easily access the tips for filling out the form.

Lastly, you’ll need to send the purchase order to the seller and keep track of the purchase order until the goods or services have been received. You can do this via email, snail mail, or hand delivery, but it’s best to contact the seller first. Hence, they know the purchase order is coming in. Creating a positive working relationship with other businesses is essential to working together. Sending a purchase order may seem daunting, but following the steps and tips above can quickly and efficiently get everything done. Soon it will be second nature.

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