What is a Purchase Order in Business Central?

A formal document sent to a vendor to order goods or services, with agreed quantities, prices, and delivery terms.

A Purchase Order (PO) in Business Central is the official document that commits your company to buying goods or services from a vendor. It includes line items with quantities, unit prices, expected delivery dates, and payment terms.

Purchase Orders can be created manually, generated from Requisition Worksheets, or created directly by AI tools like the Zentriq Agent using natural language commands (e.g., 'Create a PO for 100 units of item 1000 from vendor 10000').

The PO lifecycle in BC includes: Draft → Released → Received → Invoiced. Each stage can be tracked and managed through the Purchase Orders list page.

With Zentriq Agent, you can query PO status instantly ('What's the status of PO 106001?'), create new purchase orders from natural language, and process related invoices by uploading them in the Agent chat.

Related terms

• Requisition Worksheet — A planning tool in Business Central used to create purchase suggestions and consolidate demand before issuing purchase orders.
• Purchase Invoice — A document recording a vendor's bill for goods or services received, used for accounts payable processing in Business Central.
• Item Reference — A cross-reference in Business Central that maps external product codes (vendor SKUs, barcodes) to internal BC item numbers.
• Approval Workflow — Business Central's built-in system for routing purchase orders and invoices through configurable approval chains before posting.
• Goods Receipt — The process of recording received items against a purchase order in Business Central, updating inventory and triggering accruals.
• Three-Way Matching — A verification process that compares the purchase order, goods receipt, and vendor invoice to ensure accuracy before payment.

How Zentriq helps

Zentriq's AI tools automate many of the manual processes around purchase order in Business Central. Learn about the Zentriq Agent or try Zentriq PunchOut to see how AI simplifies procurement in BC.