> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.x.build/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Purchase orders

> Order a work order's materials from your distributor and track the delivery

## Working with purchase orders

When your crew installs and you buy the materials, those materials go on a **material order** — the supply side of a [work order](/platform/work-orders-and-crews). Sending it gives your distributor a **purchase order (PO)**: a PDF listing what to deliver, where, and when. Material orders live on the work order's card on the project's **Construction** tab.

*This feature is available on select XBuild plans. If you don't see it in your account, contact [support@x.build](mailto:support@x.build).*

A work order has a material order only when it's **Split** — your crew installs, you supply. A **Turnkey** work order's crew furnishes its own materials, so there's nothing to order. Each work order has at most one live material order.

### 1. Set up your distributors

**Manage distributors** on the Construction tab opens **Settings → Distributors** — where material orders go. Click **Add distributor**:

| Field | Details |
| - | - |
| **Name**, **Phone**, **Notes** | The supplier |
| **Trades** | What you buy from them |
| **Branches** | Each branch has a **Branch label**, **Orders email**, address, phone, and notes. Mark one **Default branch** — it's picked first on new orders |

The branch's **Orders email** is where the PO goes. Distributors archive rather than delete, so past orders keep their supplier.

### 2. Send the order

1. On the work order's card, find the material leg. Pick the distributor and branch.
2. Click **Send order**. The dialog reads **Send order to \[distributor]?**
3. Choose how:
   * **Email the PO** — emails the PO to the branch's orders email. Change **Send to** for this one order if needed; the distributor's record stays the same. Edit the subject and message if you like.
   * **Already ordered** — for an order you placed by phone or at the counter. XBuild files the PO and emails nothing.
4. Set a **Delivery date** if you have one. Left empty, the PO says "to be confirmed".
5. Click **Preview PO PDF** to check it, then **Send order** (or **Mark as sent**).

The PO gets a number — **PO-** followed by a short code — and is filed to the project's documents. It lists the items, quantities, units, and SKUs, the delivery address and site contact, and the requested delivery date. **It carries no prices** — the email says "Pricing per our account terms — this order lists quantities only." Replies come back to whoever sent it.

Once an order is sent, its supplier is fixed.

### 3. Track it to delivery

The pill on the material leg shows where the order stands. Change it from the pill's menu.

| Pill | Meaning |
| - | - |
| **Not ordered** | Not yet sent to the distributor |
| **Sent** | The PO went out (or you marked it as sent) |
| **Confirmed** | The distributor confirmed it |
| **Delivered** | On site. You can mark a sent order delivered without confirming it first |
| **Cancelled** | Called off |

* **Delayed…** flags a sent or confirmed order with a new expected date and an optional note. It shows as **· Delayed** on the pill until you **Clear delay** or mark the order delivered.
* **Resend order** emails the same PO again, to the branch's current orders email — or, if that's been removed, the branch's orders email from when the order was first sent. It never uses an address typed in **Send to**, and if neither address exists it can't send; add one in **Settings → Distributors** first.
* **Cancel material order** calls it off.

Once the work order is dispatched, the material lines lock along with the rest of the work order.

#### A sent order on a cancelled or completed work order

Cancelling a work order also cancels its material order if it hasn't been sent. A material order that was already sent stays open — the distributor may already be filling it — and so does its projected material cost. Once a work order is cancelled or complete, its card can't change the material order any more, so handle it on the [Financials](/platform/project-finances) tab:

* **A bill comes** — record it as a cost with the bill attached, or a return as a credit.
* **No bill will come**, or the bill is less than the order — the projected material cost from that order keeps counting in your projected figures, and there's no way to clear it from the app yet. Contact [support@x.build](mailto:support@x.build) if it needs to come off.

### 4. How it touches the money

A material order feeds the job's projected material cost, with the distributor as the payee. When the distributor's bill arrives, record it as a cost with the bill attached on the [Financials](/platform/project-finances) tab.

### 5. On the mobile app

The mobile app's **Construction** tab can pick the distributor and delivery date, send the order or mark it as sent, resend, and move the pill — Confirmed, Delivered, Delayed, Clear delay, Cancel. Distributors are set up on the web app.

### 6. Troubleshooting common issues

* **I can't send the order.** Pick a distributor and a branch first, and make sure the order has at least one line. If the branch has no orders email, add one in **Settings → Distributors** or type a **Send to** address.
* **I can't change the distributor.** The order has been sent — the supplier is fixed. While the work order is still a draft, cancel the material order and add a new one by editing the work order. Once the work order is dispatched, a new material order can't be added; cancel the work order and create a new one if you need to switch.
* **I cancelled the work order, but the material order is still open**, or **I can't change a material order on a completed work order.** See [A sent order on a cancelled or completed work order](#a-sent-order-on-a-cancelled-or-completed-work-order).
* **The distributor never got the email.** Check the branch's orders email in Settings → Distributors, then **Resend order**. Resend goes to that address, never to one you typed in **Send to** — see Resend order above.
* **The distributor wants prices on the PO.** POs list quantities only; pricing follows your account terms with the distributor.

For further assistance, contact XBuild Support at [support@x.build](mailto:support@x.build).


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