Notes for owners · Industry-Specific Software Guides
How a tools distributor can track factory POs from quotation to payment
Treat each factory purchase order as one record that opens at the quotation and closes when the last bill is paid. Link the PO to the quote, supply in lots against it, submit bills with the PO and GRN reference, and follow due dates. GullySystem builds this into software for industrial tools distributors.
Ganesh HS, Strategy and Technology, GullySystem · · 3 min read
Open the record at the enquiry
A factory enquiry usually arrives as an email list from a maintenance engineer or a purchase executive. It may name cutting tools by grade, power tools by model and abrasives by the box. Give that enquiry a number the day it arrives.
Price the quotation line by line against the enquiry, and keep the rate you last gave that customer beside each item. Note where you offered another brand because the asked one was short. Revisions get their own number. Nothing is overwritten.
Match the purchase order to the quotation
When the PO arrives, compare it with the quotation before anything is packed. Factories often change a quantity, drop a line or add a delivery schedule. Payment terms on the PO may differ from what you quoted.
Record the PO number, date, delivery address, contact and terms against the quotation. Any difference is settled with the buyer now, not after the bill is rejected. Many later disputes start at this step.
- Quantity and unit on every line
- Brand and catalogue number as ordered
- Rate and discount as quoted
- Delivery schedule and address
- Payment terms and bill submission address
Supply in lots and keep the balance open
Industrial orders are rarely sent in one lot. Some items are in the godown, some come from the brand next week, and a few are imported. Each challan should name the PO and the lines it covers.
The balance on each line then stays open on a pending list. Sales engineers can answer a buyer without walking to the godown. A PO closes only when every line is supplied or formally cancelled by the customer.
Submit bills the way accounts payable reads them
A factory’s accounts team matches three things: the PO, the GRN raised at their stores and your invoice. An invoice without the PO number or GRN reference often waits in a pile. Ask each customer what they need printed on the bill.
Record the date each bill was submitted, by courier, by email or on the customer’s supplier portal. Keep the stamped challan or GRN copy against it. Due dates start from submission at many factories, so the date matters.
Follow due dates and close the loop
List bills by customer and due date, with the PO and GRN beside each one. Accounts can follow up with the right reference in hand. Short payments are matched against the bill they belong to, not left as an unexplained balance.
Review open POs, pending lines and unpaid bills together once a week. The same review shows which customers pay late. It also shows which brands keep you waiting for stock.
- Open POs with pending lines
- Bills submitted but not yet due
- Bills overdue, by customer
- Short payments to be explained
Factory PO tracker sheet
A one-page sheet with a row for each open purchase order: quotation number, PO number, lines supplied, lines pending, bills submitted and due dates. Fill it from your current registers. The blank cells show where records go missing today.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Should counter sales follow the same process?
No. Walk-in fabricators and hardware dealers buy at the counter and pay on their own credit terms. The PO process is for factory customers who issue purchase orders.
Can the software upload our bills to a factory’s supplier portal?
Not on its own. Your team uploads the invoice to the buyer’s portal as it does now, and the date of upload is recorded against the bill.
Is a register enough for a small distributor?
It can be. A distributor with a handful of factory customers and few part supplies may manage with a well-kept PO register. Software helps once pending lines and submissions are too many to hold in one book.