Source: https://fulfillrelay.com/blog/shopify-purchase-order-reports-supplier-receipts Published: 2026-10-20T20:15:18.456Z Updated: 2026-10-20T20:15:18.456Z [← Blog](https://fulfillrelay.com/blog) Industry updates # Shopify Purchase Order Reports: Reconcile Supplier Receipts A supplier confirms a purchase order. One shipment arrives, a few units fail inspection, and another carton is still on the way. Before placing the next order, your team needs a clear account of what was agreed, what moved and what can actually be sold. Shopify's [October 6, 2026 analytics update](https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/analyze-purchase-orders-in-shopify-analytics) adds reports for purchase order costs, linked transfers and open orders without transfers. For merchants buying inventory into a location, these views offer a useful starting point for a weekly supplier review. The practical work is to reconcile their records before making a replenishment decision. By [FulfillRelay Team](https://fulfillrelay.com/about) · Published October 20, 2026 **In this article** ## Choose the question before the report Start with one supplier, one destination and a small set of purchase orders. Write down the decision you need to make: chase an unshipped balance, investigate rejected goods, explain a cost difference or decide whether to reorder. A large purchasing total cannot answer all four questions. Shopify's announcement identifies three reports: Purchase order costs covers agreed purchasing figures; Purchase order transfers follows linked shipments and receiving; Purchases on order covers open, ordered purchase orders without linked transfers. Check that purchase order analytics is available in your store before building a review around it. [Shopify's report guide](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/reports-and-analytics/shopify-reports/report-types/custom-reports/purchase-orders) explains the available views. Keep the records' identifiers together in your working notes. Use the purchase order reference, supplier, destination, variant and linked transfer reference to define the case. Then add the supplier's own reference if your team uses one. This makes it easier to investigate a specific discrepancy without treating every row as a separate buying decision. ## Compare the agreement with the linked movement A [purchase order](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/inventory-and-locations/purchase-orders) records the commercial agreement, including products, quantities, costs and terms. Shopify's current workflow uses a linked inventory transfer for the movement and receipt of those goods. After the supplier confirms, the purchase order can be marked Ordered and a transfer created. Check both records when an order changes. Shopify allows the purchase order and its linked transfer to operate independently; changing one does not automatically update the other. A transfer can also contain items that were not on the original purchase order. The [receiving guide](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/inventory-and-locations/purchase-orders/creating-inventory-transfers) describes that separation. For your review, compare variant identity, quantities and destination against the latest agreed supplier document. If there is a difference, establish whether it is an approved change, an entry error or an unresolved supply issue. Record the explanation next to the case rather than silently adjusting the totals until they agree.  Reconcile the agreement, shipment and receiving outcome before deciding what to reorder. Quantities are hypothetical. ## Separate arrival from acceptance Use shipment-level evidence when a delivery is incomplete or damaged. Shopify's [transfer and shipment reporting definitions](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/reports-and-analytics/shopify-reports/report-types/custom-reports/inventory-transfers-and-shipments) distinguish shipped, received, accepted and rejected quantities. Received quantity includes accepted and rejected items; acceptance rate uses received items as its basis. Consider a hypothetical purchase of 100 units. The first shipment contains 60. Your warehouse receives all 60, accepts 56 and rejects four. Another 40 units have not arrived. The first shipment's acceptance rate is 56 divided by 60, or about 93.3%. Accepted units represent 56% of the original purchase quantity. Those figures answer different questions, so label each denominator. Create separate follow-up lines for the four rejected units and the 40 outstanding units. The first needs a quality or replacement decision; the second needs a shipping or delivery update. Give each an owner, supporting evidence and a next review date. Avoid counting a promised replacement as stock already received. ## Align dates and currencies before comparing costs Report filters can change which records appear together. Shopify's purchase order guide says the cost and on-order reports use the purchase order line item's creation date, while the transfers report uses shipment creation date. Cost metrics are converted into store currency using a daily rate based on when the line item was added. A converted amount can therefore differ from the purchase order's amount. Write the date basis, range and currency on every exported review. If an order was entered last month and its shipment was created this month, inspect the underlying records before calling either report incomplete. Compare supplier-currency figures with the supplier document, then explain the store-currency conversion separately. These are reporting checks, not evidence that a payment was made. Also separate the original purchasing figure from later shipment expenses. Shopify supports shipping, customs duties and other cost adjustments on the linked transfer's shipments. Compare those recorded adjustments with the actual supporting bills before using the result in a replenishment budget. Keep unexplained differences open instead of assuming an estimate is the final cost. ## Check the selling location before you replenish An inbound record needs one more check before it informs customer promises. Shopify distinguishes Incoming, On hand, Available, Committed and Unavailable inventory. Incoming stock is not available to sell until received and changed to Available; apps can place received units into another state, such as safety stock. The [inventory-state definitions](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/inventory-and-locations/fundamentals/inventory-states) explain these boundaries. Look at the intended selling location and variant after receiving. For the hypothetical shipment, do not assume all 60 arrived units became sellable. Confirm the four rejected units were handled correctly and inspect any other reservations or holds affecting the accepted units. A purchasing review should carry the observed quantity and its state, not just a carton count. If the next step is allocating customer orders to suppliers, use a separate handoff check. Our [SKU routing guide](https://fulfillrelay.com/guides/shopify-sku-order-routing) covers that downstream decision. Keep replenishment receipts and customer-order allocation linked by clear item references, without merging their completion criteria. ## End with an exception list someone can act on Use the review to produce a short work queue rather than another unexplained spreadsheet. For each unresolved case, retain: - The purchase order, transfer, shipment and variant references relevant to the discrepancy. - Agreed, shipped, received, accepted, rejected and outstanding quantities, with their evidence dates. - The cost or currency difference that still needs explanation. - One owner, the next action and the date to check again. Before changing a purchase order, confirm the revised terms with the supplier through your normal process. Shopify's [purchase order management guide](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/inventory-and-locations/purchase-orders/creating-purchase-orders) notes that marking an order Ordered cannot be reversed, although details can still be edited. Review the linked transfer separately when making changes. The useful outcome is a defensible replenishment decision: which balance still needs chasing, which received units are usable and which costs remain unsettled. The new reports help locate the records. Your exception list turns those records into the next piece of work. ## Sources 1. [Analyze purchase orders in Shopify Analytics](https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/analyze-purchase-orders-in-shopify-analytics)Shopify Changelog · Checked 2026-10-20 12:42:04 UTC 2. [Creating custom reports for purchase orders](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/reports-and-analytics/shopify-reports/report-types/custom-reports/purchase-orders)Shopify Help Center · Checked 2026-10-20 12:42:08 UTC 3. [Purchase orders](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/inventory-and-locations/purchase-orders)Shopify Help Center · Checked 2026-10-20 12:42:12 UTC 4. [Receiving inventory from a purchase order](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/inventory-and-locations/purchase-orders/creating-inventory-transfers)Shopify Help Center · Checked 2026-10-20 12:42:16 UTC 5. [Creating custom reports for inventory transfers and shipments](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/reports-and-analytics/shopify-reports/report-types/custom-reports/inventory-transfers-and-shipments)Shopify Help Center · Checked 2026-10-20 12:42:20 UTC 6. [Understanding inventory states](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/inventory-and-locations/fundamentals/inventory-states)Shopify Help Center · Checked 2026-10-20 12:42:23 UTC 7. [Creating and managing purchase orders](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/inventory-and-locations/purchase-orders/creating-purchase-orders)Shopify Help Center · Checked 2026-10-20 12:42:26 UTC From the FulfillRelay team · FulfillRelay ## Put this check into your supplier workflow. Route eligible paid orders to the supplier you already work with, follow every handoff and bring tracking back to the original order. [Explore FulfillRelay on Shopify](https://fulfillrelay.com/go/shopify?source=blog-shopify-purchase-order-reports-supplier-receipts) [See how order routing works](https://fulfillrelay.com/shopify-supplier-order-routing) [Bring your supplier in](https://fulfillrelay.com/invite-your-supplier) Both your store and your supplier use Shopify. Supplier Connect is free.