How to add customer's PO to invoice

[Dhill1]

I have two large customers who require their PO numbers to be listed on all invoices. I've tried adding it in a note, but that doesn't show up on the invoice. I tried adding it as a custom item, but I can't add an item with a $0 cost. Is there a way to do this?

[Stephen34]

Did you figure out a way for customers to use PO's? I need to use them in checkout and draft orders so that when they get their invoice and receipt (which goes in their shipment) it references their po number. 

Thanks for any info you can provide!

[Shay]

Hey there! You can consider using a free app like Shopify's order printer app to customize your templates. Using Shopify's liquid language you can add or remove information from your order invoices to suit your business needs.

Shopify's Order Printer App

Some customizations to these templates are also supported by our theme support team. So if you want to add a section and aren't comfortable doing that yourself, I recommend connecting with our authenticated chat support in our Help Center to make that request. 

[Stephen34]

@Shay  does the order printer app have the capability to capture a number that the customer inputs? The PO number is created by the customer in their system but they need it documented on the invoice and receipt so that they can find it in their system and know it's a legitimate order.

[Shay]

Hey @Stephen34 - How is the customer inputting this invoice number and how are they receiving their PO? If I can understand the customer/merchant experience and steps being taken I can let you know more specifically what is doable for you. 

[Stephen34]

@Shay The issue is that they are NOT able to input it, not even with a app (as far as I can find), but need to be able to do so. Typically the purchaser (our customer) creates a purchase order (that has a number) and sends it to the supplier (us) or goes on the website and places a order and enters in their po number. We need them to be able to cart all the products and enter their po number in the cart or checkout so that it will be on their invoice and receipt and when we print the receipt to include in their shipping box, their shipment has to have their po number on it. This way, when they receive the shipment and get the receipt out they can pull up the applicable purchase order in their software to verify it and receive the items in against the po. So in summary we need somewhere that the customer can input their PO number in the cart or checkout.....and we also need to be able to input it on draft orders that we create manually......and we need that number to follow through to the order confirmation email and receipt.

I believe the Order Printer App MIGHT allow us to type a po number in on a package slip, but that is VERY likely to create human error and when we are fulfilling a order to ship its not like we magically know to call the customer to get a PO number from them, so we need a way that they can input it themselves. There is a definite break down regarding the use of po numbers. I believe your Shopify Plus has this all native, but the issue is that Shopify Plus is very expensive, geared towards large companies but po numbers are a general business practice that even very small businesses need to use. Its not feasible for a small business to pay for Shopify Plus just to have the ability for our customers to use PO numbers. This is a VERY limiting factor in being able to START trying to sell wholesale. The platform makes it so that someone trying to get into wholesale cant really do it using Shopify. What would be best if you guys allow PO numbers in all your plans so that they can even start and grow a wholesale business and hopefully grow into needing Shopify Plus.....but without the use of PO numbers they will never get to that point using the Shopify platform.

[Uni-Trend]

I faced the same issue with my store. What I ended up doing was adding Order Printer Pro to my shop. It gives you the ability to make much nicer invoices, quotes, etc. For customer POs, I just use the Tag field and put it in there. Then I customized the Invoice template to display "Your PO#" <TAG>. There's a conditional that if it's blank, then it doesn't show up, so you can use the invoice for regular, non-PO issuing orders as well. You can also use the Notes space, if you are using the Tag for something else. 

The one limitation on the app is that it cannot read metafields. So, you can't add extra order-level content. All you have are Notes and Tags. But that should be enough. 

I hate that you have to keep adding apps to a service like Shopify, but it is what it is. 

[NCTA]

I am also in the same boat. I just "add a custom item" from the order page and deselected the boxes "item is taxable" and "item is a physical product". Our customer requested that their PO # be included on both their invoice and packing slips, so as a line item that solves the issue for us!