Remove the system generated "PO" number on order PDF's

Shopify Discussion

Topic summary

A museum gift shop is experiencing significant workflow issues because suppliers consistently reference the wrong PO number when sending invoices and confirmations. The problem stems from Shopify’s auto-generated “PO” number appearing prominently at the top of purchase order PDFs, while the actual required PO reference sits at the bottom—easily missed on multi-page orders.

Key Points:

  • Affects approximately 90% of suppliers (hundreds total)
  • Creates hours of extra work weekly due to back-and-forth corrections
  • Highlighting the correct PO in email bodies hasn’t resolved the issue

Attempted Solution:
Initially suggested editing Liquid templates to remove the auto-generated PO number, but this approach only works for customer-facing documents (invoices/packing slips) through the Shopify Order Printer app.

Resolution:
Shopify’s backend purchase order PDFs are not customizable without third-party apps. The user will evaluate whether implementing an additional app is worth the effort compared to current manual workarounds.

Status: Unresolved—no native solution exists within Shopify’s standard functionality.

Summarized with AI on November 1. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Hi, We’re running into an issue that causes SO much extra work. About every 9/10 suppliers add the wrong PO reference to their invoices and order confirmations because of how Shopify’s purchase orders look when you export as a PDF. I end up having to email back and forth for every single order we place and since we have hundreds of suppliers(museum gift shop) it’s creating hours of extra work every week.

The system generated “PO” shows right at the top and the actual PO reference that we have to include on invoices is at the bottom. It’s obvious enough on a small order like the attached screenshot but if you have 1+ pages of products listed, the true PO reference is lost at the bottom.

So, my question is if there’s anything quicker/easier than if I manually go edit every PO PDf(something I absolutely don’t have time to do)? Is there any way to disable or remove the system generated PO number from the top of the PDF’s?

I obviously already highlight the actual PO in the email body but it seems like 90% of our suppliers just grab the PDF and don’t read the email properly(they’re also busy after all)

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2

You need to remove the PO from liquid template

From
{% if order.po_number %}PO # {{ order.po_number }}
{% endif %}

To{% if order.po_number %}# {{ order.po_number }}
{% endif %}

3

Thank you, where do I find the PO order in the liquid themes? This is not for the online shop but the back end, I can’t seem to locate anything that’s not for the front end(e.g. if I search “order” in liquid themes all I get is the “customer order” code which isn’t what needs editing). No hits on searching for order.po_number and google seem t also only have how tos for the front end rather than the PO’s I’m raising on the backend.

4

I guess you use “Shopify Order Printer” app, don’t you?

If yes, there is template in the app menu. You can edit the template for invoice or packing slip

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5

I see thank you. We don’t have that app. I’m talking about the purchase orders raised directly in shopify ahead of receiving stock/inventory. I’m guessing there isn’t a way to edit or remove the PO number without getting an app but I’ll have to look into if it’s worth the extra work of using the suggested app.

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6

It is not customizable unfortunately. The PO is generated automatically. You need a 3. party app

7

I see. Thanks so much we’ll have a look if that’s worth our time.