Place orders across several distributors and you need to know what is on the way, when it should arrive, and against which invoice — without keeping a separate spreadsheet. PartsBox tracks every order for you.
Each order moves through three states:
The expected delivery date is set when you place the order, so "what arrives this week" is a question the orders table answers. If an order falls through, cancel it: it returns to open and its parts stop counting as incoming stock.
Alongside the state, an order holds the fields you refer back to: the distributor's order number, your own PO number, the invoice number, the expected delivery date, and the vendor. Attach the invoice PDF, add notes, add your own custom fields — an approval status, a shipping method — and tag orders however you sort them. Parts on order are visible as incoming stock, so you do not re-order something that is already coming.
The orders table filters, sorts, and exports like every other table, so a list of open orders per vendor or a month of receiving is one view away.
Receiving updates the state. Receive a whole order at once or part of it; a partial delivery keeps the order open until the rest arrives, and PartsBox carries the outstanding quantity forward. Past orders stay as a record of what you bought, at what price, and from whom — with lot control, down to the specific lot each delivery became.
PartsBox records what you ordered and received. It is not an accounting system: it does not track payments, and it does not version orders — it records the present reality, not every historical change. For the fields and states in context, see purchase orders and Purchase parts and receive orders.
Order tracking is part of purchasing, which starts on the Essentials plan.