Create a purchase order
A purchase order puts in writing what material you ordered, from which supplier, and for how much. In Matterial it lives in Purchasing and is the foundation for tracking deliveries and payments, and for making that spend show up in your project budget. Creating one takes less than a minute: the only required field is the material, and you fill in the rest with whatever you have on hand.
- It lives in Purchasing and works project by project: pick the job in the selector up top before you start.
- The only required thing is at least one material; you can add several to the same order, and fill in supplier, budget line, tax, and credit if you have them.
- Choosing a supplier pre-fills their credit days, and the VAT (16%, or 8% if the job is in the border region) works out the total for you.
- Linking a budget line makes the order count toward your actual spend once you mark it Delivered.
- It doesn't use Matterial Credits: this feature works without AI.
- 1
Open Purchasing and pick the project
Go to Purchasing (/compras). Up top, in the project selector, choose the job the purchase belongs to. Then click the dark "+ New order" button (or tap the quick-action button on mobile) to open the "New purchase order" panel.
- 2
Add the materials
Under "Materials" enter each line: description (for example "Gray cement Type II"), quantity, unit, and unit price; the amount is calculated for you. With "Add material" you include as many as you need in the same order. One material is enough to create it.
- 3
Pick the supplier and budget line (optional)
Under "Supplier" search your list or, if it is new, type the name and add it right there; picking one preloads its credit days. Under "Budget line" link the order to a line item so the spend counts in your budget: as committed while it is in progress and as spent once you mark it Delivered.
- 4
Check tax and terms
The purchase tax comes preset with the project's rate (in Mexico, 16% general or 8% border); outside Mexico it starts with the tax rate your company set in Settings → Currency & format (no tax if none was set), and you can type a different one for that purchase (e.g. 8.25%). You can add the invoice number, the "Estimated delivery", the "Credit days", and the "Category". Below you see the summary with Subtotal, tax, and Total calculated for you.
- 5
Create the order
Tap "Create order". The panel closes and the order shows up in the list with its number, assigned automatically and never repeated: PO-0001 in English and OC-0001 in Spanish and Portuguese, following your company's language.
- 6
Track status, receiving, and payment
From the list change the status (Requested, Approved, In transit, Delivered…); moving an order to Approved is only for people with the "Approve" permission, and without that approval a Requested order does not move to In transit or Delivered (whoever cannot approve can only cancel it). Fix the order with the pencil. What arrives is recorded with "Receive material" (if part of several materials arrived, you enter the quantity of each one in the same delivery) or under "Installments"; if you enter more than what is pending, it asks you to confirm. The Payment column shows what was paid and the balance; "mark paid" records the real payment of the balance with its date, method, and reference. An order with payments or deliveries can't be deleted: cancel it instead. When you cancel an order with payments, it tells you how much has already been paid (and how much promised is voided), and the list shows "Paid $X · to recover": that money is already gone and keeps counting in the project's actual spend until the supplier returns it. You can also download the PO PDF or copy the link so the supplier confirms with a delivery date, and the list marks the confirmed ones.
Frequently asked questions
Can I create an order without a supplier or a price?
Yes. The only required field is Material / item. You can leave the supplier, the subtotal, and the other fields blank and fill them in later with the Edit pencil: VAT and total are recalculated for you.
How do I make the order count toward my budget?
Link a budget line when you create the order. While it's in progress (Requested, Approved, or In transit) it counts as committed, and once you mark it Delivered it adds to that line's actual spend.
What happens to what I already paid if I cancel the order?
It keeps counting in the project's actual spend: that money already left the till, and the ledger has to match the bank. The canceled order stops counting as committed, but Purchasing shows "Paid $X · to recover", and in Payments (and its CSV) those payments carry the "PO canceled" tag. Anything you had promised but not yet paid is voided when you cancel it: it leaves Payments and the committed amount, because a canceled order no longer gets paid.
What if the material arrives in several deliveries or I pay in installments?
Open "Installments" on the order to log deliveries and payments in parts. Once deliveries cover what was ordered (each material, on a multi-item order) the order is marked Delivered on its own, and once payments cover the total, Paid. If you delete a delivery and what was received no longer covers the order, it goes back to In transit; if you marked it Delivered manually (it asks you to confirm, and who did it and when is recorded), it stays Delivered.