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Invoicing

Purchase Order (PO Number)

The short answer

A purchase order is a business’s own reference number for work it has approved. It is issued before you invoice. Put it on the invoice exactly as given, or their system may fail to match your payment.

What it means

A purchase order, or PO, is the client business’s own internal control. It proves to their accounts department that someone with authority to spend approved this job before it happened. They generate the number. Your job is to put it on the invoice exactly as given. Use the field or reference line their process expects.

A company invoice that lacks the PO number their system looks for often just sits. They do not refuse it. It stays unmatched until someone chases it and finds the gap. Ask for the number when you confirm the accounts contact and the payment terms. Do it before the job starts, and do not wait until invoice time.

For example

A commercial client gives you a purchase order number, “PO-4471,” when they book the job. You put it on the invoice exactly as given. Their accounts team matches it against their own approval record and pays without a query.

The mistake to avoid

Starting the job without asking whether a purchase order applies. The invoice then bounces back weeks later asking for one. A five-second question upfront turns into a real delay in getting paid.

See also

Line ItemNet 30 (Payment Terms)

Where this shows up

Guide

Who is actually paying — when the client and the payer are not the same

A business sends you to the job but its accounts department pays. A landlord pays for work a tenant only agreed to. A main contractor books you as one trade of several, and their payment terms rule the job. Confirm the payer before you start, and the invoice practically writes itself once the work is done.

 Templates

Agreeing who pays, before the invoice finds out the hard way

Seven messages for confirming the payer before you start. Cover a business’s accounts contact, a letting agent’s property reference, and a main contractor’s terms. One script asks the same question the other way when you hire another trade. Fill in your details once at the top of this page, and every script below updates.

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