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How to move purchase orders out of a spreadsheet
Moving purchase orders out of a spreadsheet takes about a week of preparation and a week of overlap. Freeze the old number sequence, clean the supplier list, write down who approves what, pick a cut-over date, import the lists, then run real requests through the new process while the spreadsheet stays read-only. Most of the work is tidying, not typing.
Why the spreadsheet stops working
A purchase order spreadsheet works while one person owns it. It starts to fail when two people add rows at once, when an approval lives in someone’s inbox rather than on the row, or when nobody can say which copy of the file is the real one. Why purchase orders in email and spreadsheets break goes through the usual failures.
The move itself is mostly housekeeping. The spreadsheet already holds what you need: a number sequence, a list of suppliers, the things you buy and, somewhere in people’s heads, the rules for who signs off. The job is to pull those out cleanly and leave the clutter behind.
The move, step by step
Give yourself two weeks: one to prepare, one to run both side by side. Do the steps in this order, because each one feeds the next.
- Freeze the number sequence. Pick a day after which nobody adds a new purchase order number to the spreadsheet. Write down the last number used and keep it where the whole team can find it. The new series must never repeat an old number. How to number purchase orders covers the options.
- Clean the supplier list. One row per supplier, with a short code, the trading name, and the email address that actually receives orders, which is often not the sales contact. Merge duplicates, fix spellings and drop anyone you haven’t bought from in the last year or two.
- List the items you buy repeatedly. Consumables, standard parts, regular services. Give each a code, a plain description and a typical unit cost. Leave out one-off purchases; they belong on a request, not on a list.
- Write down who approves what. For each person who buys, note who signs off their requests and up to what amount, measured excluding tax. If the answer today is “ask the finance manager”, write that down too. How to set approval limits helps if the rules have never been written.
- Decide the cut-over date and what happens to open orders. Orders already sent to suppliers stay in the spreadsheet until the goods arrive and the invoice is settled. New requests from the cut-over date go through the new process. Agree this with whoever pays suppliers, so nobody looks for an order in the wrong place.
- Import suppliers, items and approval paths, and invite people. Save the supplier and item lists as CSV files in the layout of the CSV templates, and the approval rules in the approval paths layout, and import them rather than typing records in by hand. Check a handful of suppliers and one approval path against your notes before going further.
- Run the first week with real requests. Ask everyone to raise their next real purchase in the new process, and set the spreadsheet to read-only so nobody adds to it out of habit. Expect questions in the first few days; answer them and adjust limits where the notes were wrong.
- Tell suppliers the order format is changing. A short email to each active supplier: orders now arrive as a PDF, each with its own purchase order number, and that number must appear on every invoice and delivery note.
- Archive the spreadsheet. Once the open orders from before the cut-over are closed, save a final copy, mark it as archived with the date, and keep it with your other financial records for as long as your accountant advises.
What to migrate and what to leave behind
Not everything in the spreadsheet deserves a new home. Bring across the lists people pick from; leave history where it is.
| From the spreadsheet | Where it goes | Leave behind |
|---|---|---|
| Last purchase order number | Noted, so the new series starts clear of it | Reusing or restarting old numbers |
| Suppliers | Supplier list, one row each with the ordering email | Duplicates and suppliers not used in a year or two |
| Repeat items | Item list with code, description and unit cost | One-off purchases |
| Who approves what | Approval paths and limits, excluding tax | Informal “just ask” arrangements |
| Open orders | Stay in the spreadsheet until closed | Re-keying them as new requests |
| Closed orders | The archived copy | Importing old history |
Pitfalls to avoid
Most moves that go wrong go wrong in the same three places.
- Importing every supplier you ever used. A list of four hundred names, most of them dormant, makes the right supplier harder to find and invites people to pick the wrong one. Import the ones you buy from now; add the rest when they come back.
- Carrying over duplicate suppliers. The same business entered as a full legal name, a short name and a misspelling becomes three suppliers with three histories. Merge them before the import, not after.
- Starting the new sequence at 1. If the spreadsheet reached 1482, a new order numbered 1 will clash with an old one in a supplier’s records or an invoice query. Give the new series a different prefix, start it clear of the last number, or both.
Questions
How long does it take to move purchase orders out of a spreadsheet?
For a small team, about two weeks: one to clean the lists and agree approvals, and one running real requests alongside the read-only spreadsheet. The cleaning takes longer than the import.
Should I import old purchase orders into the new system?
Usually not. Closed orders stay in the archived spreadsheet, and open ones are finished there. Re-keying history takes time and adds little, because nobody raises a new request from a closed order.
What should the new purchase order numbers look like?
Different enough from the old ones that nobody can confuse them. A new prefix, a number above the last one used, or both, keeps each order unique across the two records.
Do suppliers need to do anything when we switch?
Make sure orders reach the right inbox and don’t land in spam, and remind them to quote the purchase order number on every invoice and delivery note. Nothing else changes for them.