Purchase Orders - Include document attachments when emailing to supplier
Ability to include an attachment with an emailed Purchase Order
Purpose: Because there may be additional specifications or plans that need to be sent to the supplier through PO
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Hi everyone, we thank you for your support on the idea here. We understand the needs of being able to attach documents when sending Purchase Orders, however we want to be transparent that this is not planned work at this time.
To begin, purchase orders need an update and this will be a focus for the team before enhancements like this can be considered. We will keep you updated of any related changes, here.
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Kristy Alchin commented
Having the ability to attach a document to a PO is extremley crucial in my job and it is becoming extremely time consuming, having to email the PO to myself, download it and create a new email to then send the PO with the attachment I needed to send. It is very painful. When I know it could be a simple step in xero. Please implement this step as soon as possible. You could literally save me hours of work a week. (I timed it, so I knew how much extra time I am spending having to do this extra step) I don't have that time to spare. Thanks
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Michael Putnam commented
The vast majority of our projects include art files that are going to print or going to one of our decorators for embroidery, screen printing or other methods of printing. We always attach the artwork to the PO from the beginning. Not sure why you have an attach file option if it doesn't actually attach anything that can be emailed with the PO.
It was mentioned that this is not an option currently in the works as you have other updates to focus on. I think this is a really critical one that just about any business would want the ability to do.
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Carolyn Murdoch commented
Hi Kelly, I was the originator of this request and am a Gold Partner of Xero. I use Xero everyday and am extremely disappointed that this isn't even on the radar. I have been waiting for so long for this to be provided and am still needing it. Is there anything that can be done to bring this up the line ie how many people do you need supporting this to get in on the radar. If you can give me numbers I can get everyone of my clients to support it and I'm sure if I put a call out to the Xero community they would help as well. Thanks I look forward to hearing from you Carolyn.
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Alex Woods commented
Very frustrating. Xero please update this feature asap. We need to be able to attach documents to Purchase Orders.
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Nicole Neale commented
@ Natalie Forsythe. I wouldn't count on there being an update. Some of these ideas have been here for decades. XERO DO NOT CARE about their current customers. Only about attracting more unsuspecting customers to an inferior product with discounted fees so they can increase them in the future after they are already hooked into the software.
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Natalie Forsythe commented
Hi is there any update on the above as this was from march last year? This would be highly useful for our company
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Carmel Bazzi commented
I am delighted that we now have the capability to add attachments to our Purchase Orders and Quotes. However, while Quotes and Invoices offer the option to include attachments when sending, this feature is not available for Purchase Orders.
Being able to send attachments directly with Purchase Orders would significantly reduce the time and effort required, as it would eliminate the need to process the Purchase Order through Xero and then send a separate email with the necessary attachments. Implementing this feature would be incredibly beneficial and greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
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Tammy Forrest-Given commented
For small and large businesses having this feature would be a valued advantage, not only for adding quotations but especially for contraction and railway industries wanting scope of works added to the purchase orders.
To be able to see this when receiving the purchase order would save the recipient so much time and as our client base is mainly small sub-contractors might enable them to use the same accounts system. -
Sophia Geng commented
This will save our estimator and sales lives
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Sophia Geng commented
We will be happy to see the attachment function for quote and po.
As the construction company, whenever we send out Po and quote, we need to attach drawing.
We are desperate for the attachment function of PO and quotes.
Thank you.
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Sarah Payton-Dawson commented
We use an API to send over PO that have an attachment, and we need to keep that fee note when creating the bill, work around is too long and slow us.
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Liz Timms commented
Totally with @Dean Jenkins on this one...
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Dean Jenkins commented
I'd like to add to the stated Purpose for the idea here - it's not just additional specifications that may need to be sent, it's the actual orders. Xero is not order processing software, nor should it be. It does accounting. Orders are generated by all sorts of other software and the product database needs to be integral to those systems, not the accounting software. Otherwise you're faced with running duplicate product databases, which never works.
However, as has already been pointed out here, you need to send the order and the Purchase Order from Xero together, otherwise the functional and legal integrity is lost.
You don't have to be a techie to know that there is a real block in Xero thinking here. Attaching the document to the PO is already there, as is the ability to send the PO - it makes no sense not to be able to send the PO with the attachment it already has. Just like you can for an Invoice.
I'm sure the tech department could sort this in 5 minutes. It's obviously a question of management will.
Re the response from Xero (Kelly Munro, 13/3/23):
To say that the team is focussed on updating Purchase Orders, but not doing this easy, urgent and hugely requested update, is completely nonsensical.That response is over a year old now. Please can someone from Xero come up with something positive to say about this.
Thank you.
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Michael van Zwanenberg commented
Kelly, What sort of timeframe is this update?
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Vicki Seivwright commented
Its a shame this is not going to be done anytime soon it really makes purchase orders useless. :(
Reading all past comments it is hard to believe that something hasn't been done about this before as it looks like we all find it a critical part of purchase orders. -
Nicole Neale commented
Couldn't agree more Sunny Gill!
People (Your paying customer base) have been requesting this for YEARS!!!!
Unfortunately, Xero don't seem to care about their current customers, they just want to make it look pretty to attract more customers. The new customers will inevitably be unhappy with the product once they find out all the basic accounting features it should have, are non-existent and there are no plans to fix the inadequacies.
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Sunny Gill commented
People (Your paying customer base) have been requesting this for YEARS!!!!
You charge so much money every month for your subscriptions - why can't you just pull your finger out and fix this CRITICAL issue?
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Ana Ward commented
We have been an early adopter of Xero in 2016 and have been waiting to be able to attach and email documents with our Purchase Orders since that date. We are a Meat Export Processing business and so the whole accounting system is based on Buyer Created Invoices (BCI's) and using the purchase order module is the only way we can produce these, but the added work to send documents separately is extremely detrimental to the whole Xero experience.
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Ashley Harbert commented
This is a critical Addition to the purchase order element.
If you are unable to send drawings or specifications with a purchase order, it brings into question issues arising of production errors in the case of a dispute. You need to prove, the order and drawings/Spec were clear at the time of order. They have to be clear and evident on the same documentation to ensure they are a legally binding document. This is only proven if the purchase order and its contents and attachments are clearly together in one email. This has massive legal implication. DONT IGNORE THIS> -
Kat McFearin commented
I agree with the other comments here. I need to send attachments to the 400 plus vendors I work with each month. I went to another service because I couldn't get the things I need from Xero. Don't get me wrong, I love most of what Xero has to offer, but this is something that causes hours of extra work if I have to send the attachments to each one via email instead of the PO.
It's ridiculous that more than a year has passed and this still isn't done. Why can attachments send from almost every other transaction, but purchase orders aren't available?