Trade customers email purchase orders as PDFs, and someone retypes each one into SOS Inventory.
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Trade customers email purchase orders as PDFs, and someone retypes each one into SOS Inventory. Upload one here and get the customer PO number, dates and every line with item, quantity and price, ready to paste into the SOS Inventory sales order import template.
SOS Inventory imports new sales orders from a spreadsheet, but customers send PDFs. The rows have to be built before any import can run.
The import expects the exact column headings from the exported template. A customer PO is a document, so every line is copied across by hand.
If a customer or item on the sheet is misspelled or missing, SOS Inventory creates a new record during import. One typo can leave a duplicate customer or a ghost item.
Bulk import adds new sales orders only. A mistake found later has to be fixed inside the order, so accuracy before the import matters.
Rules attached to sales orders run when the import lands. A bad batch can email contacts before anyone has reviewed it.
Upload the purchase order your customer sent. The AI reads the header and every line on every page and returns rows you can paste under the SOS Inventory template headings.
A one page reorder and a six page order come back in the same column layout, with nothing to set up per buyer.
The item number the customer printed and the description land in separate columns, so one lookup maps them to your SOS Inventory item names.
PO number, order date, required date and ship-to sit beside every line, which is the layout a multi-line order needs.
Excel and CSV load straight into the SOS Inventory import screen. JSON suits a script that feeds your own tools.
SOS Inventory is inventory and order management software for small distributors, wholesalers and light manufacturers, and it syncs with QuickBooks. Orders from a web store can arrive through a connection. Orders from a business customer usually arrive as a PDF purchase order by email. Someone opens the attachment, finds the customer in SOS Inventory, adds each item, types quantities and prices, and checks them against the document. For a 30 line order that is slow and easy to get wrong.
SOS Inventory has an import for this, but it starts from a spreadsheet. PurchaseOrders does the step in front of it: it turns the customer PDF into rows, so a quick review and the import are the only manual work left.
SOS Inventory documents the process in its help center. Open Tools & settings, then Export data, pick Sales orders under Sales, and in the Columns section choose Add all columns required for import. Download the file as Excel or CSV, or have it emailed. That file is your template, and the help article is clear that you must not change any column heading.
To load it, open Tools & settings, then Import data, choose Sales orders in the Importing list, add the file and select Preview. SOS Inventory shows the first 10 lines so you can confirm you picked the right file, then you select Import. A notification tells you whether it worked, and a failed import states the reason.
Bulk import creates new sales orders only. Existing orders cannot be edited this way. If a customer or an item on the sheet is missing or misspelled, SOS Inventory creates a new record in the Customers or item list rather than rejecting the row, so names have to match what you already have. With multicurrency on, a blank exchange rate is filled from the stored rate for the transaction date. Automation rules on sales orders run as the transactions upload, and a rule that sends email slows the import noticeably, so SOS Inventory suggests disabling the relevant sales order rules under AOP rules for the import and turning them back on afterward.
SOS Inventory also keeps a reference of the mandatory fields for sales order and EDI imports. Use the exported template as your guide to which columns you must fill, since it lists exactly what that account needs.
This is where the manual work lives. The customer prints their own part number and a long description. SOS Inventory wants the item name you already have. Extraction returns the buyer item number and the description in separate columns, and you run the item number through a short cross-reference sheet that returns your item name. The first order from a customer takes a few minutes to build the sheet. After that their orders map almost instantly. Test with a two line order and confirm both lines open correctly before loading a batch.
PurchaseOrders is the reading step. It takes the customer purchase order, any layout and any length, and returns the header and every line as Excel, CSV or JSON: the customer PO number, order date, required date, ship-to and bill-to, and for each line the item number, description, quantity, unit and price. It does not log into SOS Inventory and does not create orders. You add your customer and item names, and paste the rows into the exported template under its own headings. Teams that clear a pile of attachments each morning use bulk purchase order upload to process up to 50 files at once.
SOS Inventory names two common reasons to import sales orders: moving open orders over from QuickBooks Desktop or Enterprise, and uploading orders that arrive through EDI. The workflow here covers the third case that sits between them, the customer who just emails a PDF. Teams on a similar system use the inFlow sales order import, the Unleashed sales order import or the QuickBooks sales order import, and the wider picture is on sales order entry automation. If you are still pricing the system itself, see SOS Inventory pricing.
What comes off the customer document and how it meets the SOS Inventory import, based on its help center.
| From the customer PO | In SOS Inventory | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Customer company | Customer on the sales order | Match the existing record or a new one is created |
| Buyer item number mapped to your item | Item on each line | Match your item list or a new item is created |
| Quantity | Quantity on each line | One row per line item |
| Unit price | Rate on each line | Taken from the PO, review before import |
| Customer PO number | Reference fields on the order | Keep it for invoices and disputes |
| Order and delivery dates | Order and due dates | Check against the template headings |
| Ship-to address | Shipping address fields | Fill the same headings the export gives you |
Four steps from the customer attachment to a new order in SOS Inventory.
Drop in the PDF, the scan or the email attachment. Up to 50 files per bulk upload, with no per-customer setup.
Tip: Multi-page orders work the same way.
Check the header and every line on screen, including the buyer item number, quantity and price.
Tip: Sort by item number to spot codes missing from your cross-reference.
Add your customer and item names, then paste the rows under the headings of the sales order template you exported.
Tip: Never rename a heading.
Use Import data, read the 10 line preview, import, then open the new order and compare the total with the customer document.
Tip: Start with one order per customer the first week.
SOS Inventory imports sales orders from an Excel or CSV file, not from a PDF. You fill the exported template and upload it on the Import data screen. PurchaseOrders reads the PDF and returns those rows, so you map the names and import instead of typing each line.
Go to Tools & settings, then Export data, select Sales orders and add all columns required for import. Fill in the file without changing any heading, then open Import data, choose Sales orders, add the file, select Preview and then Import.
No. The bulk import creates new sales orders only, and existing orders cannot be edited that way. Fix an order inside SOS Inventory, and read the customer document carefully before importing so you do not need to.
SOS Inventory does not reject the row. It creates a new record in the Customers list or item list during the import. That is why the names on your sheet should match your existing records exactly.
Yes. Rules on sales orders fire as the transactions upload, and a rule that emails a contact slows the import a lot. SOS Inventory suggests disabling the relevant sales order rules before the import and enabling them again after.
Yes. It reads whatever the buyer printed and puts their item number and description in separate columns on every line. You map those to your SOS Inventory items once with a cross-reference sheet, then the same customer orders map in seconds.
No. PurchaseOrders reads the customer purchase order and returns Excel, CSV or JSON. It does not connect to SOS Inventory or create orders. You load the rows through the Import data screen.
The same workflow on SOS Inventory.
The same workflow on Unleashed.
The same workflow on inFlow.
The same workflow in QuickBooks.
The same workflow on Fishbowl.
The full order entry workflow.
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