Creating a Purchase Order¶

You can create a purchase order (PO) directly in Shopify and submit it to a publisher or distributor via Pubnet EDI. The app handles the EDI formatting and transmission — you fill in a standard order form inside Shopify Admin.

Before you start¶

Make sure you have:

Connected your Pubnet credentials and configured your location SANs in Settings > Providers > Pubnet (see Pubnet Setup & Credentials)
Selected at least one supplier in Settings > Providers > Pubnet > Suppliers
An established Pubnet trading relationship with that supplier — selecting a supplier in the app is not enough; the relationship must exist at the Pubnet network level before the supplier can accept your orders

If this is your first time, the Emersoft team will confirm your Pubnet setup is ready during onboarding.

Creating a new purchase order¶

In Shopify Admin, go to Apps > Emersoft Books > Purchase Orders.
Click New Purchase Order.
Enter a name or reference number for the PO (e.g. "Weekly restock — May").
Select the supplier — the publisher or distributor you are ordering from. Only suppliers you have selected in Settings > Providers > Pubnet > Suppliers appear here. If a supplier is missing, go to Settings and select them.
Select the destination — the Shopify store location you are ordering stock for. Only locations with a SAN configured in Settings > Providers > Pubnet are available. The destination you select here is where your Shopify inventory will update when the shipment is received.
Optionally enter a discount coupon if this supplier has given you a promotion or deal code. The code is sent on the purchase order (up to 30 characters) and can be added or changed on the draft until you submit.
Add titles to the order by clicking Add product (browse products already in your Shopify store) and/or Upload CSV. You can mix both: quantities for the same ISBN are added together. Review the combined list before you create the PO.
Set the quantity for each title on the PO. CSV quantity is the purchase-order quantity only — it is never written to Shopify inventory.
Click Create (new PO) or Save on a draft. Titles that are already in Shopify are linked to the PO. Titles that are not in Shopify are created then, using your Settings → Import defaults (status, publications, tags, Ingram location stock, and so on). Shopify Vendor is set to this purchase order's supplier, not the catalog publisher and not a vendor override in Import settings. Submit PO does not create products.

Missing titles are created when you save the draft

You no longer need to import every ISBN from catalog search before starting a PO. Upload a CSV (isbn or ean column, optional quantity) or mix CSV with Add product. After Create or Save, a waiting screen shows import progress until the import finishes. Titles that cannot be found stay on the draft in a separate list — they do not block Submit. Retry from that list, or submit the rest of the PO. Existing store titles are linked as-is and are not updated as a side effect of creating the PO — including their Shopify Vendor. New titles get Vendor from the PO supplier (for example Ingram or HarperCollins Publishers). The publisher metafield still stores the catalog publisher name.

CSV format matches bulk import: UTF-8, ISBN-13 (or ISBN-10), header row required. Duplicate ISBNs in the file are summed. Max 2 MB / 10,000 rows.

Build a PO throughout the week

Many booksellers build purchase orders incrementally — adding titles throughout the week as they identify what needs replenishing. Save the PO as a draft and return to add more titles before you are ready to submit. Saving a draft also imports any new ISBNs that are not yet in Shopify. Drafts are not sent anywhere until you explicitly submit them. If a catalog import is already running for that PO, wait for it to finish before saving again.

When importing has finished and at least one title is in Shopify, review the order, then click Submit purchase order. Failed titles are listed separately and are dropped from the PO when you submit — only linked titles are sent to the supplier. Submit is disabled while titles are still importing, while you have unsaved product changes, or if no titles could be linked.

Submitting a PO cannot be undone from inside the app

Once a PO is submitted, it is transmitted to the publisher via Pubnet EDI and cannot be canceled or modified from within Emersoft Books. If you need to cancel or amend a submitted PO, contact the supplier directly using your usual ordering channel.

The PO is transmitted to the publisher via Pubnet EDI (document type 850). The PO status updates to Submitted.

Editing a draft PO¶

You can continue adding or removing titles, and add or change a discount coupon, on a draft PO at any time before submission.

Go to Apps > Emersoft Books > Purchase Orders.
Open the draft PO.
Add or remove line items, adjust quantities, update the discount coupon if needed, and save.

Once a PO has been submitted, it cannot be edited in the app — including the discount coupon.

Minimum order progress¶

If you set a minimum for the supplier (see Set minimum orders), each PO shows how close it is — for example 12 / 50 copies with a progress bar. If no minimum is set for the supplier, it shows Not set.

Progress is shown in the Minimum order column of the purchase order list and in the Minimum order field at the top of the PO. On a draft, it updates as you add or remove titles and change quantities, before you save.

Minimum type	What is counted
Copies	Total copies ordered
Titles	Number of different ISBNs ordered
USD	Before the supplier responds: each title's Shopify Cost per item × quantity ordered. After the supplier's response (855) or invoice (810), only the copies they will supply count — cancelled and rejected copies are left out. These copies are valued at the supplier's prices if the supplier sent a price for every title; otherwise at Shopify Cost per item

Titles marked Not in Shopify are not counted.

If a USD minimum shows — / 250.00 USD with Estimate unavailable: missing USD cost or cost access, the app could not estimate the value from Shopify. Check that:

every title on the PO has a Cost per item in Shopify, and that the cost is in USD
every title is already linked to a product in Shopify — titles still being imported have no cost yet

Fix the product variant in Shopify and the estimate appears. If every title has a USD cost and the message stays, get in touch.

The minimum is always taken from the current settings. If you change a supplier's minimum, the progress updates on all POs to that supplier, including submitted ones.

The minimum is for your information only — you can submit a PO that is below it.

PO statuses¶

Status	Meaning
Draft	PO is being built — not yet submitted to the publisher
Submitting	The PO is being transmitted to Pubnet (usually a few seconds)
Submitted	PO has been transmitted to the publisher via Pubnet EDI — awaiting their response
In progress	Publisher has reviewed the PO and sent a response (855 received) — see below for what this means
Partially shipped	The publisher has dispatched some titles (856 received); others are still backordered or awaiting a ship notice
Shipped	Every title the publisher will supply has been dispatched
Completed	You have received every title (or the publisher cancelled/rejected the rest) — inventory and cost updated in Shopify
Cancelled	The publisher cancelled or rejected every title on the PO

Next to the status, submitted POs also show an invoice badge: Invoice pending until the publisher's invoices (810) cover every shipped copy, then Invoiced. This tracks documents received, not payment.

Understanding a publisher's response (In progress status)¶

After you submit a PO, the publisher reviews it and sends back an EDI 855 response. When this arrives, the PO moves to In progress. Open the PO to review the full response.

The publisher's response groups the line items into sections:

Section	What it means
Accepted	Publisher will fulfill these titles. Shows the quantity you ordered and the quantity the publisher confirmed — these may differ
Backordered	Titles the publisher will ship when stock is available — listed separately with the expected availability details
Rejected	Titles the publisher cannot fulfill, with a reason (e.g. title discontinued, not available through this supplier)
Canceled	Line items the publisher has canceled, with a reason

For accepted titles where the publisher has confirmed a different quantity than what you ordered, compare the Ordered and Confirmed columns to understand exactly what will be shipped.

For rejected or canceled items, the reason is shown on the line — use this to decide whether to source the title elsewhere.

PO activity¶

Every PO includes an Activity section showing a timestamped log of all actions and events: when the PO was created, when it was submitted, when the publisher's response arrived, when the ship notice was received, each receipt you confirmed (with received, damaged, short and over counts), and status changes. Raw EDI identifiers are available under Technical details on each entry for support conversations.

Viewing open purchase orders¶

Go to Apps > Emersoft Books > Purchase Orders to see all POs with their supplier, minimum order progress, destination location, number of titles, status and invoice badge. Click any PO to see:

Shipments with tracking, carrier and ship date (from the ship notice, if the publisher sent one), and per-title shipped / received / to-stock counts
The publisher's response grouped by status (accepted, backordered, on hold, rejected, cancelled)
Every ordered title with quantity and cost
The receiving summary and history
Activity log

Canceling a purchase order¶

Draft POs can be deleted from the purchase order list before submission.

Once a PO has been submitted to a publisher, cancellation must be handled directly with the supplier — contact them via their standard ordering channel. The app will reflect any cancellation response the publisher sends back via EDI.

Your own negotiated terms apply

When you submit a PO via Pubnet using your own Pubnet account, the order is placed under your established trading terms with the supplier — your negotiated discount, your account number, your credit terms. The app transmits the order on your behalf using your credentials; it does not create a new commercial relationship or alter your existing terms.