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How to Split a Purchase Order Using Split By Delivery Date

This articles explains how to use the purchase order split shipment functionality to reflect partial shipments of the same purchase order

Adrian avatar
Written by Adrian
Updated over a week ago

What you'll learn

  • Split a purchase order based on supplier delivery timelines

  • Configure multiple shipment schedules for optimal cash flow

  • Manage inventory arrival timing to prevent stockouts
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Before you can split a purchase order using timing distribution, ensure:

  • ✅ The purchase order is in Draft, Approved or Partially Received status

Step-by-step instructions

Step 0: Access the Split feature

  1. Navigate to your Purchase Orders page

  2. Click on the purchase order you want to split

  3. In the purchase order detail page, click the Split Purchase Order button

  4. The split configuration window will appear

Step 1: Select Split Method

  1. In the split method selector, choose "Split By Delivery Date"

  2. Set Number of Shipments:

    1. Select minimum of 2 shipments (required).

    2. You can add more shipments as needed for your delivery schedule.

  3. Configure Shipment Dates:

    1. First Shipment: Shows original PO's delivery date by default (editable).

    2. Date Requirements:

      • All shipment dates must be after today's date.

      • Each subsequent shipment date must be later than the previous shipment date.

      • The system automatically validates the date sequence.

  4. Click on "Continue to Step 2"

Step 2: Allocate Quantities

  • Review the automatically calculated quantities for each product across your selected delivery dates.

  • You can modify these numbers by clicking directly in the quantity fields.

  • The sum of quantities across all shipments must equal the original PO total (shown in the far-right column).

  • If quantities don't balance correctly, a red exclamation mark will appear with validation errors.

  • Click on "Continue to Step 3" when quantities are properly distributed.

Step 3: Choose what happens to the original PO

  1. Select one of these options for the original purchase order:

    1. Change Status To Draft: Keeps the PO in your system but removes it from inventory forecasts.

    2. Archive PO: Preserves the PO for record-keeping and disables any linked backorders.

    3. Delete PO: Permanently removes the PO (if deletion isn't possible, it will be archived automatically).

  2. Review all your selections carefully.

  3. Click "Confirm Split" to finalize the process

Step 4: View your new purchase orders

After successful splitting:

  1. A confirmation message will appear showing that the split was completed

  2. You'll see the newly created purchase orders with:

    • Their unique PO numbers

    • Destination locations

    • Total quantities

    • Expected arrival dates

  3. You'll also see the status of your original PO and newly created POs (draft, archived, or deleted)

  4. Click the view next to any new PO to view its details.

Note: All split purchase orders are created in Draft status for your review and approval. Please don’t forget to mark them as Approved if you want the system to take them into account in inventory forecasts.

Tracking split purchase orders

The relationship between the original PO and the resulting split POs is automatically recorded in the activities log. You'll see entries indicating:

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