You can send Purchase Orders and Credit Requests directly to your suppliers through Loaded. Order quantities can be auto-generated using our AI-powered Predictive Ordering feature, or you can manually create an order sheet and add the items you’d like to purchase.
As you build your order, you can adjust variants, quantities, and supplier details at any time.
🔐 What You’ll Need
🔑 Stock Permission
If you cannot access the Stock module, ask someone with Manager permissions to update your user access.
Before creating purchase orders, make sure you have the following set up:
If you're using Predictive Ordering, you'll also want:
A live POS connection
A budget entered
Stock levels and incoming goods up to date
Minimum stock levels set for key items (optional)
What You’ll Learn
Understanding Predictive Ordering
Predictive Ordering takes the guesswork out of stock ordering.
Using previous sales data, upcoming budgets, and current stock on hand, Loaded calculates what you’re likely to need for an upcoming period. A little AI magic turns that information into an accurate order forecast.
Think of it as a smart stock assistant that understands your menu, your pace of service, and your budget — and helps you generate orders in seconds.
Using Predictive Ordering to Create a Purchase Order
Go to: Stock → Ordering → Outstanding Orders → New Predictive Order
Enter the order details:
Order prediction: Choose the default or custom Stocktake Template you want to base the predicted order on.
Based on previous sales between: Select the historic sales period to analyse. For example, the past month, Valentine’s Day last year or the week leading up to Christmas
Order stock until: Enter the date you want the newly ordered stock to last until.
Add a buffer: Add or subtract a buffer percentage to account for expected changes in demand.
Click Calculate, then let Loaded generate the predicted order.
Before finalising the order, review the following fields:
Unit: This comes from the Order By unit set for each stock item.
Stock on Hand: This shows your current stock levels.
If needed, you can update stock levels by clicking the unit, selecting Add Stock Count and entering the updated quantity on hand.
Predicted Usage: Based on total sales and recipe usage, Loaded calculates how much of each item you use for every $10K in sales.
Minimum Stock Levels: Your minimum stock level represents the quantity you want to still have on hand at the end of the order period.
You can adjust this here, and Loaded will remember the value for future orders.
If you’re not using minimum stock levels, turn Enforce Minimum Quantity on Hand off.
Quantity to Order: Loaded calculates Quantity to Order using whichever value is higher:
Predicted Usage − Stock on Hand
(Minimum Stock Level + Predicted Usage) − Stock on Hand
You can override the AI-calculated quantity at any time by editing the value manually.
Once you're happy with the order, click Review Order. In the Edit Order screen you can confirm:
Supplier: Check that each item is being ordered from the correct supplier.
Stock Code: Confirm you’re ordering the correct default variant. If needed, you can select a different variant from the dropdown.
Estimated Cost: Review the estimated cost of each item and the total order value.
Unit & Quantity: Make any final adjustments before sending.
Click Generate Purchase Order.
Your order will now appear under: Stock → Ordering → Outstanding Orders
Still have questions? See our Predictive Ordering FAQ.
Create a Purchase Order Manually
Go to: Stock → Ordering → Outstanding Orders → New Purchase Order
Click Add Item
Start typing the Stock Item name
Select the item from the list
Confirm the Supplier, Unit, and Quantity
Loaded will automatically select the default variant, but you can change this by selecting another Stock Code.
Continue adding items until the order is complete.
When you're finished, click Generate Purchase Orders.
Loaded will automatically:
Split the order into separate purchase orders for each supplier
Return you to the Outstanding Orders page
Display the orders ready to send
You can edit a purchase order by clicking: Send → Edit Order. Remember to click Save Changes when you're done.
To send the Purchase Order:
Click the blue Send button
Review the order details
Click the green Send button at the bottom
Your order will now appear in Order History. On the Outstanding Orders page, the Status column will show:
Sent
Acknowledged: supplier has downloaded the order from the email
Outstanding: orders that have not been sent
Create a New Variant in Your Order
You can view, edit, or create stock item variants directly from the purchase order.
For example, if you usually order 10kg but only need 5kg this week, you can create a new variant while building the order.
Click the Stock Item Description field
Begin typing the stock item
Click the Code field (to the left of the description)
Select an existing variant or create a new one
Confirm the stock code and ordering unit
Click Save
Then select the new variant to add it to your order.
Create a Credit Request
Credit requests follow the same workflow as purchase orders.
Go to: Stock → Ordering → Outstanding Orders → New Credit Request
Add the items you need a credit for
Adjust the Code, Supplier, Quantity, or Unit
Add notes if required
Click Generate Credit Request
Click Send to send the request
Loaded automatically records credit quantities as negative values, indicating a credit to the supplier. The credit request will remain in Outstanding Orders until a credit note is received from the supplier.
Tips & Tricks
Add all items into one order and Loaded will automatically split them into supplier-specific purchase orders.
To ensure your team orders the correct brands, sizes, and variants, set the correct variant as Default for Supplier in your stock item setup.
For more information, check out the Predictive Ordering FAQs.
Helpful Links
Now that you can create purchase orders, you may want to:
Match orders to incoming invoices when deliveries arrive
Review your Stock on Hand Report
Monitor your Live COGS Report