You have a customer who’s ready to buy (hurray!). Before you can ink the deal and cash your commission check, you need to outline the details of product delivery and payment in a sales order. After all, the last thing you want is for the customer to buy one thing but get something else because you didn’t document the details.
If you’re unfamiliar with sales orders — or have struggled with the right way to draft one — don’t worry. We’ll go over the different types, their benefits, and how to create one that works for you and your customers.
A sales order is a document that provides the details of an order and the terms of the transaction. It’s created by the seller after a buyer submits a purchase order. If a purchase order is not involved in the sale, the seller creates the sales order after the customer agrees to purchase a product.
An order document typically includes customer information, product details, pricing, and delivery information. Because it is not a binding contract, either party can revise the details of the america phone number list order after the sale is complete.
When carefully drafted, sales orders allow companies to confirm a deal’s accuracy before shipping. After a sale is complete, they provide records of transactions for sellers.
What’s the difference between a sales order and a purchase order?
While both documents contain similar information, there are two big differences:
A sales order is an internal document for record-keeping and order fulfillment. It is created by sellers and their teams.
A purchase order is a legally binding document issued by the buyer to the seller indicating an intent to purchase. A customer creates a purchase order and sends it to the seller, who then creates a sales order based on purchase order details.
What’s the difference between a sales order and an invoice?
An invoice is a request for payment and is sent to the customer after the sales order has been processed and (typically) after the order is fulfilled. Payment terms and type of payment are typically included on invoices but not in the sales order document.