How Purchase Orders Work#

A Purchase Order (PO) moves through three stages. It cannot move backwards.

Draft  →  Pending  →  Issued

Stage	Description
Draft	Being written. Fully editable. Not yet sent. No PO number.
Pending	Passed validation. Locked — cannot be edited. Not yet sent. No PO number.
Issued	Sent to the vendor. Permanent record. Has a PO number. Cannot be deleted.

Once Issued, a PO also has a status that tracks the vendor’s response:

new  →  confirmed  or  declined  →  completed

Status	Meaning
`new`	Just sent. Awaiting response.
`confirmed`	You or the vendor have accepted the order.
`declined`	You or the vendor have rejected the order.
`completed`	You have closed it out. Terminal state — no further changes.