https://formapprovals.com/assets/BlogPurchaseOrder-2GnUeFyH.js

1import{j as e,S as i,g as o,T as s,s as t,L as n}from"./index-B1JCX_-d.js";import{L as r}from"./List-Bq6CPE7n.js";import{I as a}from"./IconPuzzle-D23OF60d.js";function h(){return e.jsxs(i,{gap:"lg",children:[e.jsx(o,{order:2,children:"How to Create a Purchase Order Form with Google Forms"}),e.jsx(s,{size:"sm",c:"dimmed",children:"Morgan Hopkins, Customer Success Manager"}),e.jsx(s,{size:"sm",c:"dimmed",children:"Last Updated: Mar 9, 2026"}),e.jsx(s,{children:"Purchase orders are one of the most common business forms, yet many organizations still manage them through email chains, paper forms, or expensive procurement software. Google Forms™ offers a free, fast way to build a professional purchase order form — and with the right add-on, you can add the approval chain that makes it a complete procurement workflow."}),e.jsx(o,{order:3,children:"Building the Purchase Order Form"}),e.jsx(s,{children:"A good purchase order form captures everything the approver needs to make a decision. Here's a recommended structure:"}),e.jsx(o,{order:4,children:"Section 1: Requester Information"}),e.jsxs(r,{spacing:"xs",children:[e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Full name (short answer, required)"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Department (dropdown: Engineering, Marketing, Sales, Operations, etc.)"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Manager's email address (short answer with email validation, required)"})]}),e.jsx(o,{order:4,children:"Section 2: Purchase Details"}),e.jsxs(r,{spacing:"xs",children:[e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Item description (paragraph, required)"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Quantity (short answer with number validation)"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Estimated unit cost (short answer with number validation)"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Total estimated cost (short answer with number validation)"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Vendor/Supplier name (short answer)"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Vendor website or quote (file upload or URL field)"})]}),e.jsx(o,{order:4,children:"Section 3: Justification"}),e.jsxs(r,{spacing:"xs",children:[e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Business justification (paragraph, required — why is this purchase needed?)"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Budget code or cost center (short answer or dropdown)"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Urgency (dropdown: Standard, Urgent, Critical)"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Preferred delivery date (date picker)"})]}),e.jsx(o,{order:3,children:"Setting Up the Form in Google Forms"}),e.jsxs(r,{type:"ordered",spacing:"sm",children:[e.jsxs(r.Item,{children:["Go to"," ",e.jsx(t,{href:"https://forms.google.com",target:"_blank",rel:"noopener noreferrer",children:"forms.google.com"})," ","and create a new blank form"]}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:'Title it "Purchase Order Request" and add a description explaining the process and expected turnaround time'}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Add the fields listed above, using sections to organize them logically"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Use response validation where appropriate — for example, restrict the email field to valid email format, and number fields to positive numbers"}),e.jsxs(r.Item,{children:["Go to Settings > Responses and enable ",e.jsx(s,{fw:600,span:!0,children:"Collect email addresses"})," so the submitter can be notified when the order is approved"]}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Link the form to a Google Sheet™ by clicking the green Sheets icon in the Responses tab — this becomes your purchase order log"})]}),e.jsxs(s,{fs:"italic",px:"lg",py:"sm",style:{borderLeft:"3px solid var(--mantine-primary-color-5)"},children:["Prefer to skip the manual setup? The"," ",e.jsx(t,{component:n,to:"/my-forms/builder/",children:"AI Form + Workflow Builder"})," ","can generate a purchase order form with approval routing in seconds — just describe your requirements."]}),e.jsx(o,{order:3,children:"The Missing Piece: Approval Routing"}),e.jsx(s,{children:"At this point, you have a clean purchase order form that feeds into a spreadsheet. But in most organizations, a purchase order isn't just a form — it needs to be approved before the purchase can proceed. This is where Google Forms falls short: there's no native way to route the submission to a manager for approval."}),e.jsx(s,{children:"Common workarounds people try:"}),e.jsxs(r,{spacing:"sm",children:[e.jsxs(r.Item,{children:[e.jsx(s,{fw:600,span:!0,children:"Email notification to form owner:"})," The form owner gets notified but has to manually forward to the right manager, then manually track the response"]}),e.jsxs(r.Item,{children:[e.jsx(s,{fw:600,span:!0,children:"Shared spreadsheet:"}

1)," Managers check a shared spreadsheet and add their approval in a column — but there's no notification, no enforcement, and no audit trail"]}),e.jsxs(r.Item,{children:[e.jsx(s,{fw:600,span:!0,children:"Google Apps Script:"})," Custom code can send emails, but requires development effort, ongoing maintenance, and doesn't scale"]})]}),e.jsx(o,{order:3,children:"Adding Approval Routing with Form Approvals"}),e.jsx(s,{children:"The Form Approvals add-on solves this cleanly:"}),e.jsxs(r,{type:"ordered",spacing:"sm",children:[e.jsx(r.Item,{children:e.jsx(t,{component:n,to:"/support/#installing-the-addon",rel:"noopener noreferrer",children:"Install the Form Approvals add-on"})}),e.jsxs(r.Item,{children:["Open the add-on from the puzzle piece ",e.jsx(a,{size:16,style:{verticalAlign:"middle"}})," icon in your form"]}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:`Add the "Manager's email" field as a dynamic recipient — this means the submission will be routed to whoever the submitter specifies as their manager`}),e.jsxs(r.Item,{children:["Optionally add a second approver (e.g., finance team) for"," ",e.jsx(t,{component:n,to:"/blog/how-to-create-a-multi-step-approval-process-in-google-forms/",children:"multi-step approval"})]}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"Click Save — your purchase order workflow is live"})]}),e.jsx(o,{order:4,children:"What Happens When a Purchase Order Is Submitted"}),e.jsxs(r,{type:"ordered",spacing:"sm",children:[e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"The employee submits the purchase order form"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"The employee receives a confirmation email acknowledging their request"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"The manager receives an email containing the full purchase order details, with Approve and Reject buttons"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"The manager reviews and clicks Approve or Reject"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"The employee receives a notification with the outcome"}),e.jsx(r.Item,{children:"The linked Google Sheet is updated with the approval status, approver, timestamp, and any comments"})]}),e.jsx(o,{order:3,children:"Using the Spreadsheet as Your Purchase Order Log"}),e.jsxs(s,{children:["With Form Approvals, your linked Google Sheet becomes a complete purchase order log. Each row contains the request details plus approval status columns added by the add-on. You can use"," ",e.jsx(t,{component:n,to:"/blog/how-to-use-array-formulas-with-google-forms/",children:"array formulas"})," ","to create summary calculations — total approved spend by department, pending orders by value, average approval time, and more."]}),e.jsx(o,{order:3,children:"Get Started"}),e.jsxs(s,{children:["Build your purchase order workflow in minutes with Google Forms + Form Approvals. Free to start with 20 responses per month, no credit card required."," ",e.jsx(t,{component:n,to:"/pricing/",children:"View pricing"})," or"," ",e.jsx(t,{component:n,to:"/support/getting-started/",children:"get started today"}),"."]})]})}export{h as default};