Sales order vs purchase order: the buyer raises the purchase order, the seller raises the sales order. One transaction, two documents, two businesses. If your business both buys and sells on terms you will keep both, and they are genuinely different records rather than one record used twice. Requly holds the buying side; the selling side belongs to a different product.
Same transaction, opposite sides
A purchase order is raised by the buyer; a sales order is raised by the seller when they accept it. The same transaction generates both, in two different businesses, and each side keeps its own. Confusion usually comes from software that calls both an order and from businesses that are on both sides with different customers.
Which one you need depends on which side you are on
If you are buying, you need purchase orders: a record of what you committed to before the invoice arrives. If you are selling, you need sales orders: a record of what a customer agreed to before you invoice them. Many small businesses need both, and they are genuinely different records rather than one record used twice.
The document you receive is the other side's
When a customer sends you their purchase order, that is their document and their number. You will usually quote it back on your invoice, which is exactly the courtesy you want from your own suppliers. Keeping it against your sales order is what lets you answer their queries as quickly as they answer yours.
Questions people ask about sales order vs purchase order
What is the difference between a sales order and a purchase order?
The buyer raises the purchase order; the seller raises the sales order when they accept it. One transaction, two documents, in two different businesses.
Do we need both?
If you both buy and sell on terms, yes. They are different records: one tracks what you committed to, the other what a customer committed to.
Whose number goes on the invoice?
Your customer's purchase order number goes on the invoice you send them, and your purchase order number should go on the invoices you receive. It is the same courtesy in both directions.