Fill in the form and get a numbered PDF in a minute — or take the template as a Word, Excel or Google Sheets file. VAT is set per line at 20, 5 or 0%, the numbering carries on from your last one, and nothing you type leaves this browser. No sign-up.
Download the template: Word .docx · Excel .xlsx · Google Sheets
Raise a purchase order now
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To (supplier)
Deliver to
| Description | Qty | Unit price | VAT | Net |
|---|
Notes / terms
This order is subject to our terms and conditions of purchase, attached.
The template pack
Every top-ranking purchase order template we opened either asks for your email before it hands over the file, or quietly assumes American sales tax. These three don’t. They are laid out for a UK business: a VAT registration number where a supplier expects to see one, a VAT rate on each line rather than one number at the bottom, totals split by rate so your bookkeeper can post them without redoing the sums, and the PO number where the supplier’s accounts team will look for it.
Word purchase order template
Fill in the shaded fields, delete the example line, save as PDF. Use this one when a PO is an occasional event and you’d rather type than calculate.
Download the Word template (.docx)
A4, Arial, no macros. Opens in Word, Pages, LibreOffice and Google Docs.
Excel purchase order template
The same layout, but the totals calculate themselves: choose the VAT rate on each line from a drop-down and the net, VAT-by-rate and gross fill in. A second sheet keeps your prefix and next number so the sequence never restarts.
Download the Excel template (.xlsx)
Recalculation-tested, no macros. Yellow cells are yours; everything else is a formula.
Google Sheets version
Upload the Excel file to your Google Drive, open it and choose File → Save as Google Sheets. The formulas, the VAT drop-down and the number formats all carry across.
An example purchase order
How to raise a purchase order
A purchase order is your firm’s written instruction to a supplier: this is what we want, at this price, delivered here, by then, on these terms. Once the supplier accepts it, it is the document both sides work from and the reference the invoice is matched against. Raising one takes five steps.
- Get the price in writing first. A quote or a price list. The PO repeats it, so an argument later is settled by the paperwork rather than memory.
- Give it the next number in your sequence. Year prefix, then a running count: PO-2026-0042. Never restart in January and never reuse a number. The generator does this for you if you let it remember your details.
- Fill in who, what and when. Your business, the supplier, each item with quantity, unit price and its VAT rate, the delivery address if it differs from yours, and the date you need it by.
- Say how and when you’ll pay, and on whose terms. Thirty days from invoice is the UK default; put whatever you agreed. Add any conditions that matter to you — a delivery slot, packaging, site access. If you have standard terms of purchase, attach them: the generator adds your terms PDF to the end of the purchase order and says on the order that it is subject to them.
- Get it approved, send it, file it. Whoever signs off spending signs this. Send the PDF to the supplier and keep a copy with the invoice when it arrives. Only a valid VAT invoice lets you reclaim VAT, but HMRC lists “orders and delivery notes” among the business records it expects you to keep.
What each field is for
| Field | Why it’s there |
|---|---|
| PO number | The reference the supplier quotes on the invoice so your bookkeeper can match the two. Unique, sequential, never reused. |
| Your VAT registration number | Optional, but suppliers and auditors expect it if you are registered. GB followed by nine digits. |
| Supplier reference | Their quote or account number, so their side can find you as fast as you can find them. |
| Required-by date | Turns “as soon as possible” into a date you can hold them to. |
| VAT rate per line | Standard 20%, reduced 5%, zero-rated 0%, exempt or outside the scope. Mixed orders are common (goods at 20%, a zero-rated book, delivery at the rate of the goods), which is why one rate at the bottom is never right. |
| Payment terms | What you agreed. It also fixes the date from which late-payment interest could run. |
| Authorised by | The name that carries the spend. Auditors read it as evidence the purchase was approved before the money was committed. |
Numbering that survives an audit
Three rules and you will never be caught out. Put the year in the prefix, so numbers stay unique when the sequence rolls over. Never restart the count and never reuse a number, even for a cancelled order: mark it cancelled and move on, because your accountant will look for gaps and duplicates. And keep the whole thing to 35 characters. That is the limit built into the EDIFACT ordering messages most UK retail and accounting systems still run, so a number that fits will fit any system you’re ever asked to send it to.
For the long version — what a PO number is, the four formats firms actually use, header versus line numbers, and how a supplier gets one out of a large customer — see PO numbers explained.
Is a purchase order legally binding in the UK?
A purchase order on its own is normally an offer, not a contract. It becomes binding when the supplier accepts it: by confirming in writing, or simply by starting the work or shipping the goods. At that point the terms on the PO, and anything it references such as your standard terms, can form the contract, so what you put on it matters. If the supplier replies with its own terms, you are into what lawyers call a “battle of the forms”, and the last set of terms sent before performance, if the other side went ahead without objecting to them, usually wins. That is why it pays to attach your own terms to every order, which the generator above will do for you. There is no law setting out what a UK purchase order must contain, unlike a VAT invoice, whose contents HMRC prescribes.
This is general information, not legal advice. For anything with real money on it, get your terms checked. Sources: Sprintlaw UK on purchase orders; Ellis Jones on the battle of the forms.
Raising more than a handful a month, or need someone else to approve them?
Then a template stops being enough. See which purchase order system your firm needs — most small UK firms already have one inside Xero, QuickBooks Online Plus or Zoho Books Professional, and some don’t.
Questions people ask
What must a UK purchase order include?
Nothing is prescribed by law, but a PO a supplier can act on and an accountant can match needs: your business name and address (and VAT number if registered), the supplier’s name and address, a unique PO number, the date, each item with quantity, unit price and VAT rate, the delivery address and date, the payment terms, and the name of whoever authorised it.
Do I put VAT on a purchase order?
Yes, show it per line and in the totals, so the supplier’s invoice and your PO agree. The PO is not a tax document — only the supplier’s VAT invoice lets you reclaim VAT — but a PO that shows the VAT you expect to pay catches a wrongly rated invoice before it is paid.
Can I use the template in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload the Excel file to Google Drive and choose File → Save as Google Sheets. The formulas, drop-down and number formats carry across.
Does the generator store my data?
No. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is sent to us or to anyone else. If you choose to remember your details, your business details, logo, terms PDF and next PO number are kept in that browser on that device only — never sent to us — until you press “Forget these details” or clear your browser data.
Is a PO number the same as an invoice number?
No. The buyer creates the PO number; the seller creates the invoice number. The invoice quotes the PO number so the two can be matched. PO number vs invoice number, explained.
Sources and notes
- UK VAT rates (20%, 5%, 0%): gov.uk/vat-rates.
- Records to keep, including “orders and delivery notes”, and the six-year rule: HMRC VAT Notice 700/21, §2.3 and §2.4.
- 35-character limit: UN/EDIFACT BGM segment, data element 1004 (an..35 up to directory D.08A; later directories allow 70). Checked on the UNECE site, 27 September 2026.
- Legal: Sprintlaw UK and Ellis Jones, as linked above.
- The generator uses jsPDF and jsPDF-AutoTable (MIT licences), served from this site, loaded only when you start filling in the form.
Published 28 September 2026 · Templates and generator checked against current UK VAT rates. Free to use in your business; please don’t republish the files elsewhere.