# Sales orders

> Enter what a customer ordered, let FloorLine make the work orders and purchases it needs, ship it, and send the customer a link to follow it.

Source: https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/sales-orders/ (updated 2026-10-17)

*(Basic plan and up)*

A sales order is what a customer ordered. When you save one, FloorLine creates the delivery order that will ship it, and work orders for anything that stock and the orders already out don't cover. On Mid and up it goes further down: it makes work orders for the subassemblies too, and lines up what has to be bought for you to review. Admins and managers can use sales orders. Open them from **Sales → Sales orders**.

Sales orders are numbered per shop from SO-1001. Each one has its own delivery order (DO-…), which you ship as usual.

## Find a sales order

*Screenshot: The Sales orders list: each order's number, customer, items, how many are being made, ship-by date, and status*

The list shows open orders first, soonest to ship at the top. Each row has the order number and customer, the first item ("6 Tool stand + 1 more"), the customer's PO, how many work orders are being made for it, the **Ship by** date with a red **Late** badge once it's past, and the status.

Use **Show** to switch between **Open**, **Shipped**, **Canceled**, and **All**. Use **Search** to find an order by its SO or DO number, the customer, the PO, or an item.

The **Sales orders** card on **Home** shows how many are open and how many are late.

## Enter a sales order

*Screenshot: The New sales order form: customer, customer PO, ship-by date, notes, item lines, and the estimate of when it can ship*

1. Go to **Sales → Sales orders** and choose **New sales order**.

2. Under **Customer**, type to find the customer and pick it. If it isn't there yet, choose **New customer**, enter a **Name** (and an **Email** if you like), and choose **Add customer**.

3. Fill in the optional fields:
   - **Customer PO (optional):** the customer's purchase order number. It's carried onto the work orders and their travelers.
   - **Ship by (optional):** the day it must leave. Work orders made for it are due on this day.
   - **Notes (optional):** anything else.

4. Under **Items**, choose **Add new line**, pick the item, and enter the **Quantity**. The **Price** starts at the item's sale price; change it to what you quoted, or clear it. Choose **Add line** for each other item. Each item goes on one line only. A work order made for a priced line gets the line's price times its quantity as its sale price, for [job costing](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/reports/job-costing/).

5. On Mid and up, check the **Can ship** card as you add lines. It says when the order can ship and whether that's in time for the ship-by date. See [When can it ship?](#when-can-it-ship).

6. Choose **Create sales order**.

On the High plan with more than one location, the form also has **Ships from**. See [Locations](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/locations/).

## What saving does

When you choose **Create sales order**, FloorLine:

1. **Creates the delivery order** with the customer, PO, ship-by date, notes, and lines. This is what you ship.
2. **Takes what's free.** For each line, it looks at the item's forecast before this order: on hand, less what orders already out will take, plus what they'll bring in. Whatever's free covers the line first.
3. **Makes work orders for what's short.** If a made-in-house item is short, it creates a work order for the shortfall, rounded up to the item's batch size. The work order is due on the ship-by date, carries the customer and PO, and is noted "For SO-1001".

An item that doesn't track stock can't be counted, so a made-in-house one is made in full.

### The whole chain

*(Mid plan and up)*

On Mid and up, FloorLine keeps going down each work order's bill of materials (including scrap):

- A **made subassembly** that's short gets its own work order. It's due earlier than its parent by the parent's lead time, in working days, and never before today.
- A **purchased part** that's short becomes a **firm planned order** for its preferred vendor, in the vendor's packs and minimum. It's needed when its parent starts.

Nothing is sent to a vendor without you seeing it first. The planned orders wait on [Replenishment](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/replenishment/), where you review them and **Release** them into purchase orders. Below Mid, a sales order only makes work orders for its own lines. Short components and parts show up on Replenishment's min/max view as usual.

### What it made

After you save, a green box at the top of the order says what was made:

- "Made for it: WO-1060, WO-1061." with links to the work orders
- "2 purchases to review and release on Replenishment." (Mid and up)
- "Stock and the orders already out cover it: nothing needed making."

If a made item couldn't go on a work order, for example because it has no routing, the box says "Couldn't plan Tool stand: give it a routing at active stations, then make it by hand." Fix the routing (see [Routings](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/routings/)), then create that work order yourself.

Work orders count toward the plan's limit on active work orders. If the limit is reached, the order isn't saved, and you see "Your plan's active work orders are all in use, so the work orders it needs can't be made. Finish or cancel some, or upgrade."

## The sales order page

*Screenshot: A sales order's page: customer, customer PO, ship-by date, its delivery order, the expected ship date, and the items ordered and shipped*

The top of the page shows the **Customer**, **Customer PO**, **Ship by** (with **Late** once it's past), the **Delivery order** that ships it, and who created it. On Mid and up, **Expected to ship** gives the date from the current plan and whether it's **In time for the ship-by date**. **Items** lists each line's **Ordered** and **Shipped** quantities, **Price**, and **Amount**, with the **Total** once every line has a price. Prices never show on the customer's status page.

*Screenshot: The whole sales order page: details, expected ship date, items, customer status link, work orders made for it, and shipments*

Further down:

- **Customer status link:** a private link for the customer (see [Send the customer a status link](#send-the-customer-a-status-link)).
- **Work orders made for it:** each work order with its item, quantity, due date, and **Where it is**: the current step and station ("Step 5 of 6 · Assembly"), "(on hold)" if it's held, or its status if it hasn't started. Choose a work order number to open it.
- **To buy for it** (Mid and up): the firm planned orders kept for this order, each with its vendor (or "no vendor yet"), the day to order it by, and the day it's needed. They stay here until they're released on Replenishment, where each becomes a purchase order to its vendor.
- **Shipments:** who shipped how much of which item, with the note, and when.

### Statuses

| Status | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **Open** | Nothing shipped yet. |
| **Partly shipped** | Some lines or units have shipped. |
| **Shipped** | Everything has shipped. |
| **Canceled** | Canceled before anything shipped. |
| **Closed** | Canceled after some had shipped. |

## Ship it

A sales order ships through its delivery order. Choose **Ship on DO-1002** (the button names its delivery order), then fill in the **Ship** form and choose **Save shipment**. You can ship in parts. See [Ship a delivery order](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/shipping-receiving/#ship-a-delivery-order).

The delivery order itself can't be edited, canceled, or reopened. Its page says "Made for SO-1002: change, cancel, or reopen it there. Ship it here."

## Change the lines

1. On an open sales order, choose **Edit**.

2. Change the customer, PO, ship-by date, notes, or lines. A line that has shipped can't go below what's shipped or come off the order.

3. Choose **Save changes**.

- **A line that grows, or a new line,** is built for like a new order: free stock first, then work orders (and on Mid and up, the chain below them) for what's short. The green box says what was made.
- **A line that shrinks** lowers the delivery order. The work orders already out stay as they are. On Mid and up, MRP's action messages on [Replenishment](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/replenishment/) say what to reduce or cancel.

## Cancel or reopen

1. On an open sales order, choose **More → Cancel order**.

2. Choose **Cancel SO-1002** (the order's number) to confirm, or **Keep it** to back out.

Canceling cancels its delivery order and the work orders made for it that haven't started, and takes off what was still to buy. Work already on the floor carries on into stock.

To bring a canceled order back, open it and choose **Reopen**. FloorLine makes what's left on its lines again, the same way as a new order.

## Send the customer a status link

*Screenshot: The Customer status link section: the link with Copy link and Open it, and Replace the link and Turn it off below*

You can give a customer a private web page where they can follow their order without signing in.

1. On the sales order's page, under **Customer status link**, choose **Make a link**.

2. Choose **Copy link** and send it to the customer by email or however you usually reach them. **Open it** shows you the page they'll see.

The link stays on the sales order page, so you can copy it again any time.

- **Replace the link** makes a new one. The old link stops working.
- **Turn it off** stops the link working. Choose **Make a link** to start a new one later.

Someone who opens a link that's been replaced or turned off sees "This link isn't working. It may have been replaced or turned off. Ask whoever sent it for a new one."

### What the customer sees

*Screenshot: The customer's order status page: the shop's name and logo, order SO-1002 with the customer's PO, the expected ship date, a progress bar for each item, and shipments*

The page is on your shop's own address and shows:

- your shop's name and logo
- the order number, their PO, and the day it was placed
- on Mid and up, while it's open: **Expected to ship** and the day, with **On track for** the ship-by date or **Later than** it. Below Mid, it says "To ship by" the ship-by date instead.
- "Everything has shipped." or "This order was canceled." once it's done
- each item with a progress bar and how many units are **Shipped**, **Ready to ship** (in stock), **In production** (on started work orders made for it, with the step and station, such as "step 2 of 5, Weld"), **Waiting to start**, or **Awaiting stock**
- each shipment: how much of which item, and when

It never shows prices, notes, who worked on the order, or work order numbers. The page checks again every minute while it's open, and says when it last updated. It's kept out of search engines.

*Screenshot: The order status page on a phone*

**Tip:**
Every sales order on the [demo shop](https://demo.floorlinehq.com) has a status link turned on. Open one from its sales order page to see what customers get.

## When can it ship?

*(Mid plan and up)*

On Mid and up, the new sales order form shows **Can ship** and a day as you fill in lines, worked out by the planner without saving anything. The new order goes behind every order already out, so nothing else moves. It lists each line (in stock, on its way, or to be made or ordered) and **What it waits on**. Once saved, the order's page shows **Expected to ship** from the current plan. See [When can we ship it?](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/planning/#when-can-we-ship-it).

## Related

- [Ship and receive](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/shipping-receiving/)
- [Vendors and customers](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/vendors-customers/)
- [Replenishment](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/replenishment/)
- [Work orders](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/work-orders/)
- [Plan the floor](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/planning/)