Purchase order policy template

1. What the template covers

Twelve short sections, each with square brackets where your thresholds, roles and systems go.

1. Purpose
2. Who and what it covers
3. When you need a purchase order
4. Raising a request
5. Who can approve what
6. Approved suppliers
7. Blanket purchase orders
8. Emergency purchases
9. Receiving goods and services
10. Invoices
11. Breaches
12. Review

2. Who can approve what

The template sets approval limits by role, from budget holder up to CEO or board, with the rules that stop the usual workarounds:

• Approvers check the budget before approving.
• Nobody can approve their own request.
• Approvals pass to a nominated cover when someone’s away.
• Splitting a purchase to stay under a threshold is a breach of the policy.

3. Telling your suppliers

The template ends with a sample notice asking suppliers to quote a valid PO number on every invoice, and explaining that invoices without one will be returned unpaid.

Need something simpler for the people who buy? Pair it with our one-page staff guide to raising a purchase order.

This template is a starting point, not legal or professional advice. Adapt it to your business and check it with your own advisers.