salesorders

Sales orders are documents used in sales and order fulfillment that confirm a customer's request to purchase goods or services. Created by the seller, a sales order records the agreed terms and serves as the instruction to pick, pack, and ship the items or to provide the services. It is the primary source in many order-to-cash processes and links sales, inventory, shipping, and accounting.

A typical sales order includes an order number, customer name and contact details, ship-to and bill-to addresses, line items with product codes, quantities, unit prices, discounts, tax, and currency, delivery dates, payment terms, and shipping method.

Lifecycle: creation by a salesperson or customer portal, review for creditworthiness, confirmation to the customer, stock reservation or backorder handling, fulfillment, shipment, and invoicing.

Statuses include Draft, Confirmed, Partially Shipped, Shipped, Invoiced, Completed, and Canceled.

Inventory and procurement effects: stock is reserved on the sales order; if items are unavailable, a backorder is created and, in some systems, a purchase order is issued to replenish stock.

Revenue and invoicing: revenue is recognized according to policy and may occur at shipment or delivery; the sales order is linked to the invoice and to the delivery note.

Variations and scope: sales orders may cover services, subscriptions, or configurable products, and may support amendments, cancellations, and returns.

Systems and integration: sales orders are managed within ERP, CRM, or e-commerce platforms; integration with inventory, shipping, and accounting ensures data consistency and timely fulfillment.

In practice, they support customer service, audit trails, and financial reporting by providing a record of committed sales and obligations.