Material Order Overview

A material order lists the materials a supplier delivers for a work order: the items, the supplier, and when and where they arrive. Everything about one delivery lives in one dialog, from the item list to the bills that record what you actually paid.

It helps you order the right materials once and keep delivery on track. The status path always shows where the order stands, and one primary button in the header offers the next step.

A material order always belongs to a work order and takes its trade, project, and contract from it. Open it from the work order's Material orders card.

Quick start

1. From the work order's Material orders card, click the green plus to create the order, or open an existing one.
2. In Materials, add items with Add item or Import list.
3. In Supplier & delivery, click Edit and pick a supplier.
4. Enter the Delivery date, Time, and Drop location. These save as you change them.
5. Click Mark ordered in the header (or Send to your supplier's name for a connected supplier). Today becomes the order date.
6. When the order is delivered, enter the bills in Bills / Expenses to record the actual cost.

Header bar

The bar across the top shows the PO number, a status badge, and chips for the order's type and trade.

• Primary button - the next step for the current state:
  • Add items - the order has no items yet.
  • Assign supplier - there are items but no supplier. Offered to users with production authority, meaning the user permission "Can order and schedule projects". Executives have it too.
  • Mark ordered - sets today as the order date.
  • Send to a connected supplier's name - when the assigned supplier is connected to Contractors Cloud, this places the order with them instead (see Supplier-connected orders below).
  • Email order - once Ordered or Back-Ordered.
  • Print order - once Delivered/Complete.
  • Create WIP order - once the order has been sent to a connected supplier.
• Menu - the extra actions (see Menu options below).
• Material Order Locked - a note above the items. Click it to read why the items cannot be changed (see Materials below).

Overview

A read-only summary. The card header reads like Ordered · Supplier name · Delivery date.

• Project - the project's name. Click it for project details and the other material orders on the project.
• Location - the job site address and a Map link.
• Info - the trade, a description, and an Edit button for the order's details (below).
• Work order - a link to the parent work order, with its install date and crew. A Delivery on/after install chip warns when the delivery is scheduled for the install day or later.
• Delivery - the delivery date and time, plus the order and back-order dates once set.
• Forecast incl. tax - the forecast cost and the actual cost from bills. Hidden from users who cannot see financials.

Edit details

Click Edit in the Info fact to change:

• PO# (required) - suggested automatically as MO followed by the project number and a sequence (for example, MO1042-2). You can edit it.
• Trade (required) - the trade the order falls under.
• Work Order (required) - the work order this order belongs to. Only work orders on the same contract and trade are offered.
• Type (required) - Material Order (the initial order), Material Order - WIP (a work-in-progress order placed after the initial one), or Return (unused materials sent back; its costs count as negatives, so they reduce the material total).
• Description - optional.

The Edit button appears only for users allowed to change the order's details. Once the order is sent to a connected supplier, only the work order can still be changed.

Status path

You do not set a material order's status. It follows the supplier and the dates you enter:

• Draft - no dates yet.
• Ready to order - dates are set but the order has not been placed.
• Ordered - a supplier is assigned and an order date is set.
• Back-ordered - a back-order date is set and there is no delivery date. This step appears only when there is a back-order date.
• Scheduled delivery - a delivery date is set but has not arrived. Once the date arrives or passes, it reads Delivered.

Use the arrow at the left of the path to collapse it to step names. Keeping the dates accurate keeps the status right, and keeps the work order's "Waiting on Materials" state right too: a back-ordered material order puts its work order in Waiting on Materials.

Supplier & delivery

Who supplies the order and when it arrives.

Supplier

Shows the supplier's name (click it for address, branch, and reps), an active/inactive chip, and phone and fax. With no supplier it reads To be determined.

Click Edit to open Assign Supplier. Edit is available to users with production authority, and not once the order has been sent to a connected supplier.

• If the project's Event has suppliers assigned, only those are offered, under a "Suppliers for Event" heading. Otherwise all your suppliers are available.
• Suppliers are grouped under Active Suppliers and Inactive Suppliers. Click Use to choose one.
• Remove supplier clears the choice (you are asked to confirm). It is not offered once the order has bills or has been sent to a connected supplier.

Assigning a supplier counts the order as scheduled, so an order with a supplier cannot be deleted until the supplier is removed.

Delivery

These fields have no Save button. Each one saves as soon as you change it.

• Order date - the day the order is placed. With a supplier, setting it moves the order to Ordered. For an order sent to a connected supplier, this date is set by the supplier's confirmation and shown read-only.
• Delivery - the requested delivery date.
• Time - Early Morning, Late Morning, Early Afternoon, Late Afternoon, Will Call/Pick Up, First Out, or Anytime.
• Drop location - where on site to leave the materials: Best Judgement, Roof Top, Drop, Driveway (3rd Stall / Right / Left), Drop in Driveway, or Other - See Comments.
• Back-order - the date materials are expected when on back order.

Depending on your Company Settings, a tracking bill can be created automatically the first time a supplier is scheduled, giving you a place to record the actual cost as invoices come in.

Materials

The material line items the supplier provides. Columns include Item, Color, Size, Qty, and Unit. Users who can see financials also see a cost column (Event cost or Supplier cost) and Total, with a Total footer. Click a quantity to edit it in place; click other cells to edit the whole item; drag the handle to reorder.

• Green plus or the menu's Add item - add one line. Pick a material from your catalog or enter a custom item. An empty table also offers Add item and Import materials buttons.
• Import list - bring in a saved material list.
• Use event costs / Use supplier costs (menu) - switches which prices the items use; the current choice is named in the cost column heading. Switching re-prices the items.
• Key icon - marks the Per-Unit Primary material that sizes the order (for example, roofing squares). See Material Per Unit Primary.
• A warning appears on a line whose material was marked inactive or discontinued in your catalog.

Working with checked items

Tick one or more rows and a toolbar appears:

• Delete - remove the selected lines.
• Move to New MO / Copy to New MO - move or copy the lines into a new material order.
• Export to... - move the lines into another material order on this work order. Shown only when the work order has another material order.

The Delete All Items button in the Items header clears the list. When two or more lines have the same item, color, size, unit, and cost, the menu in the header offers Combine N duplicate lines to merge them into one and add their quantities.

When items are locked

A Material Order Locked note appears instead of the add controls when items cannot change:

• In production - once the order is past Ready to Order, only users with production authority (or executives) can change its items.
• Sent to a connected supplier - items are frozen for everyone. To add more, click Create WIP order to start a new Material Order - WIP on the same work order.

Supplier-connected orders

This applies only when the assigned supplier is a branch of a distributor connected to Contractors Cloud (currently ABC Supply). Your company's account must be linked in Company Settings.

• A second tab appears beside Materials, named for the distributor with the order state and how many items are included.
• Build order shows what will be sent, based on the items now on the order. Items not linked to a distributor product, or without a price, are listed under Not sent with the reason, and are marked "Not sent to" the distributor in the Materials tab.
• Refresh re-checks prices. If prices changed, a "Prices changed" table shows old and new costs; costs are updated and you click Send to order at the new prices.
• Send to the distributor places the order. A Return order is never sent.

Delivery appointments

Calendar appointments linked to the material order, such as a delivery window. Click the plus to add one, or click a row to view it.

Instructions

Notes for the supplier or your team about this delivery. They appear on the printed material order. Click the pencil to edit; the card reads "No instructions available." until you add some.

Files

Files, documents, and photos for the material order. Files added here also appear in the project's files and photos.

Bills / Expenses

The supplier bills and expenses attached to the order. Bills are the source of the order's actual cost. The card is hidden from users who cannot see financials, and the green plus (add a bill) appears for users who can edit expenses. A bill added here uses the order's supplier as its vendor.

Cost summary

An overview of the order's costs. The card is hidden from users who cannot see financials. Its header shows Forecast incl. tax.

• Size of order - the total of the Per-Unit Primary materials on the order.
• Forecast before tax - the estimated cost, totaled from the item lines (quantity times cost).
• Per unit before tax - the forecast divided by the size of the order.
• Actual cost (bills) and Actual per unit - totaled from the attached bills.
• Taxes - choose a tax rate (from the active taxes on the project's Event); Tax and Tax per unit show the result.
• Forecast with tax - the total.

Project Notes

Notes on this material order, shared with the project. Appears when Material Order Project Notes is set to Show in the trade's settings (Settings, Trades, Material Order Interface).

Menu options

Open the menu in the header bar. Items appear only when they apply.

• Print order - open the printable material order.
• Email order - send the order by email.
• Create WIP order - for an order already sent to a connected supplier.
• Combine N duplicate lines - merge duplicate item lines (while items can change).
• Layout... - choose Density (Comfortable or Compact), Width (Standard, Full, or Narrow), which sections to show, and Expand all / Collapse all. Your choices are remembered.
• Delete order - see below.

Deleting a material order

Deleting needs production authority (or executive authority), and is possible only while the order is unscheduled, meaning no supplier is assigned. Remove the supplier first if you need to delete it. An order that was sent to its supplier can never be deleted. When blocked, the menu item is greyed out and hovering it explains why. Deleting removes the order's items and the bill lines attached to it; linked files are unlinked, not deleted.

Getting help

Click the "?" icon in the upper right of the dialog to open the help drawer for this material order.