Follow each PO through its stages: placed, in production, shipped, in transit, received at Amazon, and reconciled against the order. At each stage, record the date and status and watch for slippage against your expected supplier lead time. Whether you use a spreadsheet or a system, the point is a single view of every open order, its status, and its due date.
Why is purchase order tracking important for FBA?
Because an untracked PO is a blind spot in both your stock and your cash. Tracking catches a production or shipping delay early enough to react before it becomes a stockout, tells you how much cash is committed in orders still in flight, and lets you reconcile received units against the order to catch and claim any shortfall while it is still within the window.
Andrew Erickson is the founder of Inventory Hero. He has spent years working with Amazon FBA sellers on demand forecasting, restock planning, and the cash flow side of running a private-label brand. Inventory Hero exists because every spreadsheet-based inventory system he tried eventually broke — usually right before Q4.
Should I track purchase orders in a spreadsheet or a system?
A spreadsheet works for a handful of SKUs and suppliers, but it breaks down as orders multiply because status goes stale and nothing prompts you. A system that ties POs to reorder needs and receipt reconciliation scales better and removes the manual upkeep. Either way, the requirement is the same: one current view of every open order and its status.
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Purchase order tracking is the practice of following each PO through its stages, from the day you place it to the day you reconcile the received goods against it. The short version: an untracked PO is a blind spot in both your inventory and your cash, tracking catches delays early enough to react, and reconciling on receipt is where you catch shortfalls while they are still claimable. Below are the stages, what to watch at each, and how to keep it current.
Every PO moves through the same stages, and each has something specific to watch:
Placed. The PO is issued and acknowledged. Watch that the supplier confirms the terms and the ship date.
In production. The goods are being made. Watch for the supplier confirming progress against the promised lead time; silence here is an early warning.
Shipped. The goods have left the factory. Capture the shipment details, incoterm handoff, and expected arrival.
In transit. On the water or in the air. Watch the freight forwarder's milestones and any customs holds.
Received. Checked in at the Amazon fulfillment center. Note the received quantity.
Reconciled. You have compared received units to the PO and closed it out or opened a claim. This is the stage most people skip, and it is where the money is.
Tracking the date and status at each stage is what turns a vague "the order is coming" into a managed timeline.
Following the stages is not busywork; it protects three concrete things:
Your stock. Catching a production or shipping delay early lets you react (expedite, split the order, or adjust another SKU) before it becomes a stockout. It feeds directly into your reorder date planning.
Your cash. Open POs are committed cash. Knowing what is in flight keeps you from over-committing on the next order, especially when a supplier's minimum order quantity already pushed the order larger than ideal, and lets you plan against your cash flow.
Your accuracy. Reconciling received units against the PO is how you catch a short shipment while it is still inside the claim window, both an accuracy check and a recovery of money you are owed.
The last stage, reconciliation, is the one most sellers skip and the one that most directly returns money:
Compare received to ordered. Line by line, units received against the PO quantity.
Investigate any gap. A shortfall is either a supplier short-ship (their problem to correct) or an Amazon receiving discrepancy. If it is on Amazon's end, pull the inbound shipment reconciliation in Seller Central, identify the unit gap, and file the reimbursement request within the claim window. Amazon closes that window and the money is gone, so this is a time-sensitive step, not a someday one.
Close the PO only when it matches or the discrepancy is resolved. An open PO that has actually been received but never reconciled is a gap where money quietly leaks.
Make reconciliation a standing step, not an afterthought, and it pays for the whole tracking habit.
The same records that track an order also let you grade the supplier over time, which is worth doing deliberately:
On-time rate. Across recent POs, what share arrived by the promised date? A supplier at 60 percent on-time needs a bigger buffer than one at 95 percent.
Quantity accuracy. How often did received units match the PO? Frequent short-ships are both a cash and a reconciliation cost.
Lead-time trend. Is the supplier's actual lead time creeping up? A drift shows up here before it causes a stockout.
These per-supplier numbers turn tracking from pure logistics into sourcing intelligence: they tell you which suppliers to lean on, which to buffer against, and which to replace. A cheaper supplier that misses dates half the time is often more expensive than a pricier one that never does, once you price in the safety stock and stockout risk.
A spreadsheet is a fine place to start, and for a few SKUs and one supplier it works. It breaks down as you scale:
Status goes stale. Nobody updates the sheet the day a shipment moves, so it drifts out of date exactly when you need it.
Nothing prompts you. A spreadsheet does not tell you a PO is overdue or a reorder is coming; you have to remember to look.
It does not connect. The sheet is disconnected from your sales and stock, so you place a new PO off a stale row and double-order a SKU that already has stock inbound.
A system that ties POs to reorder needs and reconciles receipts removes the manual upkeep and scales past the point where a spreadsheet quietly fails. Either way, the requirement is the same: one current view of every open order.
Purchase order tracking is following each PO through placed, in production, shipped, in transit, received, and reconciled, watching for slippage and closing the loop on receipt. It protects your stock by catching delays, your cash by showing what is committed, and your accuracy by reconciling what arrived. Pair it with a consistent PO template and it becomes the reliable backbone of your restock planning.