Purchase order automation: reorders drafted every Monday, sent when you approve

Purchase order automation for teams that still reorder from a spreadsheet. Every Monday morning Sai checks stock levels against your reorder points, works out what to order from each supplier, drafts the purchase orders in your inventory or accounting system and writes the email to each supplier. Nothing is sent or approved without you; you review one list and approve.

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The routine

# Routine: Weekly purchase orders

Schedule: Weekly on Monday at 7:00 AM
Runs on: Berry's computer
Ask me before acting: yes
Stop a run after: 1 hour

## Each run
1. Open the Reorder sheet (item, SKU, supplier, reorder point, order-up-to level, pack size, lead time).
2. Read current stock and open purchase orders from the inventory system or the latest inventory report.
3. For each item, subtract what is already on order. If the result is at or below the reorder point, order up to the order-up-to level, rounded to the pack size.
4. Group the lines by supplier and check each supplier's minimum order. Use the last price paid for each item.
5. Create each purchase order as a draft in the inventory or accounting system, or fill the PO template if there is no system.
6. Draft an email to each supplier with the PO attached.

## Rules
- Ask me before sending any purchase order or email.
- Never approve, receive or pay a purchase order.
- If an item has no supplier, no reorder point or a price that changed, list it instead of ordering it.

## Send me
Draft POs by supplier with totals, items skipped and why, and anything already late from last week's orders.

What is purchase order automation?

Purchase order automation is the use of software to create, route and track purchase orders with less manual work. In a small business the repeatable part is usually the reorder: checking stock against reorder points, deciding quantities, writing the PO and sending it to the supplier. The decisions about suppliers, prices and budget stay with people.

Because the reorder check happens on the same day every week, it fits a routine better than a one-off task.

How this routine drafts purchase orders

Every Monday morning Sai works through the reorder check:

1. Read the reorder rules. Sai opens your Reorder sheet with each item’s supplier, reorder point, order-up-to level and pack size.
2. Check stock and open orders. It reads current stock from your inventory system or report and subtracts what is already on order.
3. Work out quantities. Items at or below their reorder point are ordered up to their target level, rounded to the pack size, and grouped by supplier.
4. Draft the POs. Each purchase order is created as a draft in your system, or filled from your PO template, using the last price paid.
5. Wait for approval. You review the list; after you approve, Sai sends each PO with the email it drafted.

What you get every Monday

Reordering becomes a ten-minute review instead of a morning of counting and copying.

• Draft purchase orders grouped by supplier, with totals
• A drafted email to each supplier, ready to send
• Items skipped because a rule, supplier or price is missing
• Last week’s orders that haven’t arrived yet

Ways to automate purchase orders, compared

Which one fits depends on how many items and suppliers you manage.

If your inventory system already reorders well, keep it and use this routine only for the suppliers it doesn’t cover. For stores, the Shopify inventory report gives this routine an up-to-date stock count to start from.

How often should you reorder?

Weekly suits most small businesses with steady demand. Fast-moving or perishable stock may need a second run mid-week, and items with long lead times need reorder points that cover the wait. Use Repeat in the demo above to match your ordering rhythm, and review reorder points every quarter.

Set up the routine in Sai

1. Copy the routine above and paste it into Sai, or click Start with Sai.
2. Set the schedule to Weekly on Monday at 7:00 AM, before suppliers start their week.
3. Keep Ask me before acting on, so every PO waits for your approval.
4. Share the Reorder sheet and give Sai access to your inventory or accounting system and the purchasing inbox.
5. Run it once and compare its quantities with what you would have ordered.

Incoming customer orders are the other side of the desk: the order entry automation skill turns them into sales orders. Vendor bills that arrive for these POs can be matched with NetSuite automation or QuickBooks automation.

Why use a computer use agent for purchase orders?

Small teams often keep reorder points in a spreadsheet, stock in one system and suppliers in email or a dozen portals. A computer use agent works across all of them through their screens, the way a purchasing assistant does, so you don’t need an integration for every supplier before automating the reorder.

Sai ranks at the top of OSWorld, the open benchmark for computer use. For purchasing, that means the routine finishes the same steps every week and leaves anything it can’t verify for you to decide.

Skills this routine uses

• Order entry automation: Turn emailed and PDF purchase orders into sales orders in your ERP or order system, and draft the confirmation for each customer.
• NetSuite automation: Enter vendor bills in NetSuite from the PO and receipt, attach the PDF and leave each one Pending Approval, with mismatches left for you.
• QuickBooks automation: Enter bills, attach receipts and code bank transactions in QuickBooks Online by your rules, with big bills and unknowns left for you.

Related guides

• AI e-commerce operations: Stock, suppliers and orders
• Routines in Sai: How schedules, approvals and run limits work
• Sai × Shopify: Orders, stock and pricing