---
title: How to write and confirm a wholesale order
url: https://tideswell.xyz/docs/wholesale/write-an-order
description: Create an order against an account, add its lines, and move it from Draft through Submitted to Confirmed.
---

> Documentation index: fetch https://tideswell.xyz/llms.txt to discover every page before exploring further.

# How to write and confirm a wholesale order



An order starts as a draft, gets its lines, and is confirmed once the buyer has agreed it.
Confirming is the gate that unlocks shipping and invoicing. See <Ref to="wholesale" /> for the
three statuses.

## Before you start [#before-you-start]

Every write here needs the wholesale order update permission.

The account should exist first, with its payment terms recorded, because those terms are what
produce a due date when you invoice. See <Ref to="wholesale/add-an-account" />.

## How do you create one? [#how-do-you-create-one]

**New order**, picking the **Account**, an **Order number** and the dates. You land straight on
the order to add lines.

You can also start from an account's own page, which pre-selects the account.

## What do you fill in on the order? [#what-do-you-fill-in-on-the-order]

Each of these saves when you leave the field:

* **Buyer PO number**, the buyer's own reference. Put it in: it is what they will quote back at
  you, and what an accounts-payable department matches an invoice against.
* **Order type**, prebook or at once, pre-filled from the account's default.
* **Season**, captured on the order for your own records.
* **Order date**, **Ship window start** and **Cancel date**.
* **Internal notes** and notes to the buyer, which are separate on purpose.

## What are the ship window and cancel date? [#what-are-the-ship-window-and-cancel-date]

**Ship window start** is the earliest the order can go. **Cancel date** is the date the buyer
can walk away if it has not shipped.

The cancel date is the one that matters commercially, and it is why the order book sorts by
ship window nearest first. An order approaching its cancel date with nothing shipped is a
cancelled order waiting to happen.

## How do you add lines? [#how-do-you-add-lines]

Add each line with a product, a quantity and a unit price. A running subtotal sits underneath.

Enter the price you are actually charging. An account's standing discount is reference only
and is never applied to a line, per <Ref to="wholesale/add-an-account" />.

Two behaviours worth knowing. The subtotal comes from the **saved** order rather than being
added up in your browser, so it is always the real number. And clearing a quantity box reverts
to the last saved quantity rather than writing zero, so an accidental delete does not empty a
line.

## How do you move the order forward? [#how-do-you-move-the-order-forward]

**Draft → Submitted → Confirmed**, in order. **Cancelled** is available from anywhere.

* **Draft** is yours, still being built.
* **Submitted** means it has gone to the buyer.
* **Confirmed** means they have agreed it. This is the one that counts.

Confirming is what unlocks fulfilment and payment. Until then those controls are locked with
the reason shown next to them, telling you to confirm the order first.

That gate exists because shipping against an unconfirmed order is how brands end up making
stock nobody agreed to buy.

## What happens if you cancel? [#what-happens-if-you-cancel]

The order can no longer be shipped or invoiced, and **there is no un-cancel**.

If a cancelled order comes back to life, write a new one. That keeps the cancelled order as an
honest record of what happened rather than something quietly reused.

## How do you mark it shipped? [#how-do-you-mark-it-shipped]

Set fulfilment to **Unfulfilled**, **Partly shipped** or **Shipped**, once the order is
confirmed.

**Partly shipped** is worth using accurately rather than rounding up to shipped, because it is
what tells you an order is still open against a cancel date.

## What is on the order besides the lines? [#what-is-on-the-order-besides-the-lines]

Comments, related records and a decision. Recording why you agreed unusual terms takes a
minute at the time and is the only way anybody knows later. See <Ref to="decisions" />.

Once the order ships, the next step is the money, per
<Ref to="wholesale/invoice-and-payment" />.