Recurring Purchase Orders

Stop recreating the same purchase order every month

If you raise the same purchase order on a regular basis — a monthly retainer, a weekly staffing order, a quarterly maintenance contract — you already know the routine. Find last month's order, recreate it, check the reference is updated, send it. It's not complicated, but it's the kind of low-value admin that takes longer than it should and is easy to let slip.

Appcrual now supports recurring purchase orders: a schedule that automatically generates a draft PO at whatever cadence you need, so the work that used to sit on someone's to-do list happens on its own.

How it works

A recurring purchase order is a saved template paired with a schedule. You set the supplier, add your line items (from your product catalogue or typed directly), choose the frequency, and set an end condition if you need one. From there, Appcrual generates a draft order at each interval — weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually — ready for you to review and send.

You can create a new schedule from scratch, or open any existing purchase order and click Make recurring to pre-fill a new schedule from that order's details. Both routes land in the same setup form.

Each generated order is a normal purchase order in your account, linked back to the schedule that created it. You review and send it using the same flow you use for any other PO — nothing changes there.

Date variables

One practical detail worth knowing: the reference field, notes, and terms all support date variables that resolve automatically on each generated order.

So if your reference reads Maintenance — [month_year], each generated order's reference will read "Maintenance — July 2026", "Maintenance — August 2026", and so on. No editing required.

Detailed information can be found here.

Automatically sending to your supplier

By default, recurring orders are created as drafts for you to review. That's the right choice for most orders — a quick check before anything leaves.

For orders you trust to go out unattended — a straightforward monthly retainer, for instance — you can turn on Automatically email supplier. With that on, each generated order is emailed to the supplier's address with the PO PDF attached and marked as sent, with no manual step.

The form shows a Will be sent to: ... hint as soon as you select a supplier contact, so you can confirm the recipient before saving. If the contact has no email address on file, that order is left as a draft rather than sent without a valid address.

Auto-send is best reserved for orders where the terms are stable and you're not expecting to make changes before sending.

Managing schedules

A schedule can be in one of three states:

Active — generating orders on schedule

Paused — generation is skipped until you resume it

Finished — the end condition has been reached; no more orders will be created

End conditions are flexible: never (runs indefinitely), after a set number of orders, or on a specific date. You can edit these at any time.

There's also a Generate now button on any active schedule, which creates an immediate draft without affecting the schedule's next run date. Useful when you need an ad-hoc order outside the usual cadence.

All generated orders appear under Generated orders on the schedule, so you have a clear record of what was created and when.

When this is useful

Monthly retainers and service fees. If you pay a supplier the same amount each month, a recurring schedule removes the step of raising a new PO manually. Set it up once and drafts appear on the first of each month — or whichever day you choose.

Staffing and contractor costs. Weekly purchase orders for the same contractors can be scheduled in minutes. Date variables in the reference keep each order clearly labelled without extra work.

Maintenance and subscription contracts. Quarterly or annual orders for IT support, equipment maintenance, or software licences are easy to forget. A recurring schedule with a sensible end date means you won't miss one.

Committed cost visibility. Because each generated order is a normal PO in your account, it shows up in your purchase order list and contributes to your committed cost tracking. Your financial picture stays accurate without anyone having to remember to raise an order.

Getting started

Go to Recurring POs in the sidebar and click New recurring PO. Or open any existing purchase order and click Make recurring — this pre-fills the schedule with that order's supplier, line items, and other details, so you're not starting from scratch.

If you have questions, contact support@appcrual.com.