Orders

Orders are how you order goods from your suppliers through Spensa. You put together a list of items, set a delivery date, and Spensa emails the order to the supplier in a clean, professional format. From there you can track the order until the goods arrive, keep the delivery note with it, and read the supplier's replies right next to the order.

What this is for

• Create an order for a supplier, from scratch or from an order template.
• Save unfinished orders as drafts and continue later.
• Add items from your product catalogue, from a template, or as one-off custom lines.
• Add a note for the supplier.
• Send the order to the supplier by email, or send it to a colleague for review first.
• Approve, deny, or change orders that are waiting for review.
• Mark orders as arrived and upload delivery notes.
• Filter, sort, and search through your orders.
• Delete drafts, one by one or several at once.
• Order on the phone app, even without an internet connection.

Where to open it

On the web, open the left sidebar and click Orders. The page exists in the organization view, showing orders from all locations, and in each location view, showing only that location's orders. The app sometimes calls a location an "establishment".

On the phone app, orders live on the Orders tab. Creating orders works there even offline; opening an existing order's details needs an internet connection.

Access and permissions

Everyone in your organization can see orders. Staff members only see the orders of their own location.

• Admins and managers, including location managers, can do everything: create, send, complete, and delete orders.
• Other team members and staff members can create orders and save drafts. They can send an order themselves when it was started from a template. If that template has reviewers, only one of the reviewers may send it. For everything else, they use Send for review and a manager approves.
• On orders from a template, only admins and managers can add items beyond what the template contains.
• Everyone except viewers can upload delivery notes.
• Viewers can only look.

You can fine-tune all of this with custom roles. Read more in Team and permissions.

Order statuses

Every order has a status that tells you where it stands:

• Draft - you are still working on it. Nothing has been sent.
• In Review - the order was submitted for approval. Reviewers have been notified.
• Sent - the order was emailed to the supplier.
• Completed - the goods arrived and the order is closed.
• Cancelled - the order was called off after sending. Spensa does not email the supplier about a cancellation, so tell them yourself.
• Denied - a reviewer decided the order should not be sent.

This is how an order moves:

1. A new order starts as a draft.
2. From the review page you either send it straight to the supplier, or send it for review.
3. An order in review is approved by sending it. Approving and sending are one step, so the approver is also the sender.
4. A reviewer can instead deny the order, or make changes to it.
5. Once sent, the order stays Sent until you mark it as arrived. Then it becomes Completed. You can switch it back if you marked it too early.

Sent, completed, cancelled, and denied orders can no longer be edited or deleted. What is sent is sent.

Stale drafts

Drafts older than 14 days are marked Stale. They disappear from the normal list views and gather under their own Stale filter, so old half-finished orders do not clutter your day. A stale draft still works like any draft: open it, finish it, and send it.

Before you send your first order

Three things must be in place before Spensa can send an order. It is worth checking them once:

1. The supplier needs an order email address. You add it on the supplier's page. See Suppliers.
2. Your location needs an email address and a complete address: official name, company name, street, postal code, city, and country. Spensa prints this as the delivery address in the order email.
3. The order needs at least one item with a quantity above zero.

If something is missing, Spensa tells you before the order goes out.

Creating an order on the web

1. Open Orders and click New order.
2. The "New Order" window opens. Choose the location. In a location view this is already set.
3. Choose the supplier. If the supplier has no order email yet, a warning appears: "You need to add an email for this supplier in order to send an order." Click Add supplier email to fix it first. Without an email you cannot create the order.
4. Choose an order template if you want one. This is optional; "No template (blank order)" is always available. If you have no templates yet and are allowed to create them, a Create Template link appears. A small "What is an Order Template?" dialog explains templates.
5. Under "When should it arrive?" keep ASAP or pick Other and choose a date from the calendar. Past dates cannot be chosen.
6. Click Create Order (with a template) or Create Blank Order.

You land on the order form:

• Template items are already listed, grouped in the template's sections. Each line starts at quantity zero, with the template's usual amount shown as a recommendation. Type the quantities you actually need.
• Click Add item to add more items.
• The save icon in the header saves the order as a draft. You see "Order saved as draft successfully".
• Finalize becomes available once at least one item has a quantity above zero. Clicking it saves the order as a draft and opens the review page.
• If you leave with unsaved changes, Spensa asks "Do you want to keep this order for later?" with the choices Save draft, Discard, and Cancel.

The form checks your input as you go: it asks for a location, a supplier, a delivery choice, at least one item, item names, and at least one quantity above zero.

Adding items from your catalogue

1. Click Add item. The "Add Item" window opens.
2. Type in "Search for items...". Spensa searches the items you buy from this supplier.
3. Use the filter to narrow by category (in the organization view) or by time: "All items", "Last 30 days", "Last 60 days", or "Last 90 days". The time filter shows items you ordered in that period.
4. Results are grouped into "New Items", "Recently Used", and the rest.
5. Click every item you want. The button counts your selection, for example "3 items selected".
6. Click Add items.

Items already on the order are greyed out, so you cannot add the same item twice.

Items from a template

On an order created from a template, you normally order only what the template contains. The Add item button is shown only to people who can send any order, meaning admins and managers. Template items cannot be renamed.

Template items can carry a note written by whoever set up the template, for example "only order on Fridays". These notes are internal guidance for your team. They are never sent to the supplier. See Order templates.

Custom one-off items

Sometimes you need something that is not in your catalogue yet.

1. In the "Add Item" window, click Add custom item.
2. Enter the "Item name". Optionally enter the "Supplier product ID", the item code the supplier uses.
3. Confirm. The line is added to your order.

One important thing: a custom item exists only on this one order. It is not added to your product catalogue. This is different from order templates, where adding a new item can also create a catalogue product. If you order something regularly, add it to the catalogue or to a template so Spensa can track its prices. See Products.

If a line with the same name is already on the order, Spensa tells you: "An item with this name already added."

Reviewing and sending

Clicking Finalize opens the "Review Order" page. This is the last stop before the order goes out.

Delivery date and note for the supplier

• The delivery pill shows "ASAP", the chosen date, or "Select date". Click it to change your choice: an "As soon as possible." button or a calendar. Past dates are rejected.
• "Note for Supplier" is a single free-text note printed in the order email. There is one note per order, not per item. Use it for anything the supplier should read, for example "please deliver before 9am".

Checking the items

The page shows a read-only recap of every item with a quantity above zero. Each line shows its packaging, its category, any internal note, and the recommended amount from the template as "Should have". You can sort the list: Sort A-Z, Sort Z-A, Sort by category, or Manual order, and filter it by category. Click Make changes if something needs editing.

Reviewers

Reviewers are colleagues who should approve the order before it goes to the supplier.

1. Click Add reviewer (or the "{count} reviewers" avatars if some are already set).
2. Search and pick people. Only people who are allowed to approve orders appear. When everyone eligible is already added, the list says "All available users are already reviewers".

Orders from a template can bring default reviewers with them. They are tagged "(default)" and cannot be removed from the order. You can add up to 20 reviewers per order. A small info dialog on the page explains how reviews work.

Sending

The main button depends on what you are allowed to do:

• If you can send directly, you see Send order on a draft, or Approve & Send on an order in review. After sending, you see "Order sent successfully to supplier." The supplier receives the order email, and the order becomes Sent.
• If you cannot send directly, you see Send for review. The order becomes In Review and the reviewers are notified. You see "Order submitted for review successfully".

Minimum order value

Some suppliers have a minimum order value. You set the amount and the behavior on the supplier. See Suppliers. On the review page, Spensa estimates the order's value from the latest prices it knows. Items without a known price do not count toward the estimate.

• If the supplier is set to warn: a "Supplier minimum order value warning" banner appears. When you send, a dialog asks "Send order below supplier minimum?" and explains the estimated value and the minimum. You can still click Send anyway, but the supplier may reject the order.
• If the supplier is set to block: the banner reads "Supplier minimum order value not met" and sending is disabled until you add more.
• If no item's price is known, the banner reads "Order value could not be estimated" and you can send normally.

Approving or denying an order

When an order is sent for review, every reviewer except the person who submitted it is notified three ways: a push notification on the phone, an email with the order's key facts and a link, and an in-app notification. See Notifications.

Orders waiting for your review are easy to find: the Review filter on the orders list, a review counter in the web sidebar, and a blue banner on the phone app's Orders tab reading "{count} orders awaiting your review".

As a reviewer, opening the order takes you to the review:

• On the web, you land on the "Review Order" page. You can Approve & Send, which sends the order to the supplier, or Make changes to edit it first. There is no deny button on the web.
• On the phone app, the order shows a "Review this order" panel with three choices. Approve & send asks "Approve and send order?" and then emails the supplier; you see "Order approved and sent". Deny asks "Deny this order?" and explains: it won't be sent to the supplier, and whoever created it will see that it was denied. Make changes opens the order for editing.

Colleagues who cannot approve see a "Waiting for review" panel on the phone, with the reviewers listed. On the web, they see the order in a read-only view.

A denied order is kept for the record under the Archive filter on the web.

What the supplier receives

Sending an order produces one email to the supplier's order address:

• It is written in the supplier's language, German by default or English, as set on the supplier.
• The subject is "New Order #12 from {your location}", with your order number.
• The sender name shows your location's name, so the supplier knows immediately who is ordering.
• The body contains a formal greeting, your location's delivery address, your invoice address if you have one configured, the delivery date or "as soon as possible", your customer number with this supplier if set, and your note.
• The items appear in a clear table: the supplier's item code, the unit or packaging (for example "2 crates"), the item name, and the quantity. Spensa uses the supplier's own item number whenever it knows it.
• The email asks the supplier to reply directly, and includes your location's phone number if one is set. Replies land in Spensa next to the order. See Order conversations.
• A footer explains that the email was generated on behalf of your location by Spensa and repeats the order number for inquiries.

When the delivery arrives

Marking the order as arrived

Open the order. On the web, a sent order shows an Arrived? toggle with No and Yes; switching to Yes marks the order Completed. There is also a Complete button, confirmed with "Order marked as complete". Switching the toggle back to No returns the order to Sent, for example when you completed it by mistake. On the phone app, the same toggle is called Delivered?.

Uploading delivery notes

Each order has a card called Lieferscheine. A Lieferschein is a delivery note; Spensa keeps the German word in the app. Delivery notes can be added to sent and completed orders.

1. Open the order and find the Lieferscheine card. Before the first upload it reads "No lieferscheine uploaded yet."
2. Click Upload Lieferschein (on a completed order: Add Lieferschein).
3. Drag files in or click Choose files. On the phone you can also use Take photo.
4. You can upload PDF, JPG, PNG, BMP, and PBM files, up to 10 files at once, each up to 20 MB.

Uploading a delivery note to a sent order marks it as arrived automatically. You see "Lieferschein uploaded. Order marked as arrived." Each entry shows who uploaded it and when, with a download link per file. A delivery note can also be deleted again.

Keeping track of your orders

The orders list is built for quick scanning.

Status filters

Pills at the top filter by status: All, Review, Sent, Arrived, Drafts, Stale, and Archive. "All" shows everything current, with stale drafts hidden. "Arrived" shows completed orders. "Archive" holds cancelled and denied orders. Staff members see only their own orders under Review.

On the phone app the pills are All, Review, Sent, Arrived, Draft, and Stale. One difference: on the phone, "Arrived" also includes cancelled and denied orders; there is no separate Archive.

Sorting and filtering

• The display menu sorts the list A-Z or Z-A, by "Created date" (newest first is the default), "Delivery date", "Supplier", "Establishment", or "Order number".
• The filter menu narrows the list by location (in the organization view) and by supplier; you can pick several of each. Active filters show as small chips, with a "Clear all filters" shortcut.

Each order card shows the supplier, the location it goes to (in the organization view), the status, the item count, the delivery pill ("ASAP" or the date), who created it, and the order number, like #123. If you can approve orders, clicking an order in review takes you straight to its review page.

Starting from an empty list

If you have no orders yet, the page guides you through what is missing, one step at a time: add a location first, then a supplier ("Add a supplier, then you can order."), then products ("Upload an invoice to build your catalogue."), and finally "Place your first order." Along the way, an "Upload invoice" button offers a shortcut: Spensa reads the invoice and creates the supplier and the products for you. Each step has a "See how it works" explainer. See Invoices.

The organization list also shows a banner about ordering offline with the phone app, with a Download for iOS link and a Learn More page. You can dismiss it, and it stays dismissed.

Deleting orders

Only drafts and orders in review can be deleted. Sent, completed, cancelled, and denied orders are kept for good - unless you delete the supplier, which removes all of its orders too. See Suppliers.

To delete several at once from the list:

1. Click Edit above the list. Checkboxes appear on the order cards.
2. Tick the orders you want to remove.
3. Click Delete and confirm in the "Delete Order(s)" dialog.

Anyone who can create orders can delete drafts. Deleting an order that is in review needs a manager. Deleting an order also removes its review requests from your colleagues' notifications.

Ordering on the phone app

The phone flow mirrors the web, screen by screen. See also Mobile app.

The Orders tab

At the top: an inbox icon for supplier messages with a blue dot when something is unread, a location picker ("All Establishments"; staff members do not see it), a supplier picker ("All Suppliers"), and the status pills. A red banner appears if orders failed to send (see below), a blue one when orders await your review. Order cards show the supplier, the location, the order number, the status, the item count, the delivery date or "As soon as possible", and a blue dot when the supplier wrote something you have not read.

Creating an order

1. Tap New Order. The screen has one row per choice, and a Clear button in the header if you want to start over.
2. Pick the location. Locations without a complete delivery address are greyed out with "Missing delivery address". If you already added items, changing the location warns you first and clears them.
3. Pick the supplier. Suppliers without an order email are greyed out with "Missing order email".
4. Pick the delivery date: a big "As soon as possible" button, or a calendar below it. Past dates are disabled.
5. Once location and supplier are set, a template row appears. Pick a template, or choose "Start from scratch". Changing the template later warns you and clears the items.
6. Tap Create.

Adding items on the phone

The items screen works like the web form: template items start at zero with the recommended amount shown, quantities use the number keypad, and you swipe a line to delete it. Items stay grouped in their sections. Tap Add Item to search the supplier's items, with the same time and category filters (offline, only "All items" and "Last 30 days" are available). Select several and tap Add. Add Custom Item asks for "Item Name" and "Quantity"; as on the web, custom items are not added to your catalogue. Tap Continue once at least one quantity is above zero.

Reviewing and sending on the phone

The review screen shows the delivery date (tap it to change), the item summary with the total count, a reviewers card (Add Reviewers or Manage Reviewers; template default reviewers are locked with a "Template" badge, and you cannot pick yourself), the "Note for Supplier" field, and any minimum order value alert. Then one of these:

• Send Order if you can send directly. A dialog confirms "Send Order to Supplier?", or "Send Order Below Supplier Minimum?" when the estimate is below the supplier's minimum.
• Submit for Review if a reviewer needs to approve first.
• Save as Draft is always available as a second button.

If the location's address is incomplete or the supplier's email is missing, the app tells you before anything goes out.

Opening an order on the phone

Order details need an internet connection; offline, the app says so. Drafts open straight into editing, with Finish leading to the review screen. Sent orders show the status, an inbox card for supplier messages, the Delivered? toggle, the order details, the delivery notes card, the items, the note, and a timeline of who created, sent, approved, and last edited the order.

Ordering without internet

The phone app is made for cellars and walk-in fridges. You create and submit orders as usual, and Spensa sends them out once you are back online.

• The app keeps everything needed for ordering on your phone: locations, suppliers, templates, items, categories, and reviewers. It refreshes this every 15 minutes and whenever you open the app.
• If you are offline and the saved data is more than 3 hours old, the app shows "Your offline data is outdated" with the time of the last update. Connect briefly to refresh, then carry on.
• Finish an order while offline and the phone keeps it, showing "Order queued for sending", "Order submitted for review", or "Draft saved", each with "Will sync when online."
• The Orders tab shows "You're offline. Showing queued orders." Waiting orders carry a badge: "Pending sync", "Syncing…", or "Failed".
• Back online, the app sends everything by itself. You see the progress and then "orders synced successfully", or a note that some failed.
• Orders waiting on the phone expire after 4 hours if they could not be sent. Expired orders appear on the Failed Orders screen.

Failed orders

If something could not be sent, a red banner appears on the Orders tab: "orders failed to sync - Tap to review and retry". Tapping it opens the "Failed Orders" screen. Each card shows what went wrong, how often the app tried, and when. You can Retry (needs internet), Edit to reopen the order, Delete it for good, or use Retry All for everything at once.

One special case: if Spensa saved the order but could not email it because of a rule, for example the order is below the supplier's minimum or the supplier's email is missing, the order leaves the phone's waiting list with an explanation. It exists in Spensa as a normal order; open it there to finish sending.

Cancelling an order

There is currently no cancel button on the web order page. To cancel a sent order, ask the assistant, for example "cancel order #123". Cancelled orders move to the Archive filter.

Cancelling only changes the order inside Spensa. The supplier is not told automatically. Write to them in the order's conversation, or call them. See Order conversations.

How this connects to other parts of Spensa

• Order templates - start orders from a template with suggested amounts, sections, internal item notes, and default reviewers. Unlike orders, editing a template can add new products to your catalogue.
• Order schedule - ordering-day reminders start orders for the right supplier, and the schedule shows when today's order went out and which deliveries arrive today.
• Order conversations - every sent order gets an email thread where supplier replies arrive and you can answer.
• Products - the item search draws on your product catalogue, known prices power the minimum order value estimate, and product item codes appear in the order email.
• Suppliers - the supplier record holds the order email, the email language, the minimum order value, and your customer numbers.
• Invoices - uploading invoices builds the supplier and product catalogue your orders draw from.
• Notifications - review requests and supplier replies reach you in the app, by push, and by email.
• The assistant - can create, edit, and send orders, change an order's status, and copy an existing order for you.
• Team and permissions - controls who may create, send, review, and delete orders.
• Settings and billing - your location's address and email, both needed for sending, live in the location settings.
• Mobile app - ordering works offline on the phone; details are in this chapter above.

Good to know

• An order can hold up to 400 items. Item names can be up to 250 characters.
• Up to 20 reviewers per order. Orders from a template can have up to 50 sections.
• Delivery notes: up to 10 files at once, each up to 20 MB, as PDF, JPG, PNG, BMP, or PBM.
• Quantities of zero are fine in a draft. When the order is sent, those lines are simply left out. An order where every quantity is zero cannot be sent.
• Every order gets a number, like #123, counted across all your locations together.
• No delivery date means "as soon as possible", and that is what the supplier reads.
• Once sent, an order cannot be edited, deleted, or sent again by accident.
• Marking an order completed or cancelled never emails the supplier.
• The supplier's order email must be the supplier's own address. Spensa addresses cannot receive orders.
• There is no duplicate button on the order page. Ask the assistant to copy an existing order instead.
• Drafts older than 14 days move to the Stale filter so your list stays clean.