Customer Orders
For: Anyone reviewing orders a customer submitted through the portal, before they become a Sales Order
This is a review queue. Customers place the order in the Customer Order portal; you see it here once they've submitted it. There is no Add button. Your job is to accept or reject what they sent, then convert an accepted order into a Sales Order so it can move through the rest of Books.
What this module does
1. A review queue, not a place to raise orders
Books does not create, edit, or delete Customer Orders. The screen has no Add, no line-item editor, and no delete. What you can do is read what arrived, change status, and convert.
Note: A Customer Order does not post to the ledger. Nothing hits stock or Accounts Receivable until you convert it and save the Sales Order.
2. How an order gets here
Three things have to be true before a customer can submit an order you'll see in this list.
The plan: Customer Order is a plan add-on. On the customer record, Enable Portal is greyed out until that feature is on.
Enable Portal: Turned on for that customer under Other Details. They get an invite; until they accept it you can resend the invite from the customer list.
The customer submits: While they're still drafting in the portal, the order is Draft and does not appear here. Once they send it, it shows as Sent and you can review it.
3. Finding submitted orders
The list shows order number, date, customer, status, amounts, and who added or last updated it (the customer, if they placed it in the portal).
Search: Order number or customer name.
Filters: Date range and status (Sent, Accepted, Rejected, Completed, Cancelled). There is no customer, division, or branch filter on this screen.
Note: Cancelled can appear in the status filter, but Books has no Mark As Cancelled. That status is not something you set from this screen.
4. Opening one
The detail page is read-only on the order itself.
Basic Info: Line items, quantities, rates, GST, totals, and the customer's shipping address.
History: Status changes and the rejection reason, if any. You cannot add comments from here.
Download / Print: A PDF of the order, the same as other sales documents.
View Customer: Opens that customer's record without leaving the order.
5. Accepting or rejecting
Only a Sent order can be accepted or rejected. Use Mark Order As on the detail page, or the row's More Actions on the list.
| From | What happens next |
|---|---|
| Sent | Accepted, Rejected |
| Accepted | Completed — only by saving a Sales Order from it |
| Rejected | None. Rejecting cannot be undone |
| Completed | None |
Accept: The order becomes Accepted and the customer is notified. Convert to Sales Order becomes available.
Reject: You must type a reason. That reason is recorded in History. The warning on the dialog is accurate: this cannot be undone. The order stays on the list as Rejected — it is not deleted.
6. Converting to a Sales Order
Only an Accepted order can be converted, and only into a Sales Order — not an Invoice or Delivery Challan.
Location first: A portal order has no Division, Branch, or Warehouse. The convert dialog asks for all three before opening Add Sales Order.
What carries over: Customer, items, GST, additional charges, shipping address, notes, and payment terms for the branch you picked.
When it completes: The Customer Order stays Accepted until you save the Sales Order. Saving it moves the Customer Order to Completed and notifies the customer. Closing Add Sales Order without saving leaves the order Accepted, so you can convert again.
Warning: Completed cannot be converted again. One Customer Order becomes one Sales Order.
Business rules
| Topic | Rule |
|---|---|
| Creation | Not possible in Books. Orders arrive from the Customer Order portal after the customer has Enable Portal turned on, and only if that add-on is on your plan |
| No ledger posting | A Customer Order never posts to the general ledger. Only the Sales Order created from it can |
| Drafts | Orders still sitting as Draft in the portal never appear in this list. You only see them once the customer has submitted (Sent) |
| Accept / Reject | Only a Sent order can be accepted or rejected. Rejecting requires a typed reason and cannot be undone — the order stays on the list as Rejected |
| Converting | Only an Accepted order, and only into a Sales Order. You must pick Division, Branch, and Warehouse first — the portal order does not carry those. The Customer Order becomes Completed when that Sales Order is saved, not when you click Convert |
| Editing / deleting / cancelling | None of these exist in Books. You cannot change items or amounts, delete an order, or mark it Cancelled from this screen |
| Notifications | Accepting, rejecting, and completing (via Sales Order) each notify the customer |