Request a Purchase Order Before Starting Customer Work

Before you write

Use this example when an agreed proposal is ready but your organization requires the customer’s purchase-order reference before work can begin. Gather the details below so the recipient can act without asking you to reconstruct the situation.

• Approved proposal version
• Required purchase-order fields
• Contact authorized to issue it

An email you can adapt

The subject “Purchase order needed for [project]” identifies the request. Replace each bracketed field with a checked detail and remove any sentence that does not describe your situation.

Subject: Purchase order needed for [project]

Hi [name],
We are ready to prepare [work] under proposal [reference]. Before starting, we need the purchase order required by our agreed process, including [fields]. Please send it through [approved route] or tell us if your purchasing team needs additional information. We have not started chargeable work. Once the document is checked against the approved scope, [owner] will confirm the start arrangement and identify any discrepancy that needs resolution.
Best, [sender]

Check the boundary

A purchase order should be checked against the agreed scope rather than treated as permission for any extra work.

What a useful reply should settle

The response should provide the correct reference or identify the practical obstacle to issuing it.

Resolve mismatched scope, currency or entity details before confirming that work may begin.