The traditional steps in the manual purchasing system are:
A purchase order is placed and is sent to the supplier. The supplier inputs the purchase order into their system. The supplier updates or confirms the Purchase Order information. The Buyer updates the purchase order and item information based on information from the supplier. The supplier ships the items and provides shipment information to the buyer The buyer (your company) updates the appropriate purchase orders with the shipment information from the supplier. The Goods are physically received by your company The goods are received into inventory in buyer system. An Accounts payable invoice is produced by the supplier and transmitted to you. The accounts payable invoice for the received items is entered into the system. The supplier invoice is paid.