AutoPURCHASE
User Guide – Automated Purchase Order Generation
🧠 What AutoPURCHASE Actually Does
Every run answers one question for every product: how much do I need to order today? The answer comes from a single, transparent formula:
need = (stock target + open sales) − (on hand + incoming)
📄 How AutoPURCHASE Works – Visual Flow
(AutoSTOCK or ERP Rules)
per Product
Preferred Supplier
in Your ERP
+ Report Emailed
In Demo Mode the flow stops before your ERP — you get the full proposal report, no purchase orders are created.
🚀 Getting Connected
- Install the BOTS4.me Connect app in your Odoo — the one-click connector bridges Odoo (13.0 → 19.0) to the whole BOTS4.me suite. It logs you in with a 2FA-gated email login and provisions a technical user so AutoPURCHASE can read stock, sales and supplier data and create purchase orders over the API. One connector, one account, all apps.
- Assign the ERP account to AutoPURCHASE — in the Access Manager at BOTS4.me/bots → Settings → AutoPURCHASE, assign your connected ERP account to the app. AutoPURCHASE runs on Odoo (13–19), ERPNext (15–16), Zoho Inventory, Dolibarr (23 and newer), Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (online), QuickBooks Online, Xero and SAP Business One today.
- Start in Demo Mode — Demo Mode is on by default: full need calculation and proposal report, zero changes in your ERP.
- Set your ordering rules — minimum order value, cover cap, rounding to the vendor’s minimum quantity, the never-order list and how often it checks (hourly, daily or weekly), all on the dashboard at /bots.
- Go live — switch Demo Mode off. Create Purchase Orders is on by default on every plan, so draft RFQs start appearing in your ERP, grouped per supplier.
💡 Learn more about what the technical user can and cannot do at Access Levels.
🎯 Where the Stock Targets Come From
With AutoSTOCK
When you own AutoSTOCK and the Use AutoSTOCK Targets feature is enabled, AutoPURCHASE uses the fresh targets from the most recent AutoSTOCK run that wrote its rules to your ERP — demand-driven stock levels computed from your real sales history. If the AutoSTOCK results are older than a week, or AutoSTOCK only reported (Demo Mode, or Write Reorder Rules off), AutoPURCHASE falls back to your ERP’s reordering rules instead. While AutoPURCHASE creates the orders, AutoSTOCK sets its rules in Odoo so Odoo does not order the same products by itself.
Standalone
No AutoSTOCK? No problem. AutoPURCHASE works standalone using the reordering rules you already maintain in your own ERP (min/max) as the stock targets. In Odoo 14 and later, set those rules to Trigger = Manual so AutoPURCHASE orders them instead of Odoo’s own scheduler; rules left on automatic stay with Odoo and are listed in the report. Products sold make-to-order, dropshipped, kits and products without a Buy route are skipped and listed.
⚙️ Dashboard Settings Reference
All settings live at BOTS4.me/bots → Control → AutoPURCHASE. If a setting is left out of range or is locked by your tier, AutoPURCHASE safely falls back to the default.
| Setting | Range | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Min. order value | 0 – 100,000 EUR | 50 EUR | Suppliers whose combined order value is below this are skipped this run — avoids tiny, uneconomical orders. The need is simply carried to a later run once it has grown. |
| Max. cover cap | 1 – 36 months | 12 months | Never order beyond this many months of average demand per product — protects you from over-ordering slow movers. |
| Round to packaging | on / off | on | Rounds order quantities up to the vendor’s minimum order quantity from your ERP’s supplier info. Every paid plan. |
| Never-order list | product codes | empty | Comma-separated product codes AutoPURCHASE must never order (e.g. discontinued items) — a hard blacklist. |
| Use AutoSTOCK Targets | on / off | on | Prefers fresh AutoSTOCK results as stock targets. When off (or when the results are stale), the reordering rules from your ERP are used instead. |
| Create Purchase Orders | on / off | on | Creates draft purchase orders (RFQs) in your ERP grouped per supplier, appending to AutoPURCHASE’s own open draft for that supplier. When off, AutoPURCHASE only emails a proposal. Every plan. |
| Auto-Confirm Orders | on / off | off | Automatically confirms the created purchase orders instead of leaving them as drafts for review — but only below your value caps per order and per run; larger orders stay drafts and are flagged in the report. Sending the RFQ to the vendor stays in your ERP. Family tier and up — enable only when you fully trust the setup. |
| Email reports | after each run / only when orders are created / weekly summary | after each run | When the purchase report with per-supplier order details is emailed. In Demo Mode a report is sent after every run, also when there is nothing to order. Reports that need a hand are always sent right away. |
| Run schedule | hourly / daily / weekly | daily | How often AutoPURCHASE checks your stock and creates orders. All orders go to the main warehouse of your connected company. |
🛡️ Built-In Safety Features
AutoPURCHASE is designed so that even a misconfigured run cannot flood your suppliers with orders:
📝 Drafts by Default
Purchase orders are created as draft RFQs — AutoPURCHASE never sends anything to a supplier; you send the RFQ from your ERP. Auto-confirmation exists from the Family tier, but it is off by default and only confirms orders below your value caps.
🔁 One Open Draft per Supplier
Two mechanisms work together: one draft per supplier — a later run appends new products to AutoPURCHASE’s own open draft for that supplier instead of creating a second order, and products already on it are skipped; and drafts count as incoming — quantities already on order reduce the computed need. Drafts made by people or by your ERP are never touched.
🏭 Vendor Minimums Respected
Vendor minimum order quantities from your ERP are honored (with Round to packaging on), and suppliers below your minimum order value are skipped rather than bothered with micro-orders.
📉 Cover Cap & Blacklist
The maximum cover cap ensures no product is ever ordered beyond a sane number of months of demand, and the never-order list gives you an absolute veto per product code.
🔍 Demo Mode
- Proposal only — Demo Mode runs the full need calculation and emails the full purchase proposal, but creates no purchase orders in your ERP.
- Runs at most about once per day — regardless of your scheduler cadence, a new demo proposal is billed at most roughly once every 24 hours.
- Your usage allowance is still used — the proposal is the billable work, so demo runs count just like live runs.
- On by default — every new AutoPURCHASE setup starts in Demo Mode. Switch it off in the Control tab at BOTS4.me/bots when you are ready for real draft RFQs.
📊 Reading the Proposal Report
After each run — or only when orders are created, or weekly, as you chose under Email reports — you receive a purchase report by email. Here is how to read it:
📋 Summary Block
- The settings the run used (minimum order value, cover cap, rounding)
- How many supplier orders were created (or proposed, in Demo Mode), with total lines and total EUR value
- Which suppliers were skipped for being below the minimum order value
- Products that need ordering but have no vendor configured in your ERP — fix the vendor record to include them next run
📄 Order Lines Table
One row per proposed order line, grouped by supplier, showing the whole calculation:
- Target, On hand, Incoming, Open sales — every input of the need formula, so you can verify each quantity yourself
- Order qty — the resulting order quantity after rounding and caps
- Price and value — supplier price and line value in your company’s currency, so you see the money before you confirm
🆓 What Each Tier Unlocks
- Every plan, including the free Discovery month: Create Purchase Orders — draft RFQs are created in your ERP, grouped per supplier — and Round to packaging.
- Family tier and up: unlocks Auto-Confirm Orders — orders below your value caps are confirmed automatically instead of waiting as drafts (off by default).
- Business tier and up: unlocks Purchase Hold — no stock is bought for the open orders of customers you put on hold.
See current plans and pricing on the AutoPURCHASE product page.
📦 Better Together with AutoSTOCK
AutoSTOCK computes what your stock levels should be from your real sales history; AutoPURCHASE turns those levels into concrete supplier orders. Schedule AutoSTOCK to run before AutoPURCHASE and the whole replenishment loop — demand analysis → stock targets → draft purchase orders — runs hands-free, with you confirming the final orders in your ERP.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
The report says no stock targets were found. What now?
AutoPURCHASE needs targets to order against. Either run AutoSTOCK first (with Use AutoSTOCK Targets enabled), or set up reordering rules (min/max) on your products directly in your ERP — AutoPURCHASE uses those automatically when AutoSTOCK results are missing or stale.
Why was a supplier skipped this run?
Its combined order value was below your Min. order value setting (50 EUR by default). This is intentional — tiny orders cost more in handling than they are worth. The need does not disappear; once it grows past the threshold on a later run, the supplier gets its RFQ.
A product that clearly needs ordering is missing from the orders. Why?
Most often it has no vendor configured in your ERP — AutoPURCHASE groups orders per preferred supplier, so a product without a supplier record cannot be placed on any RFQ. Such products are listed separately in the report under “products without a configured vendor”; add a vendor to the product in your ERP and it will be included next run. Also check it is not on your never-order list.
Can AutoPURCHASE double-order if it runs twice?
No. A later run appends to AutoPURCHASE’s own open draft for that supplier instead of creating a second order, products already on it are skipped, and quantities already on order count as incoming stock. Re-running is always safe.
How often does AutoPURCHASE run?
Hourly, daily (the default) or weekly — you choose in the Control tab at BOTS4.me/bots. In Demo Mode a new billed proposal is generated at most about once per day. If you also own AutoSTOCK, schedule it to run before AutoPURCHASE so the targets are always fresh.
Does Demo Mode really use my usage allowance?
Yes. The full need calculation and proposal report is the billable work — in Demo Mode only the ERP write is skipped. Demo runs are limited to about one per day, so testing stays affordable.
Is Auto-Confirm safe?
It is powerful, which is exactly why it is off by default, available from the Family tier, and limited by value caps: an order above the cap per order or per run is never confirmed — it stays a draft and is flagged in the report. Recommended path: run in Demo Mode, then with draft RFQs for a few weeks, and only enable Auto-Confirm once the drafts consistently match what you would have ordered anyway.
I need help! How do I get support?
Check the processing logs at BOTS4.me/bots first — every run logs what it did and why. Still stuck? Contact us via the contact page and we will help.
🔧 Troubleshooting
⚠️ No draft purchase orders appear in my ERP
Check these things:
- Demo Mode is off (Control tab at BOTS4.me/bots)
- The Create Purchase Orders feature is on (it is on by default)
- In Odoo 14 and later, the product’s reordering rule is AutoSTOCK’s or set to Trigger = Manual — rules on automatic are left to Odoo
- In ERPNext, Auto Material Request is off — while it is on, AutoPURCHASE only proposes and the report reminds you once a day
- An ERP account is assigned to AutoPURCHASE in the Access Manager
- There is an actual need — if stock covers targets and open sales, no orders are created
- Check the processing logs in the dashboard for errors
⚠️ Order quantities look too big
Tune these, then re-check in Demo Mode:
- Lower the Max. cover cap — it limits every product to N months of demand
- Check the stock targets themselves — if they come from AutoSTOCK, review its settings; if from ERP rules, review the rule minimums
- Round to packaging can raise quantities to vendor minimums — check the vendor’s minimum quantity in your ERP
⚠️ Orders go to the wrong supplier
AutoPURCHASE uses the preferred vendor from your ERP:
- Open the product in your ERP and check the order of its vendor lines — the preferred (first) vendor wins
- Fix the vendor priority or remove obsolete vendor records
- The next run will group the product under the corrected supplier