The Purchases and Returns report is a detailed, line-by-line log of every part or tire you've purchased from a vendor and every one you've sent back. It's built to help you reconcile vendor activity — whether you're checking a vendor statement, tracking which parts came in and which went back, or matching refunds against returns. The totals at the bottom of the table show your Total Quantity (every unit that moved, either direction) and your Total Cost (the gross dollar value of all those transactions). When you open the report it shows all of your history — no date filter is set until you pick one.
Filters
| Filter | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Created Date | None (all time) | Limits the report to lines created in your selected date range. Note that this is when the line was added — if you added a new part to a PO that was drafted last month, that line has today's date on it, not the PO's original date. |
| Ordered Date | None | Limits to POs ordered in the range. Draft POs (never ordered) and most returns drop out when this is set. |
| Fulfilled Date | None | Limits to POs that were fulfilled in the range. Any PO that isn't fulfilled yet drops out. |
| Returned Date | None | Limits to returns moved to Returned status in the range. Heads up — this hides every purchase because purchases don't have a Returned Date. |
| Refunded Date | None | Limits to returns that were refunded in the range. This narrows the report to refunded returns only — purchases and non-refunded returns disappear. |
| Type | Both included | Purchases, Returns, or both. There isn't a separate option for tire returns — they appear under Return with a "Return / Tire" label in the Type column. |
| Status | All included | Narrows to specific lifecycle steps: PO Drafted, Ordered, Received, Fulfilled, Cancelled for purchases; Not Ready to Return, Ready to Return, Returned, Refunded, Not Refundable for returns. Cancelled POs are included by default — un-check Cancelled if you want to exclude them from your totals. |
| Vendors | All included | Narrows to specific vendors. Lines where no vendor was set show as "Unassigned" and count in totals by default. |
| Countries (multi-shop HQ view, multi-country only) | Your own location's country | Picks which country's shops appear in the Locations filter. |
| Locations (multi-shop HQ view) | All shops in the selected country | Picks which shops to include. |
Date Filters
The five date filters are independent. If you set more than one, a line has to fall inside all of them at once. Setting both a Returned Date and an Ordered Date, for example, will give you a very narrow view.
Understanding Each Number
| Item | What it means | What it doesn't include | When it's useful | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Quantity (footer) | The total number of units (parts, cores, tires) that moved — added together, regardless of direction | This is a gross count. Purchases and returns both add positive to it — they don't cancel out. | When you want a rough sense of your overall part-flow volume with a vendor. | If you want "net units bought" (purchased minus returned), filter Type=Purchase, note the number, then filter Type=Return and subtract. |
| Total Cost (footer) | The total dollar value of all lines shown, added together | Returns don't subtract — they're added to the purchases. A refund makes this number go up, not down. | When you want a gross view of the money that changed hands with your vendors. | To get true net spend, filter Type=Purchase (note the number), then filter Type=Return (note the number), and subtract. |
| Type | Purchase (a line on a PO) or Return with a sub-label (Part, Core, or Tire) | — | Helps you quickly distinguish buys from sends-back and identify which kind of return it was. | — |
| Part Name / Part Number / Brand | The part catalog info for the line | Blank for free-text parts (typed directly without linking to an inventory record) | Comparing to a vendor statement or invoice. | — |
| Vendor | The vendor for the PO or return | Shows "Unassigned" when the source line has no vendor set | Reconciling with a specific vendor. | Click the vendor name to jump to the vendor's record. |
| PO # | The purchase order number | Blank when a return was created without a linked PO. Hidden entirely if you don't have access to Purchase Orders. | Jumping back to the source PO. | In the individual-shop view it's clickable — in the multi-shop view it's plain text. |
| Quantity | How many units on this line (can be fractional for tires and cores) | — | Reconciling unit counts. | — |
| Total Cost | The line's total dollar value | — | Matching line-level costs to a vendor invoice. | — |
| Status | Where this line is in its lifecycle | — | Finding stuck or pending items. | "PO Drafted" means the PO is still Draft — it hasn't been sent to the vendor yet. |
| Created Date | When the line was added | — | Finding recently-added lines. | This is the line's date, not the PO header's date. |
| Ordered Date | When the PO was ordered | — | Tracking how long ago a purchase was placed. | Blank on Draft POs and most returns. |
| Fulfilled Date | When the PO was fulfilled | — | Identifying fully-completed POs. | Blank until the PO is marked Fulfilled. |
| Returned Date | When the return was moved to Returned | — | Finding recent returns. | Always blank on Purchase rows. |
| Refunded Date | When the return was refunded | — | Finding recent refunds. | Blank on purchases and on returns that haven't been refunded yet. |
Common Questions
Q: Why is my Total Cost much higher than the total on the Spend by Vendor report? A: These two reports do different things. Spend by Vendor summarizes at the purchase-order level and only counts purchases. Purchases and Returns shows every line (one row per part on a PO, plus one row per return) and includes returns. On top of that, returns are added to the Total Cost here rather than subtracted. So for the same period, Purchases and Returns will almost always show a higher number. If you want a net-spend-style view, filter Type=Purchase on this report and the number will drop toward what you see on Spend by Vendor (though still different because this is line-by-line and that report is per-PO).
Q: I just refunded a return and my Total Cost went up, not down. Why? A: Purchases and Returns is a gross view — every line, whether a purchase or a return, adds to the Total Cost. The report isn't trying to give you a net figure; it's giving you a complete picture of everything that moved. If you want to see your net spend, filter Type=Purchase (note the total), then filter Type=Return (note that total), and subtract the two.
Q: Why are there so many rows when I open the report? A: The report doesn't apply a date filter until you pick one. It opens showing all of your history. Set a Created Date (for example, This Month) to narrow it down.
Q: I'm looking for a tire return but the Type filter only has "Purchase" and "Return". Where are the tire returns? A: Tire returns appear under Return, with a sub-label in the Type column that says Return / Tire. There isn't a filter that narrows to only tire returns — you'd need to filter Type=Return, then scan (or export and filter in Excel).
Q: Why is a Cancelled PO still counting toward my Total Cost? A: All statuses are included by default, including Cancelled. If you want to exclude Cancelled POs from your totals, open the Status filter and un-check Cancelled.
Q: Why does my Created Date column show today's date for a part that's been on a PO since last month? A: That Created Date is the date the line (the part on the PO) was added, not when the PO itself was first drafted. If you added a new part to an existing PO today, today's date shows on that line. The PO header's original date isn't displayed on this report.
Q: Why does a line show "Unassigned" under Vendor? A: The source PO or return didn't have a vendor set. Those lines still count toward your totals. If you want to exclude them, select specific vendors in the Vendors filter.
Q: My PO # column is missing — what happened? A: That column is hidden for users who don't have access to Purchase Orders. If you should have PO access and the column still isn't showing, contact your shop admin to check your permissions.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of This Report
- For month-end vendor reconciliation, set Created Date to the month in question and pick the vendor in the Vendors filter. Export to Excel to cross-reference against the vendor's statement line by line.
- To compute net spend with a vendor, run the report twice with the same Created Date and Vendor filters — once with Type=Purchase, once with Type=Return — and subtract the two Total Cost numbers.
- To find stuck activity, filter Status to the status you're investigating (e.g., Ready to Return to find returns you haven't sent back yet, or Ordered to find POs the vendor hasn't fulfilled).
- To exclude Cancelled POs from your numbers, un-check Cancelled in the Status filter before reading the footer totals.
- Remember the footer reflects the whole filtered set, not just the visible page — you don't need to page through to see the correct totals.
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