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Zoho Inventory

Sales Order

A Sales Order in Zoho Inventory is a confirmed order from a customer to purchase specific items at agreed quantities and prices. It triggers the fulfilment process — picking, packing, and shipping — and forms the basis for the sales invoice.

What is a Sales Order in Zoho Inventory?

A Sales Order records a customer’s confirmed intent to buy. Once a customer places an order, Zoho Inventory creates a Sales Order that drives the warehouse fulfilment workflow: items are reserved from stock, pick lists are generated, and the order is shipped. The sales order is then invoiced, either fully at shipment or in stages for partial fulfilments.

Sales Order lifecycle

  1. Draft: Created but not confirmed.
  2. Confirmed: Customer’s order accepted; stock reserved.
  3. Partially Shipped: Some items delivered; remainder pending.
  4. Shipped: All items dispatched.
  5. Invoiced: Invoice raised against the shipped quantities.
  6. Closed: Fully fulfilled and invoiced.

Sales Order vs Invoice

A Sales Order is the commitment to supply. An Invoice is the demand for payment. For many businesses these are created together; for others (B2B, project-based) the sales order precedes the invoice by days or weeks, especially with partial shipments.

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