Overview
P.O. Statuses is the Purchasing Settings tab where a company defines the statuses its purchase orders move through. Statuses are organized into four fixed groups: New, In Progress, Completed, and Canceled. Within each group, administrators can rename statuses, add their own (for example "Needs Approval" or "Approved"), reorder them, move them between groups, and delete them. The list is company-wide: every status dropdown, status filter, and purchase order notification trigger in Purchasing uses it.
Accessing P.O. Statuses
From the navigation, click Settings, then click Purchasing.
Click the P.O. Statuses tab.
The path is the same in the Lube Management navigation: Settings, then Purchasing.
NOTE: The Purchasing settings page requires Company Settings create or update permission. Users without it still see and use the configured statuses on purchase orders, but cannot change the list.
Understanding Status Groups
Groups cannot be renamed, added, or removed. Redlist bases its purchase order behavior on the group, not on the status name:
Starting status: A purchase order that is created without a status, including one generated by automatic purchasing, starts on the first status in the New group.
Completing: Completing a purchase order places it in a Completed status, records the completion date, and sets ordered quantities to the received quantities.
Canceling: Canceling a purchase order places it in a Canceled status and records the cancellation date.
Purchase order tabs: The In Progress tab of the P.O.s table lists orders in both the New and In Progress groups. The Completed and Canceled tabs list orders in those groups.
NOTE: When the Completed or Canceled group has more than one status, the Receive & Complete and Cancel PO windows show a required Status dropdown, defaulting to the first status in that group.
Rules that apply to every status:
A name is required, can be up to 64 characters, and must be unique across all P.O. statuses (not just within its group). Names that differ only in capitalization count as duplicates.
Each group must always keep at least one status.
Changes save immediately. There is no separate Save button.
How to Rename a Status
Click into a status name and type to change it.
Steps:
On the P.O. Statuses tab, click the status name you want to change.
Type the new name. The field shows a yellow border while the change is unsaved.
Press Enter or click outside the field. A "Status saved." message confirms the change.
NOTE: Renaming keeps the status's identity. Purchase orders on that status, and notifications that use it as a trigger, keep it and show the updated name.
How to Add a Status
Add a status to any group with that group's Add Status button.
Steps:
On the card for the group you want, click Add Status. A blank row appears at the end of the group with the cursor in it.
Type the status name.
Press Enter or click outside the field. A "Status added." message confirms it.
NOTE: If you leave the row blank and click away, the empty row is discarded.
A new status isn’t included in any existing notifications. To get notified when a purchase order reaches it, open the notification on the Notifications tab and select the status under Triggers.
How to Reorder Statuses or Move Them Between Groups
Use the drag handle (the three-line icon) on the left side of each row.
Steps:
To reorder within a group, drag a row up or down inside its card and drop it.
To move a status to another group, drag the row onto the other card and drop it where it belongs in that group's list.
The order saves as soon as you drop the row. The order you set is the order statuses appear in dropdowns and filters across Purchasing: groups in card order, then statuses in row order within each group.
NOTE: You cannot drag the last remaining status out of a group. Redlist puts the row back and shows "Each group must keep at least one status."
How to Delete a Status
Use the trash icon on the right side of the row.
Steps:
Click the trash icon next to the status.
If no purchase orders use the status, it is deleted right away and a "Status deleted." message appears.
If any purchase orders use the status, the Reassign purchase orders window opens. Choose a status in the Reassign to dropdown. Only other statuses in the same group are listed.
Click Reassign and Delete. Redlist moves those purchase orders to the selected status and deletes the original. Click Cancel to close the window without changing anything.
NOTE: The trash icon is disabled on the last status in a group. Hover over it to see "At least one status is required in this group." Deleting a status also removes it from any notification that used it as a trigger.
Use Cases
Approval step before ordering: A purchasing manager adds "Needs Approval" and "Approved" to the In Progress group, above "Sent." Buyers move each order through those statuses from the P.O.s table, and the manager sets up a notification on the Notifications tab with "Needs Approval" as a trigger so approvers hear about orders waiting on them.
Matching internal terminology: An administrator renames "Confirmed" to "Supplier Acknowledged" to match the wording the team already uses. Existing orders on that status show the updated name, and notifications that used it keep working.
Tracking why orders closed: An administrator adds "Closed - Short Shipped" to the Completed group and "Canceled - Duplicate" to the Canceled group. When a buyer uses Receive & Complete or Cancel PO, a Status dropdown lets them record which outcome applies.
Retiring a status: A team stops using "Partially Fulfilled." The administrator deletes it and reassigns the orders still on it to "Sent" in the Reassign purchase orders window.
Best Practices
Plan the order before you drag: The first status in New is where every purchase order starts, and the first status in Completed and Canceled is the default in the Receive & Complete and Cancel PO windows. Put the most common choice at the top of each group.
Put statuses in the group that matches their meaning: Grouping controls which P.O.s tab an order appears on and whether completion or cancellation steps run. An approval status belongs in In Progress, not Completed.
Rename instead of delete-and-recreate: Renaming keeps every purchase order and notification attached to the status. Deleting requires reassigning orders and removes the status from notifications.
Review notifications after adding statuses: A new status isn't included in any existing notifications. Open the Notifications tab and select it under Triggers in each notification that should fire for it.
Keep names short and distinct: Names are shown in narrow table dropdowns and must be unique across all groups, so short, specific names are easier to tell apart.
Troubleshooting
Issue: I don't see Purchasing under Settings, or the P.O. Statuses tab won't open.
Solution:
The Purchasing settings page requires Company Settings create or update permission. Ask an administrator to check your role.
If the tab shows "Could not load P.O. statuses. Refresh the page to try again.", refresh the browser.
Issue: My status name won't save.
Solution:
Make sure the name isn't blank. A blank name reverts to the previous name, or removes a status row that hasn't been saved yet.
Check for a duplicate. Names must be unique across all groups, ignoring capitalization. The message "A status named ... already exists" names the conflicting status.
Keep the name to 64 characters or fewer.
Issue: The trash icon is greyed out, or I can't drag a status to another group.
Solution:
Each group must keep at least one status. Add another status to the group first, then delete or move the original.
Issue: A status I added doesn't appear in the Status dropdown on a purchase order.
Solution:
Check which group the status is in. On the In Progress tab, the dropdown shows only New and In Progress statuses. Completed statuses appear on the Completed tab and in the Receive & Complete window, and Canceled statuses appear on the Canceled tab and in the Cancel PO window.
Refresh the page if the status was added while the P.O.s page was already open.
Issue: A notification stopped firing after a status change.
Solution:
If the status was deleted, it was removed from the notification's triggers. Edit the notification and select a replacement status under Triggers.
A new status isn't included in existing notifications. Open the notification on the Notifications tab and select the status under Triggers.
Summary
The P.O. Statuses tab in Purchasing Settings holds a company's purchase order statuses, organized into the fixed New, In Progress, Completed, and Canceled groups. Administrators rename, add, reorder, regroup, and delete statuses there. Each change applies right away to purchase order tables, the Receive & Complete and Cancel PO windows, and notification triggers. Each group always keeps at least one status, and statuses that are in use are reassigned to another status in the same group before they are deleted.