Common customizations by document type
A cookbook of the changes people most often ask for, grouped by the document they're changing. Each one names the panel to use; the per-type reference pages list every field in full.
The recipes below cover packing slips, purchase orders and credit notes — the documents that attract the most requests. The remaining three types are customized in exactly the same way, so start from their reference page and use the recipes here as patterns: sales order, quote and pick list.
Before you begin
- You need the PDF templates permission to save any of this.
- The Variables panel in the template you have open is the authoritative list of what that document can print. If a field isn't there, that document type can't print it.
- Work in the preview, then confirm on a real record before the document goes to a customer or supplier.
Packing slips
Add a scannable barcode
The barcode entry prints a Code 128 barcode roughly 217 points wide and 20 points tall. It encodes the shipment number when the slip covers a single shipment, and the order number otherwise — so scanning any slip lands you on the right record either way.
Insert it in the header, usually beside the order number. The template that ships out of the box has no barcode; you add it yourself.
The generated barcode image is reused for a few hours, so reprinting the same order shortly afterwards is instant.
If your team scans rarely, enlarging the order number is a simpler alternative that needs no new field.
The four switches, and the highlights built on them
A packing slip has four yes/no switches at the top level, each with an inverted form:
| Switch | Typical use |
|---|---|
| has items | Cover the empty case — the inverted form prints a "Nothing to pack" line when there are no items. |
| has store message | Print a returns note or thank-you only when the store has one set. |
| is pickup | Show collection instructions only on click-and-collect orders. |
| has address warning | Show a check-the-address callout only when there's a problem. |
For example:
{{^has_items}}
<p>Nothing to pack on this slip.</p>
{{/has_items}}
The Blocks tab in the tools sidebar — headed Conditional blocks — turns three of these into finished, print-safe blocks you can insert with one click:
- Multi-quantity highlight — colour-codes lines by how many units were ordered, with its own colour picker for tiers 2, 3, 4 and 5-or-more. It styles the built-in items table automatically; on a table you built yourself, add the tier class to your quantity cell.
- Pickup banner — a bold PICKUP / CLICK & COLLECT strip that appears only on collection orders, so staff route them to the pickup counter instead of the courier lane.
- Address-warning banner — a red-bordered ⚠ Check shipping address box listing every problem found on the order, each with its own wording and severity.
All three print nothing on orders they don't apply to, so they can live permanently in your header. None are in the stock template — you add the ones you want.
The changes people actually make
| What you want | How |
|---|---|
| A scannable order barcode | Insert the barcode entry in the header. |
| A bigger order number for scanning | Just enlarge it — no new field needed. |
| A packed by ______ signature line | Plain text. No field needed. |
| Colour-coded multi-unit lines | Blocks → Multi-quantity highlight. |
| A pickup banner | Blocks → Pickup banner. |
| An address-warning banner | Blocks → Address-warning banner. |
| Returns instructions or a thank-you | The store message, or typed straight into the template when it's identical for every store. |
| A gift-message callout | The customer memo, wrapped so it only prints when set. |
| A destination-specific customs note | A country conditional — see Edit a template. |
| No prices on the slip | Nothing to do — prices are never available on a packing slip. |
The AI assistant offers most of these as one-click starter prompts. See Edit a template with the AI assistant.
Purchase orders
Print logistics milestone dates
If your account defines tracking milestones under Settings → Purchasing → Logistics Tracking Fields, a Logistics Dates group appears in the purchase order editor's Variables panel with one entry per milestone — each offering an Estimate and an Actual date.
That lets you print an expected-versus-actual timeline on the PO you send a supplier: departure, port arrival, customs cleared, warehouse arrival.
This group exists on no other document type.
The Supplier Pickup Authorization block
When a purchase order is marked as a supplier pickup — your customer collects directly from the supplier rather than the supplier shipping to you — a pickup switch turns on and extra content becomes available:
- the Supplier Pickup Authorization heading
- the party authorised to collect, taken from the linked sales order
- the supplier warehouse name and address being collected from
- the expected pickup date
- the sales order reference it fulfils
On every other purchase order the whole block prints nothing, so it's safe to leave in permanently. The built-in template already includes it as a card.
Repeat the masthead on every page
A long purchase order runs to several pages, and the built-in template repeats its masthead — logo, address, PO number and date — at the top of each one.
It does this by fencing that part of the layout between page-header start and end comment markers. Whatever sits between them is lifted out and reprinted on every page, with the body starting below a reserved gap.
Keep those markers where they are if you want the behaviour, and put anything that should repeat between them. Purchase orders are the only document type that works this way.
The changes people actually make
| What you want | How |
|---|---|
| A Vendor SKU column beside your own SKU | Add a column to the items table and insert the vendor SKU field inside the repeating block. |
| A terms line — currency, payment terms, Incoterm | Paste those entries under the vendor block. |
| Expected departure and arrival dates by the PO date | Insert the matching Logistics Dates entries. |
| A freight-and-charges breakdown so the grand total reconciles | Add the charge entries to the totals block. |
| Shipping instructions or packing requirements | Fed by the supplier notes field. |
| A delivery window or compliance note for one country | A country conditional on the supplier or shipping address. |
Each is a matter of pasting the relevant entries into the existing table structure, previewing, then downloading one real purchase order to confirm before it goes to suppliers.
Credit notes
Put the reason on the page
Readers shouldn't have to hunt for why a credit was raised.
- Move the note field into the header band.
- Keep it wrapped in its show/hide section, so credits with no note don't print an empty box.
- Pair it with the originating order number — also wrapped — so the reader sees the reason and the paperwork together.
A long note in an unconstrained block pushes the totals column off the right edge of the page. Set a width on it.
Add wording for one country only
- Expand the address you want to test — Supplier Address on a vendor credit, Billing Address on a sales credit.
- Use its Is Country … entry and change the example code to the one you want.
- Put the tax or remittance wording inside, and use the inverted form for everyone else.
Because the preview always uses a United States address, this can't be checked in the preview. Generate two real credits — one to a matching address, one to a non-matching one — and confirm both.
Next steps
- Set up packing slip rules — the settings that change slips without touching the template.
- Packing Slip template reference — every field available on a slip.
- Purchase Order template reference — every field available on a PO.
- Credit note template reference — vendor and sales credits.