China Purchase Order and Production Tracker Worksheet
Orders with Chinese factories pass through many hands: materials, production, inspection, booking and freight. This tracker keeps each order's stage, promised ship date and payment position in one table so nothing depends on scattered email threads or chat messages.
| PO number | Supplier | Part / description | Qty | Unit price | PO value | Paid so far | Balance due | Stage | Promised ship date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$12,800 | $8,960 | |||||||||
$8,200 | $5,740 | |||||||||
$10,750 | $7,525 | |||||||||
$2,400 | $0 |
Update the stage and promised date every week after speaking to the factory. Use the exported file as the single list you review in your supplier call.
See open POs live from your ERP
Optional: ask about a read-only PO status view over your ERP data.
Optional. The tool and every export work without this. No spam.
How to use the tracker
Add a row when the supplier confirms the PO, not when you send it. Enter quantity and unit price and the worksheet calculates PO value and balance due. Update the amount paid after each deposit or balance payment. Move the stage forward only on evidence, such as a photo of finished goods, an inspection report or a booking confirmation, never on a verbal assurance alone. Review the table weekly and sort by promised date to see which orders need a chase.
- One row per PO line or per PO, be consistent
- Promised date means ship date, not production completion
- Record payments only when the bank confirms
- Add notes on delays in your exported copy
Stages that matter
The six stages mirror the usual flow of a Chinese manufacturing order. Materials sourcing is where many delays start, because a factory may wait for raw materials or subcomponents before cutting. In production should be backed by a progress percentage if you can get one. Final inspection is the gate where a pre-shipment inspection should happen before you release the balance. Booked and shipped means a freight booking and, ideally, a container or bill of lading number.
Reading the payment position
The share paid indicator shows how much of your open order value has already left your account. If this number is high while most orders sit in early stages, you carry heavy supplier risk. A typical pattern is a deposit before production and the balance after inspection and before or against the bill of lading. Compare your actual position with the terms in each contract and challenge any request to pay the balance before inspection results are in.
Common mistakes
Do not mix currencies in the same table without a rate column, because totals become meaningless. Do not track only the factory's own dates, since your arrival date depends on freight, customs and holidays. Orders that finish production just before Chinese public holidays often slip a week or more because factories close and trucking is scarce. Add a buffer for those periods and flag affected rows in your own copy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I track more than one currency?
Keep one table per currency or convert to a single currency before entering values. The totals add numbers as they are, so mixed currencies would give a wrong total. Chinese suppliers often quote in USD or RMB, so state your choice at the top of the file.
How often should I update the tracker?
Weekly is a good rhythm for active orders, and more often in the two weeks before a promised ship date. Update immediately when a payment is made or an inspection is passed or failed.
What is a sensible payment split?
Many buyers use a deposit of 30 percent with the balance after inspection and against shipping documents, but terms vary by order size and relationship. Use the deposit exposure calculator to see the risk of your chosen split.
Does the tracker connect to my ERP?
No. It is a standalone browser worksheet with Excel export. You can import the exported data into most ERPs as a purchase order update file if your system supports it.
If your open POs already sit in an ERP, Netray can build a read-only view that shows stage and payment position without double entry.
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