Create and link orders in projects


You can link a new or existing order to a project or create a new one directly from the project lines to keep materials, prices, and suppliers in sync, all in one place. This article explains how each flow works.

This feature guarantees a structured end-to-end workflow from deal to project. Orders and materials stay automatically linked, reducing manual input, avoiding errors, and ensuring accurate cost tracking.

You can create a new order from scratch from your project, or create an order from material lines in your project:

Create new order from scratch in a project

Sometimes you need to order additional materials that were not part of the original project scope. In that case, you can create a purchase order directly from the project.

Examples:

  • Marketing agency
    A client requests extra printed brochures during the project. You order the additional prints from your supplier directly from the project so the order is immediately linked to the correct budget.
  • Building company
    During construction, you realise you need extra materials (e.g. tiles or insulation). You create a new order from the project so the order is automatically registered in the right project or phase.


If you want to create an order from scratch immediately from a project, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the project you want to link the order to
  2. Click on the tab ‘Project info’
  3. Scroll down to the widget ‘Orders’:

     
  4. Click the + icon 
  5. Choose Create an order from scratch > Create
  6. In the next screen you need to fill out the details of your order:
    • Give a name to your order and enter a supplier.
    • Enter the line items on the order and select the project and optionally also the group you want to link the order to.
  7. Click on Save and the order will be created. You’ll be redirected to the detail page of the order.
  8. When you navigate back to the project from the order, the order lines are automatically converted into materials within the selected project or group:
    • Freely entered order lines become materials with the line description as the material name.
    • Order lines based on a product from the product catalogue create materials that link back to that product.
    • Quantity and unit cost from the order become the material quantity and unit cost.
    • Unit price on the order becomes the material unit price.
       
  9. Clicking on each material line in the project opens the project side panel:
    • In the side panel, you can find a link to the order that leads to the order detail page:
    • Estimated quantity: Materials support an Estimated quantity field to better distinguish between planned and actual quantities. 
       

  10. In the Project info widget the order will be shown with its name, supplier, amount and Status (New, Created, Sent, Delivered)
     

    New The user started creating the order but has not saved it yet
    Created Order has been created
    Sent Order has been sent to supplier
    Delivered Order has been delivered


! Users without access to financials on projects don’t see the Orders widget in a project.

 

Q: What with an already existing order from my deal? Can I also link it to a project?

A: Instead of having to create a new order, you can also link an already existing order to a project. Follow these steps:

  1. Go to Deals > Orders
  2. Click on the order
  3. Next to ‘Contents’, click on the pencil to edit the order
  4. Link the line item(s) to a project/group
  5. Save the order
     

Create an order from project lines

Next to creating a purchase order from scratch and linking it to your project, you can also directly create an order based on one or more material lines of your project.
 

Follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the project you want to create the order from.
  2. Make sure there are material lines in the project. If not, create them.
  3. Click on the tab ‘Project info’.
  4. Scroll down to the widget ‘Orders’.
  5. Click the + icon.
  6. Choose Create an order from project lines and click on Create.
  7. Select the material lines from the work breakdown that you want to include in the order:
    • When the material line is a freely entered line, the title of the material will be the description of the line item in the order
    • When the material line is linked to a product from the product catalogue, the product will be the line item in the order
    • The quantity and unit cost of the material line, become the quantity and unit cost of the line item in the order
    • Same for the unit price of the material line, which becomes the unit price of the line item in the order
  8. On each material there’s a link to the order. This link leads to the detail page of that order.
     

Deals, projects and orders

From quotation with order to project

When a quotation in a deal already contains an order and gets converted to a project, the links between project, order and lines are preserved. This ensures an end‑to‑end flow from deal to quotation to project without you having to recreate orders to then later link them to the project.
 

Follow these steps to convert a quotation with an order to a project:

  1. Navigate to your quotation
  2. Make sure an order was already created from the quotation. Read more about how to do that here. 
  3. Convert the quotation to a project by clicking on the + icon next to ‘Follow up on your won deal’ > ‘Project’

     
  4. In the next screen, you’ll find the ‘Lines from linked orders’ next to your quotation lines. Choose which lines you want to convert to a material line on your project:

     

From quotation to project to order

If you start from a quotation that doesn’t have an order yet and you want to create an order from the converted project instead, follow these steps:

  1. Convert your quotation to a project. Make sure your article lines are transferred as materials to the project.
  2. Navigate to the newly created project and choose to create an order based on project lines as described in the title “Create an order from project lines”.
  3. This keeps your flow structured and ensures everything is correctly linked from the start, instead of having to return to the deal later to create an order there and manually link it to the project afterwards.
     

Linking expenses vs orders to a project

If you’re working with expenses alongside orders, make sure you avoid double counting your costs. Clear internal agreements about who registers which costs are strongly recommended.

When materials have already been added as a cost to a project through an order, do not add the expense amount again when linking an expense to your project. Otherwise, the expense amount you link will replace the current cost calculation.

If you still want to link the expense to your project for administrative purposes, link only the document, not the amount. 


 

Order template

It’s also possible to display a link to the related project on the template of your order. Use the shortcode $RELATED_PROJECT$ in your Word document and upload it to Teamleader Focus. Via this shortcode, a list of all related projects on the order will be generated, as it’s possible that an order is linked to multiple projects.

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