How to Build a Purchase Order App in Knack

Are you tired of dealing with outdated tools that make managing purchase orders a hassle? What if you could streamline the entire process, cut down on errors, and customize everything to fit your exact needs? In this guide, I’ll show you how Knack can do just that—helping you build a smarter, more efficient purchase order system that works for you. Let’s get started.

Identifying Problems with Traditional Tools

First, we’re going to cover why traditional tools like spreadsheets often cause problems and how Knack can solve them, making your process more reliable and scalable. Start by examining your current purchase order system and identifying where your tools fall short. Are there frequent errors? Is version control difficult? Do users have trouble tracking order status?

Outline your needs: do you require data validation, automated workflows, or better reporting? Explore Knack by visiting their website or starting a trial to see how it can help.

Customizing Knack for Your Needs

Next, we’ll show you how to customize Knack’s objects to capture all the data you need, ensuring your purchase order system is accurate and efficient. Start with the “Suppliers” object:

• Click on the Data tab
• Select Suppliers
• Add fields such as name, contact, email, phone number, and address

Repeat this process for vendors, products, and purchase orders. Always match the right field type (e.g., currency, number, date) to the kind of data being captured.

Setting Up Pages for Data Management

Let’s now configure pages in Knack so your team can easily manage and interact with purchase order data. Start by customizing the dashboard:

• Add fields like dates, yes/no toggles, and connection fields (e.g., vendors, inventory team)
• Create supplier and product pages
• Add grid views and forms that allow team members to add and review records
• Add reports (e.g., pie charts or tables) for visualizing order status or volume

For example, after submitting a product form with vendor details and pricing, it automatically populates your product table, helping streamline data entry and record-keeping.

Implementing Workflow Automations

Now let’s automate some workflows using Knack Flows. This helps ensure nothing is missed and improves efficiency.

• Approval Workflow: Set a trigger for when a new purchase order is created, then send an email to the purchasing manager for approval
• Order Received Workflow: Trigger updates when the order status changes to “Received,” and send notifications to your team
• Reminder Workflow: Create alerts for purchase orders that remain in “Pending Approval” after 48 hours. Use conditional logic to send automated emails to specific team members

Knack allows you to send custom emails, pull in dynamic fields (like purchasing manager names), and set flexible time-based triggers to support your unique business logic.

Enhancing Efficiency with Reminders and Alerts

Adding automated reminders makes it easy to stay on top of your purchase orders. For instance, setting a reminder email for approvals not processed within 48 hours ensures nothing slips through the cracks.

Simply define your criteria, add a recipient, and customize your email message (e.g., “Reminder: PO still pending approval”).

Conclusion and Next Steps

As you can see, Knack makes managing purchase orders far more efficient and customizable than spreadsheets or static forms. You can build the exact system your team needs—without writing any code.

If this tutorial helped you, make sure to subscribe, like, and leave a comment with your questions. And if you’re ready to take control of your procurement workflows, start building your Knack-powered purchase order system today.