If you order the same items from the same vendor on a regular basis, Business Central lets you copy purchase invoice data from a previous posted document into a new purchase order. This guide covers the copy document function on the purchase side, how to use it, and why it saves time over manual entry.
Why Re-Entering Purchase Items Is a Problem
When you order from the same vendor on a regular basis, the items and amounts often stay the same. However, the default approach is to create a new purchase order from scratch each time and re-enter every line by hand. For a one-line order, this is quick. For an order with ten or twenty items, it becomes slow and prone to errors.
In fact, each line you type is a chance to get something wrong – the wrong item number, the wrong quantity, or the wrong unit of measure. These errors can cause problems down the line: incorrect receipts, wrong payments, or mismatches between what you ordered and what arrived. Moreover, finding and fixing these mistakes takes more time than it would have cost to avoid them in the first place.
The original purchase invoice already has all the correct data from the last time you ordered. Business Central gives you a way to bring it across directly. Overall, this cuts out the manual steps and keeps the data accurate from the start.
The Copy Document Function to Copy Purchase Invoice Data
Business Central includes a Copy Document action on most purchase and sales documents. Specifically, on the purchase order, you find it under the Prepare menu in the menu bar. When you run it, a pop-up window asks you to choose a document type and select the specific document to copy from.
The document type list includes posted invoices, posted credit memos, purchase orders, and more. For this task – using Copy Document to copy purchase invoice data into a new purchase order – select Posted Invoice. Business Central then shows a list of posted purchase invoices. Additionally, you can filter the list by vendor to see only the invoices for the vendor you are ordering from.
Step by Step: How to Copy Purchase Invoice Data
Start by creating a new purchase order and selecting the vendor. Then go to the Prepare menu and click Copy Document. In the pop-up, set the document type to Posted Invoice. Use the three-dot lookup to browse posted invoices for this vendor. You can sort by date to find the most recent one quickly.
Select the invoice you want to copy and click OK. Business Central then asks two questions: do you want to include the header details, and do you want to recalculate the lines?
Indeed, these two options matter more than they look. For instance, if you leave Recalculate Lines turned on, Business Central will update prices based on the current price list. If you want the same prices as the original invoice, uncheck this option. Consequently, review both options before confirming.
Include Header and Recalculate Lines
The Include Header option copies vendor details, payment terms, and other header fields from the source document. In most cases, leave this unchecked. You have already selected the vendor on the new purchase order, and you want to set the order date and any other header fields by hand.
The Recalculate Lines option recalculates prices based on current vendor price lists. If you want the exact prices from the original invoice, uncheck this. Unchecking both options ensures the copied data matches the source exactly – the same items, amounts, and prices as the last time you ordered.
What Gets Copied to the Purchase Order
Once you click OK, Business Central copies all lines from the posted purchase invoice into the new purchase order. Each item, amount, and unit price copies across. If a line had a partial amount on the original invoice – for example, thirteen units of one item – the copied line shows that same amount.
Business Central also adds a comment line showing which document the data came from. For example, it might say Copied from Posted Purchase Invoice 108006. This is useful for tracing the source of the order if you need to check back later.
From here, you can adjust the order before sending it. However, for a repeat order where nothing has changed, you can confirm and send it directly. Specifically, the copy step does all the setup work. There is no need to re-enter items, check unit prices, or set up lines from scratch.
Works on Purchase Invoices Too
Everything shown here for the purchase order applies equally to the purchase invoice. The Copy Document action is available under the same Prepare menu on the purchase invoice. The same document type list, the same two checkboxes, and the same result – all lines copied across from the source document.
In addition, the same approach works in reverse. If you want to copy purchase invoice data into a credit memo, you follow the same steps but on a purchase credit memo. Thus, once you learn this workflow on one document type, you can apply it across the whole purchase process.
When to Use Copy Document for Regular Orders
Notably, this approach is most useful when you order the same items on a regular basis. If a vendor has a standard set of products you buy each month, copying the last posted invoice saves you from re-entering the same lines every time. Furthermore, it reduces the chance of errors – if the last order was correct, the copied one will be correct too.
For example, suppose you buy office supplies from the same vendor each month. The items and amounts are almost always the same. Instead of creating a new purchase order from scratch, you copy the last posted invoice and adjust only what has changed. This cuts setup time and keeps your orders consistent.
Likewise, this is useful when a new team member takes over purchasing. They do not need to know every item code from memory. They can copy a previous order, check the lines, and confirm. Consequently, the risk of training errors drops a lot.
In short, this is a simple habit that pays off each time you place a repeat order. You do not need to set anything up in advance. The data is already there in the posted invoice. All you do is pull it across and adjust if needed. Furthermore, you can use it on any vendor and any document type that supports Copy Document. The more often you reorder from the same vendor, the more time you save over the course of a month.
Wrapping Up: How to Copy Purchase Invoice in Business Central
The copy purchase invoice approach in Business Central removes manual data entry from repeat purchase orders. You create a new purchase order, open Copy Document under Prepare, select the posted invoice, uncheck Recalculate Lines, and click OK. Business Central copies all lines across with the correct items, amounts, and prices. The more lines on the original invoice, the more time this saves.
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