A purchase order creator turns some fields into a professional document you can email a supplier, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is worth being clear that producing the document is the smallest part of purchase order work. The cost sits in the following weeks, as deliveries arrive in pieces and invoices come in against lines.
What a creator gives you
Consistent formatting with your terms on it, a number, and less retyping than a word processor template. For an organisation raising a handful of orders a month with deliveries that arrive complete, that is sufficient. Using one while the ordering habits bed in is a sensible start rather than a mistake.
What it does not give you
A record of what has been received against each line, what has been invoiced, what has been revised and what is still outstanding. Those facts answer every question anybody later asks about the order, and without them the answers come from searching email, which is the work the tool was supposed to remove.
The numbering question
Creators often leave numbering to you, and that is where improvised processes fail: two people raising orders at once, or a restored file, and a number gets reused. Two transactions then become permanently indistinguishable in every downstream record. Control numbering from a single source whatever tool you use.
Questions people ask about purchase order creator
When is a creator enough?
Low volume, complete deliveries, one person raising orders. It stops being enough the moment somebody starts a spreadsheet to track what is outstanding.
Can we add tracking later?
Yes, and the transition is much easier if numbering was controlled and the orders can be exported.
What should the document contain?
Your details and the supplier's, a unique number, the date, lines with quantities and prices, delivery address and date, and your payment terms.