Most purchase order trackers begin as a spreadsheet listing orders, and most of them cannot answer the question they were built for, which is what is still outstanding. The reason is always the same: they track orders rather than lines, and totals rather than quantities. Four columns per line, plus a date, turn a list into something that answers questions.
The columns
Order number, line, item, ordered quantity, received quantity, invoiced quantity, and the date the line was last touched. Ordered minus received is what you are waiting for. Received minus invoiced is your accrual. Invoiced above received is what the three-way match is for. All three answers come free once the quantities are there.
Why line level rather than order level
Because deliveries and invoices rarely align with whole orders. One line delivers in two shipments; another is cancelled; a third is invoiced separately. Tracking at order level forces every one of those normal situations into an exception, which teaches people that the tracker is wrong and should be ignored.
Age, and the discipline of closing
Without a date the tracker cannot distinguish a line outstanding for two days from one outstanding for two quarters. And without an explicit closure step, lines that will never be received stay open forever, inflating commitments and eroding trust in the whole thing. Closing with a reason, weekly, is what keeps a tracker credible.
Questions people ask about purchase order tracker
Can a spreadsheet do this?
Yes, for modest volumes, provided one person maintains it and receipts are entered promptly. It fails when several people edit it or when volumes grow.
Who updates the received quantity?
Whoever takes the delivery, at the time. Batching it into finance later is where both accuracy and timeliness are lost.
What should trigger a chase?
An ordered-minus-received gap older than the expected lead time. That is a rule you can apply weekly without judgement.