How to turn emailed purchase orders into Odoo quotations
Four ways: key each PO in by hand, use Odoo's built-in tools, set up EDI with your largest customers, or add an AI agent that reads the email and PDF and leaves a draft quotation for review. Only the agent takes the typing off your team for every customer. With Unleap it costs US$800 to set up and US$250 a month.
Email · 7:12 AM · purchasing@harborfab.com
PO 45-1187 attached. Please ship to Toledo, OH by 03/14.
PO-45-1187.pdf · 3 lines
HF-GV-200 gate valve 2" × 40[VE-2000] US$118.00
Spiral gasket 2" × 80[JE-2000] US$9.50
Freight to Toledo[FRT-OH] US$640.00
S00491Draft
TotalUS$6,120.00
1 line to check: price differs from pricelist
The four options. From most manual to most automatic.
| Option | What it does | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Manual entry | Someone reads the email, opens the PDF, looks up each part and builds the quote. | A handful of POs a day from the same few customers. |
| Odoo's built-in tools | An email alias turns each email into a CRM lead with the PDF attached. A PO sent as XML from another Odoo becomes a sales order. For an ordinary PDF, someone still keys the lines. | You want every PO tracked in Odoo, and volume is low. |
| EDI | Customers send POs (X12 850) through an EDI provider that creates sales orders. | Big retailers that require it. Priced per trading partner, so it rarely covers smaller customers. |
| AI agent | Reads the email and PDF, matches each line to your catalog and pricelist, and leaves a draft quote. | Dozens of POs a week: PDFs, Excel files, email text, scans. |
Odoo's OCR is built for vendor bills and expenses, not customer POs. Third-party apps add PO reading: test them on your real POs. Checked against Odoo 18 documentation, November 2026.
Step by step, with an AI agent. From the email to the quote.
Step 1
The PO arrives
In your orders inbox in Outlook, Microsoft 365 or Gmail, as a PDF, Excel file or plain text.
Step 2
The agent reads it
PO number, ship-to, requested date, and each line's part, quantity and price.
Step 3
It matches against Odoo
Finds the customer, maps their part numbers to your SKUs, applies their pricelist and terms.
Step 4
It checks before it writes
Flags a duplicate PO, a price off the pricelist, an unknown part or short stock.
Step 5
It leaves a draft quotation
With the PO attached, the customer reference filled in and the flags on top.
Step 6
A person confirms
Your rep checks the flags and confirms. The acknowledgment goes out in minutes.
Before you start. The agent is only as good as the data it reads.
- Products in Odoo with clean SKUs and descriptions.
- Your customers' part numbers mapped to your SKUs.
- Pricelists, contract prices and payment terms loaded.
- Customers with the email domains they order from.
- One shared PO inbox, and one person who reviews drafts on time.
Frequently asked questions
Can Odoo create a sales order from an email automatically?
Not from an ordinary PDF purchase order. An email alias on a Sales Team creates a lead or opportunity, and a PO exported as XML from another Odoo database can be imported as a sales order. Reading arbitrary customer POs takes a third-party app or an AI agent.
Does it work with Outlook and Microsoft 365?
Yes. The agent reads a shared mailbox in Microsoft 365, Outlook or Gmail, or a forwarding address. Your customers keep sending POs the way they do today.
What if the PO is unclear or the price doesn't match?
The agent doesn't guess. It leaves the quotation as a draft and flags what it couldn't resolve, such as an unknown part number or a price that differs from the pricelist, for your rep to decide.
Does it replace EDI?
No. If a large customer requires EDI, keep it. The agent covers the customers who email PDFs, which for most manufacturers and distributors is the majority.
Will it confirm orders without a person?
Only if you want it to. Most companies start with every quote reviewed and later let repeat orders that match the pricelist exactly go straight through.
Getting POs by email? We'll tell you how much time an agent saves.
We look at a week of your real POs and within 48 h send you what we'd automate first.
- We measure your website and how an order reaches you today.
- We show you what it would look like with Unleap.
- If it fits, a fixed-price proposal. 70% on delivery.