Shopify's transition guidance explains that historical Stocky purchase orders do not automatically move into Shopify, and native purchase-order CSV upload cannot recreate every original relationship. That means a successful import is not the same as a complete historical record.
What makes a purchase order historically useful?
A PO number and total value are not enough for most investigations. A useful record can answer:
- Which supplier was responsible for the order?
- Which SKUs and quantities were ordered?
- What was received, over-received, or still outstanding?
- What status did the order reach?
- Which currency, unit cost, freight, and duty assumptions were used?
- Were repeated lines valid split receipts or accidental duplicates?
Preserve fields that support those questions even if the replacement tool does not have matching columns.
Separate the archive from the import
An import file is optimized for what a destination accepts. An archive is optimized for truth and traceability. Keep a complete source export, then create a smaller transformed copy for the destination. This prevents destination limitations from determining what history survives.
Check PO identity and line coverage
Count unique PO numbers and total line rows. Review missing PO numbers, blank suppliers, empty SKUs, and lines with invalid quantities or costs. Compare the export against a sample of orders in different states: open, partially received, received, closed, and cancelled where available.
Reconcile ordered and received quantities
For each line, calculate the difference between ordered and received quantity. A short receipt may be valid, but it should not disappear during migration. Over-receipts should also be preserved because they may explain later inventory or supplier-account differences.
Repeated PO and SKU combinations need context. They can represent split shipments, different locations, adjustments, or duplicate records. Keep the source rows and add an issue ledger describing what was reviewed.
Retain cost history
Supplier cost changes are valuable for purchasing decisions and accounting questions. Group the archive by SKU and date so earlier and later unit costs can be compared. Keep currency visible and avoid combining values from different currencies into a single total. Record freight, duty, brokerage, and foreign-exchange fees separately when they are known.
Produce a human-readable closeout report
CSV files are portable, but they are not self-explanatory. Add a report summarizing file coverage, suppliers, purchase orders, landed totals, receipt differences, duplicate candidates, and cost changes. Include a manifest with SHA-256 fingerprints so future users can confirm that the archived source files have not changed.
Validate before access changes
- Select at least four representative orders in Stocky.
- Find the matching rows in the export.
- Compare supplier, SKU, ordered quantity, received quantity, status, date, and cost.
- Record missing or transformed fields.
- Only sign off after another person can open and understand the archive.
Check Shopify's official transition guide for the authoritative description of current access and migration behavior.
Find PO history gaps before migration
The local scan checks missing PO fields, receipt differences, duplicate candidates, supplier spend, and SKU cost history without uploading the CSV contents.
Run the free PO audit