# What is a Sales Order?

A Sales Order is a write-up of goods and/or services provided to a Customer. Sales orders have no accounting impact until items are shipped or services are completed. 

By recording sales orders, you can effectively monitor the following:

1. Customer's order details
2. Inventory items that need to be retrieved
3. Shipped items
4. Pending items that are yet to be shipped.

{% hint style="info" %}
Invoices are generated from sales orders after items are shipped, impacting the accounting general ledger (GL).
{% endhint %}

### Sales orders can be created in multiple ways:

#### Create a sales order from an existing estimate.

You can convert an existing estimate to a sales order in two ways

* Converting Estimate Manually - To manually convert an existing estimate to a sales order, go to Estimate Module > Options > Convert to SO
* Email Approval Link - You can send an estimate approval email to the customer which gives the customer ability to review and approve the estimate which automatically converts the estimate to a sales order. To send an estimate approval email to the customer, go to Estimate Module > Options > Send Approval Link

For more information on converting estimates to sales orders, read [Converting Estimate to Sales Order](#sales-order-fields)

#### Create a new, individual sales order.

You can enter information onto a sales order form without an existing estimate.

 


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.xorosoft.com/xoroerp-1/sales/sales-order/what-is-a-sales-order.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.