--- title: "Orders in Qualy: all sales in one place" description: "Track everything a customer has purchased, move orders through steps, and keep payments, forms and data together." lastModified: "2026-06-13" lang: "en" wordCount: 625 url: https://qualyhq.com/training/orders-services/orders-overview --- ## Site navigation - [For schools](/international-education/for-schools.md) — For international education schools - [For agents](/international-education/for-education-agents.md) — For international education agents - [Explore](/training.md) — Watch videos on how to use Qualy - [About](/about.md) — Learn about Qualy's mission and values - [Pricing](/pricing) - [5-min demo](/demo.md) - [Login](https://dashboard.qualyhq.com) # Orders in Qualy: all sales in one place > Back office made easy—end-to-end control for any product or service. ## At a glance - **Intended for:** Everyone - **Available in:** All plans - **Reading time:** 4 minutes - **Last updated:** 31st May 2026 ## Quick summary An order groups everything a customer purchased—paid or not. Each order is made of order items (a product or service), and items move through the steps you define on a service. Create an order, add items, optionally add a supplier, and Move to next step as work progresses. Orders bring payments, status, data and forms together. ## Overview An **order** is everything a customer purchased, in one place. It's your back office: payments, status, collected data and forms—all tied to a single purchase, with end-to-end control. ## Orders and order items An order is made up of **order items**—each one a **product or service** the customer is buying. A single order can hold several items, and each item has its own status and **steps**. ## Moving through steps Order items progress through **steps** you define on the **service**. As work happens, you **Move to next step**. Steps keep your process honest. When you set up a service, you can make a step **required** so it can't be skipped, and you can stop people **moving back** to a step that's already complete—so an order's progress always reflects what's really been done. ## Creating an order 1. Open **Orders** 2. **Create order** for a customer 3. **Create order item** for each product or service purchased 4. Optionally **Add a supplier** to an item 5. Move items through their steps as you go Orders can be created manually, and—depending on your setup—arrive from **imports**, the **customer portal**, or **e-commerce**. ## Staying organised - **Star** important orders so they appear in **Starred orders** for quick access - **Show/hide archived** orders to focus on what's active - View **grouped by order** to see all of a customer's items together Pair orders with **automations** so reaching a step can **create a task** automatically. And because a step can have a form attached, the right paperwork is built into the journey too. See the automation and service guides. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is an order in Qualy? An order groups everything a customer has purchased—all their products and services in one place. It gives you end-to-end control over payments, status, data and forms for that purchase. ### What is an order item? A product or service the customer is purchasing. An order can contain several items, each with its own status and steps. ### What are steps? Stages an order item moves through, defined on the service. You move an item to the next step as work progresses. Depending on how the service is set up, a step can be made required (so it can't be skipped) and can stop you moving back to a step that's already done. ### Can an order item have a supplier? Yes. You can add a supplier to an order item, so the right partner is paid when the item is sold. ### Where do orders come from? You can create them manually, and they can also arrive from imports, the customer portal, or e-commerce, depending on your setup. ### What's the difference between an order and a payment? An order is what the customer bought—they may or may not have paid for it yet. Payments are how they pay. An order ties together the payments, forms and data related to that purchase. ### Can I star important orders? Yes. Starred orders appear in their own section for quick access anytime. ## Prefer doing this via the Qualy API? Head over to our developer docs for everything you need—endpoints, examples, and simple how-tos. [View API Docs](https://docs.qualyhq.com/docs) ## More on Qualy **Industries** - [For schools](/international-education/for-schools.md) — For international education schools - [For agents](/international-education/for-education-agents.md) — For international education agents **Support** - [Training](/training.md) - [System status](https://qualyhq.statuspage.io/) — Qualy system status - [Product updates](https://changelog.qualyhq.com) — As we work on Qualy, here we spotlight what we’ve learned and updated across our products - [Contact](/contact-us.md) **Product** - [Demo](/demo.md) - [Enterprise](/enterprise.md) - [Testimonials](/testimonials.md) — Learn what some customers have to say about Qualy - [About](/about.md) — Learn about Qualy's mission and values - [Blog](/blog) — International education payments blog by Qualy - [Trust center](/trust.md) - [API](/api.md) — Qualy API for international education payments - [Zapier](/zapier.md) — Connect Qualy to 7,000+ apps with Zapier **Legal** - [General terms](/terms-and-conditions.md) - [Payer terms](/terms-for-payers.md) - [Privacy policy](/privacy-policy.md) - [BECS DDR](/becs-dd-service-agreement.md)