We need to be able to send a purchase order as a work order , but in house. This will not be a vendor situation. Advice?

Use an estimate

try customizing an estimate to read work order

Thank you for your response.  Estimates will already have been created by sales and sent to customers for approval.  However, the estimates are basic and don't have all the "work order" info that the staff will need to complete the order, so I wouldn't be able to send the staff the same estimate that sales sent the customer.  

Workaround?

Hello there, @mbutler22. Thanks for getting back here.

I can see that the work order plays as one of the important details of transactions. At this time, it's not available in QuickBooks Online. Still, I recommend following the workaround shared by Rustler above. To customize an estimate, you can follow the steps below:

1. Gear icon> Custom form style> select Estimate.
2. In the Content tab, click the header part of the form.
3. Change the form name.
4. Click Done to reflect the changes.

Then, let's send your feedback to our Product Development Team. Your product suggestion will be evaluated and might be given a chance to be included in the next product release.

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Select Feedback under Profile.
3. Enter your suggestion. Then, click Next.

Lastly, you can always visit these articles below about how to handle transactions and personalize sales forms. 

• Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online
• How to change the invoice number on sales forms

If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to post below, mbutler22. I'll be there to help you out.

Thank you for your feedback.  Did you by chance see my response to the the suggestion above?

Our sales people send estimates out to customers every day with basic quotes for approval from customers.  When a job is complete, I turn the estimate into an invoice and send to the customer.

If I edit the Estimate forms in general as "work orders", this won't serve the sales people who need to send estimates to customers.

What I need is to be able to send a work order "in house" to our staff to get jobs done.

Could I use a Purchase order still and just set up a different product/service to reflect that instead of the one I use now on all purchase orders to outside vendors as "cost of goods"? 

We have simple ways on how to do this in QuickBooks Online (QBO) and I'll show you how, mbutler22.

First, you'll create an estimate and you'll want to make the purchase order billable to the customer and then copy the PO to a bill so you can post the PO (billable expense) to the customer's invoice. Let me show you how: 

1. Open the purchase order and ensure that you selected the customer's name in the line item/s. 
2. Click Save and still on the purchase order page, click Copy to Bill at the upper-right.
3. You'll be routed to the Bill page where you can see the Billable column. Check the field/s.
4. Click Save and close.

Next, you can create an Estimate as a replacement and, later on, convert into invoices. When you're ready to convert the Estimate to an invoice, you can check this guide: Convert an Estimate Into an Invoice in QuickBooks Online.

Check these articles to learn more about purchase order in QuickBooks Online: 

•  Create purchase orders in QuickBooks Online
• Apply a purchase order to a vendor transaction

You're always welcome to comment below if you have other questions. I'd be happy to answer them for you. Take care.

I appreciate the response, but it doesn't make any sense to me at all.  I'm not sure I have been able to communicate what I need.