Receiving stock
Full and partial receipts, batch references, and how received quantities reach your stock.
Receiving is the moment stock becomes yours. It is the only part of purchasing that changes your inventory numbers, so it is worth doing against the delivery note rather than from memory.
Receiving a delivery
- 1Open the purchase order from Purchasing.
- 2Press Receive Goods.
- 3Enter the quantity actually received for each line — not the quantity ordered.
- 4Optionally record a destination warehouse or bin, and a batch reference.
- 5Save.
Each received quantity is added to the item's stock and written to Stock Movements as a purchase, so every increase is traceable to the order that caused it.
Partial deliveries
Suppliers short-ship all the time. Receive what arrived and the order becomes Partially Received, with the shortfall still showing as outstanding. Receive the rest later and it moves to Completed.
You cannot receive more than you ordered
Over-receiving is refused. If the supplier genuinely sent extra, either raise a second purchase order for the surplus — which keeps the paperwork matching the invoice — or add it with a manual adjustment and a note.
Batch references
The batch reference is free text: a lot number, a delivery note number, a date. It earns its keep when a whole batch of paper turns out to be faulty and you need to know which jobs used it.
After receiving
- Check the item's new stock level in Inventory Items.
- If the invoiced price differed from the order, update the item's cost so margins stay accurate.
- For paper and ink, the piece and millilitre balances follow the unit count — see Tracking paper by the piece.
Open Purchase Orders
Receive an outstanding delivery.
Related guides
Raising and sending a purchase order
Build a PO from your inventory items, send it to the supplier, and track what is outstanding.
Reading the stock movement trail
Every change to every item, what each movement type means, and how to trace a discrepancy.
Adding inventory items and opening stock
Create the materials you buy, set their unit and cost, and record what you already have on the shelf.