Goods receiving is the process of checking incoming deliveries against the purchase order, inspecting condition, and recording items into stock.
Goods receiving is the process of accepting incoming deliveries: checking what arrived against the purchase order, inspecting quantity and condition, and recording the items into stock. It is the point where a supplier’s promise becomes your inventory - and the point where stock records start being either accurate or wrong. A sloppy ten minutes at the door surfaces weeks later as a stocktake discrepancy nobody can explain, whether the delivery was consumables for the store room or equipment for the floor.
The goods receiving process, step by step
- Match the delivery to an order. Find the purchase order the delivery note references. No matching order is a red flag, not a paperwork detail - unordered deliveries are how duplicate and fraudulent invoices get paid.
- Count what is physically there. Count items, not boxes, and count against the order rather than the delivery note - the note describes what the supplier believes they sent, which is exactly the claim being verified.
- Inspect condition. Open cartons, check for damage, and photograph anything questionable while the driver is still present.
- Note discrepancies before signing. Shortages, damage, or substitutions go on the proof of delivery in writing. A clean signature is treated as acceptance.
- Record the receipt. Quantities accepted go into the stock system against the order, creating the goods received note.
- Put goods away promptly - to their proper location, rotated so older stock issues first (FIFO), not left on the receiving bench to be “sorted later”.
The goods received note (GRN)
The GRN is the internal record that a delivery was checked and accepted: items, quantities, condition, date, and the person who received them. Its job is evidential. When the supplier’s invoice arrives, it is matched against both the purchase order and the GRN - the three-way match - so the business only pays for goods that were both ordered and actually received. Without a GRN, the invoice is checked against memory.
Common receiving mistakes
- Signing “received unchecked”. Some carriers pressure for a fast signature; an unqualified one usually surrenders your claim window for visible damage.
- Checking against the delivery note instead of the order. The note can faithfully list a wrong shipment.
- Delaying the stock record. Goods physically present but not yet recorded are invisible - they get reordered, or quietly walk off before they officially exist.
- Losing track of partial deliveries. The outstanding balance needs to stay open against the order, or the shortfall is forgotten until it hurts.
- No designated receiver. When receiving is everyone’s job, checks happen inconsistently and nobody owns the discrepancies.
Receiving in practice
Stock accuracy is won or lost at the door. Teams that hold a consistent receiving routine find their par levels and reorder maths actually work, because the quantities in the system reflect reality from day one. In AMPthilly, receiving a delivery against a purchase order updates stock levels - and optionally the unit price - in the same step, so the record is corrected at the moment the goods are in hand.
Related terms
- Stocktake - the periodic count that reveals whether receiving was done well
- Consumables - the restockable items that flow through receiving most often
- FIFO - first in, first out; the put-away rotation that keeps stock fresh
- LIFO - last in, first out; the alternative rotation and valuation method
- Par Level - the target stock quantity a delivery should bring you back up to