Reconcile supplier deliveries against purchase orders

Separate ordered, documented and physical quantities

Keep the purchase-order quantity, delivery-note quantity and physical receipt separately. A note saying ten does not make the received quantity ten when only nine arrive. Reconcile pack and unit definitions as well. In PO-306, an order for five boxes needs the units per box before it can update unit-based stock. Hold uncertain rows rather than guessing a conversion. Documentary agreement and physical agreement are distinct checks.

Record shortages, surplus and rejected goods by line

Use purchase-order and line IDs, supplier, SKU, ordered quantity, physical arrival, accepted quantity, rejected quantity, outstanding quantity and reviewer. A delivery can contain a shortage on one SKU and a surplus on another. A correct grand total does not prove correct goods. Keep held items separate from accepted stock and record their location. Link photographs and documents to the affected line so the supplier conversation can identify the exact discrepancy.

Treat receipt and acceptance as separate steps

Inspect the goods before determining how many can be used or sold. Shopify’s inventory-transfer receiving process distinguishes accepted, rejected and cancelled quantities; check how that model relates to your actual receiving method rather than assuming it is a complete purchase-order system. An arrival notification should not automatically supply backorders before inspection. Keep the physical receipt visible while the accepted quantity remains pending, with an owner for completing that review.

Make the supplier follow-up specific

Provide the order reference, SKU, ordered-versus-received difference, relevant evidence and the question to resolve. Separate your requested action from what the supplier confirms. Do not use surplus goods without the appropriate decision or promise a shortage’s replacement date before it is agreed. Give waiting cases a next-review date. A new owner should be able to identify the unresolved quantity and latest commitment without reading a chain of unrelated warehouse messages.

Prevent double counting of later deliveries

Give a later shortage delivery a new receipt ID and reduce the outstanding quantity on the original order. Do not add the full revised delivery note again when only the missing units arrived. If acceptance was wrong, check whether the stock is already reserved or shipped before correcting it. Preserve the original receipt and make a scoped adjustment. This lets the reviewer explain both the supplier’s paperwork and the actual sequence of goods entering the business.

Define when the purchase-order discrepancy is resolved

Review the remaining shortage, surplus return, rejected goods and document correction for each line. A balanced quantity can still leave a supplier commitment unresolved, so retain that task separately. Test a split receipt, wrong SKU, pack-unit mismatch, surplus and cancelled remainder. At closure, the reviewer should explain the relationship between ordered, accepted, outstanding and cancelled quantities. The register should make a clean balance understandable rather than produce one by overwriting earlier evidence.

PO-306: receive only the later shortage quantity

PO-306 orders ten units and initially accepts nine. One arrives later, while a corrected supplier document states the full ten. The new receipt is one unit, not ten. Keep separate receipt IDs, bring accepted total to ten and outstanding to zero. A document correction is not another physical movement. If the later unit fails inspection, keep its acceptance pending and its location recorded. Filling the purchase-order quantity does not close the case unless usable goods and remaining supplier actions also reconcile.

Choose a tool and budget around the actual workload

A purchase-order line sheet and receiving register can work for a small supplier base. Estimate line volume, inspection, supplier follow-up, returns and later receipts alongside software cost. Align units and SKU mappings before adding a CSV integration. Even a sophisticated inventory system needs clear ownership for physical counting and acceptance into the system. Automating the wrong quantity more quickly does not improve receiving, so start with a reliable small example and expand from there.

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