When goods you ordered arrive, you receive them against the purchase order. For each line you record how many were accepted, the unit cost the vendor is charging, where they went, and anything you refused at the door with the reason. Posting the receipt puts the accepted goods into stock, records what you owe the vendor, and updates the order: whatever was not received stays on order. Every receipt is kept as a numbered goods received note (GRN), and Receive Items lists them all.
Opening Receive Items
- Vendors ▸ Receive Items, or Receive Inventory on the Home Page, opens the list of deliveries received (the receiving register).
- To receive a delivery, open Vendors ▸ Purchase Orders and choose Receive on the order. See The Purchase Orders list.
Receive a delivery, step by step
- Open Vendors ▸ Purchase Orders and choose Receive on the order. The page is headed Receive — PO number, with the vendor's name and receive everything or just what arrived — the rest stays on order.
- For each line that arrived, check or type the Accepted quantity. Each line shows ordered … · received … · still open … so you can see what is outstanding.
- Check the Unit cost. If the vendor is charging a different price from the order, type it; SeroBooks shows the difference.
- If you refused any of a line, type the Rejected quantity and type the Reason.
- Choose where the goods go if it is not your own location, and fill in the batch, expiry and serial numbers where the item needs them.
- In the Goods received note panel, choose Bill received with the items (and type the Supplier's bill number) or Bill to follow (item receipt).
- Type who it was Received by and the Carrier / waybill if you want them on record.
- If the bill came with the goods, choose under PAID HOW whether it goes On account or was paid (Cash, Bank, Card, Cheque).
- Tick anything under On posting, also: Print, Save PDF, Email or WhatsApp the GRN to the vendor.
- Choose Post GRN.
SeroBooks confirms GRN … posted — stock is in. PO is now PARTIAL (or COMPLETED), adds how many units were rejected and left on order, and how many lines differed from the ordered price.
The line fields
| Field | What to enter / what it means |
|---|---|
| Location | Where this line's goods go. Leave it for your own location. |
| Accepted | How many of this line you are taking into stock. It cannot be more than is still open on the order; a line that is over shows Over. |
| Unit cost | What the vendor is charging for one unit, before tax. It starts at the ordered price. If it differs, a note reads Ordered at $… — $… above (or below) (x%), $… on this line, and adds — beyond your tolerance when the difference is larger than your business allows. |
| Rejected | How many you refused at the door. Rejected goods do not go into stock and stay on order. |
| Reason | Required whenever something is rejected: type what was wrong, for example damaged, wrong item or short-dated. The box shows Required until you do. It is quoted on the claim you send the vendor. |
| Batch / Lot no., Mfg date, Expiry date | Shown when your company tracks batches or expiry. |
| SERIALS 0/N | For serial-numbered items: scan one serial for each accepted unit. |
The Goods received note panel
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Bill received with the items | The vendor's bill came with the goods. The receipt is a bill as well: it appears in Pay Bills straight away. Type the Supplier's bill number. |
| Bill to follow (item receipt) | The goods came without a bill. They go into stock and the vendor is owed for them, but it is not a bill yet: Pay Bills does not offer it until you enter the bill with Vendors ▸ Enter Bill for Received Items. Choosing this sets the payment to on account. |
| Supplier's bill number | The vendor's invoice number, when the bill came with the goods. |
| Received by | Who checked the goods in. |
| Carrier / waybill | The carrier and waybill number. |
| PAID HOW | On account (pay later), or Cash, Bank, Card, Cheque if you paid on delivery. Not shown for an item receipt. |
| Receiving value | The accepted goods at their unit cost, before tax. |
| Paying now (incl. tax, est.) | When you pay on delivery: roughly what the bill comes to with tax. The exact figure is worked out when you post. |
| Rejected | How many units were refused. |
Post GRN stays unavailable, with the reason in red underneath, until the receipt makes sense:
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| A line accepts more than is still open on this order. | Reduce the Accepted quantity. Put extra goods on a new order or a separate bill. |
| A rejected quantity needs a reason — the debit note quotes it. | Choose a reason for every line with a rejection. |
| Serialised goods need one serial per accepted unit. | Scan the missing serials. |
| Enter what arrived, or what was refused. | Nothing has been entered yet. |
A delivery where everything was refused can still be posted: it is the record behind your claim to the vendor.
What happens in the books
Posting creates the vendor's bill (or item receipt) for the accepted goods, dated today:
- Inventory Asset is debited with the accepted goods at their unit cost, and the recoverable tax goes to your input tax credits.
- A service or non-inventory item on the order is not stock, so it is charged to the item's own expense (cost) account instead — or, when the item has none, your default expense account, else Cost of Goods Sold — as QuickBooks does.
- Accounts Payable is credited with the total, on the vendor's account.
- If you paid on delivery, the payment is recorded too: Accounts Payable is debited and the bank or cash account credited.
- The purchase order's received quantities go up. Rejected and unreceived quantities stay on order.
An item receipt posts the same way — the stock and the debt are real — but it is not offered in Pay Bills until its bill is entered.
The receiving register
Vendors ▸ Receive Items lists every delivery received.
Three tiles across the top count the Deliveries, the Units received and the deliveries With rejections in the period.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Period bar | The period to show. |
| Discrepancies only | Only deliveries where something was refused. A dot on the chip means there are some. |
| Refresh | Reloads the list. |
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| GRN # | The receipt number. |
| Date | When it was received. |
| Supplier | The vendor. |
| Received into | The location. |
| Supplier ref | The vendor's bill number. |
| Accepted | Units taken into stock. |
| Rejected | Units refused, highlighted when there are any. |
| Bill total | The bill for the delivery, tax included. |
Double-click a row to open the note: each line with Ordered, Accepted, Rejected and Short, the batch, expiry, location and serial numbers, and the rejection reason. When the order had been part-received before, the line says how much was ordered and received earlier. The footer gives the accepted and rejected units, the goods ex tax and the bill inc tax. The note's buttons:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Print note | Opens the GRN as a PDF to print. |
| Debit note | Builds the claim for refused goods as a PDF to send the vendor: only the rejected lines, at the price on the bill, with the reasons. It is a document for the vendor, not an entry in your books; see the note below. |
| Delete GRN… | Undoes the delivery. See below. |
| Close | Closes the note. |
Rejected goods never entered stock or your books, so the Debit note here only asks the vendor for credit. If the vendor's bill still charges for them, record their credit with Enter Vendor Credits when it comes.
Delete a receipt
Delete GRN… asks Delete GRN …? and explains that a goods receipt and its purchase are the same record: the bill goes with it, the stock the delivery booked in is taken back out, and the amount owed to the vendor is removed. It cannot be undone. SeroBooks refuses when a return has been raised against it, when its batches have already been sold, or when it is dated in a closed period.
Permissions
| Right | What it allows |
|---|---|
| Receive Goods | Receiving against a purchase order. |
| Raise Debit Note | The Debit note button. |
| Delete Goods Receipt | Delete GRN…. |
Tips
- Receive what actually arrived, even if it is only part of the order. The rest stays open, and the Purchase Orders list shows the progress.
- Always give a reason for a rejection; it is what the vendor reads when deciding whether to credit you.
- A bill created by receiving opens read-only from the Bills list, because its quantities belong to the receipt. Correct it with a return rather than by editing.
Common problems
Receive is missing on an order. The order is awaiting approval. Approve it first.
The vendor's bill came later than the goods. Receive with Bill to follow (item receipt), then enter the bill with Enter Bill for Received Items when it arrives.
I cannot change the quantities on a received bill. Receipts against an order cannot be edited. Return the goods with a vendor credit, or delete the GRN and receive again.