This free goods receiving and inspection checklist is for goods-in teams, warehouse and stores supervisors, quality inspectors, buyers and the accounts payable staff who rely on the goods receipt. One run receives one inbound delivery against its purchase order. It covers preparing for the delivery, checking the vehicle, seal and paperwork on arrival, signing the carrier’s note for what actually arrived, counting and identifying every line, and inspecting condition and quality by sampling plan or in full. The inspector then decides to accept, quarantine or reject the delivery, and nothing after that decision can be completed until it is recorded. The receiver posts the goods receipt for the accepted quantity and puts the goods away, and the receipt goes to accounts payable for the three-way match. When the delivery is not accepted in full, a phase appears for quarantine, the supplier report, any carrier claim, the remedy and the return.
Goods receiving, or goods-in, is the check between a supplier’s delivery and your stock. The receiver checks the delivery against the purchase order and the delivery note, counts and identifies the goods, and the inspector decides whether to accept them. The goods receipt that comes out of it is one of the three documents accounts payable matches before the invoice is paid, so a mistake at the dock can turn into a payment for goods you never had.
This checklist runs one delivery. It starts where the purchase order approval checklist ends, applies the incoming inspection steps of the product inspection workflow checklist to the goods in front of you, and hands the receipt to the accounts payable process checklist. It does not count stock you already hold; that is the inventory audit process checklist. Each receipt also feeds the supplier performance evaluation.
Covers: the vehicle and seal, the delivery note against the purchase order, certificates, packaging, the count and the identity of every line.
Owned by: the goods-in receiver.
Output: a signed carrier’s note and a discrepancy log.
Covers: condition and quality against the specification, by sampling plan or full inspection, and the decision to accept, quarantine or reject.
Owned by: the inspector.
Output: an inspection record and a recorded decision.
Covers: the goods receipt, put-away, any quarantine, return or carrier claim, and the handoff to accounts payable.
Owned by: the receiver, the buyer and accounts payable.
Output: a goods receipt that matches what was accepted.
Eight phases take one delivery from the booking to the handoff to accounts payable. The inspection choice on the first task adds either a sampling task or a full inspection task. Nothing after the inspector’s decision can be completed until it is recorded, and the quarantine, return and claim phase appears only when the delivery is not accepted in full.
Many receiving problems start before the vehicle arrives: nobody knows what is due, the purchase order is out of date, or there is nowhere to put goods that fail. Set up the receipt when the delivery is booked. The inspection question on the first task decides which inspection task appears in Phase 4.
Check the vehicle and the paperwork before anything is unloaded, while the driver is still there. A shortage or damage that is not written on the carrier’s delivery note now is harder to claim for later.
Count what is there, not what the paperwork says should be there. A blind count, where the receiver records the quantity without seeing the expected one, catches shortages that ticking the delivery note misses.
Check the goods against the specification with the inspection plan for the item. A sampling plan inspects a random sample and accepts or rejects the lot from it; full inspection checks every unit. The answer on the first task decides which of the first two tasks here appears.
One person decides what happens to the delivery, using the count, the documents and the inspection result together. Nothing after the decision can be completed until it is recorded, so nothing goes into usable stock first.
Book only what was accepted into usable stock. The goods receipt is one of the three documents accounts payable matches, so its quantities must be the ones you accepted, not the ones on the delivery note.
Applies only when the delivery is not accepted in full. Keep goods on hold apart and blocked in the system until the supplier and the inspector agree what happens to them, and tell the supplier promptly, because a right to reject can be lost by waiting.
Accounts payable pays against three documents: the purchase order, the goods receipt and the invoice. Hand over the receipt with every discrepancy and any credit agreed, so the invoice is paid for what was accepted, not for what was shipped.
Most receiving problems fall into a few types. The table shows what to do at the dock when you find each one, where the goods usually go, and who needs to know. Your contract with the supplier and your own procedures set the details, so treat it as a starting point and adjust it once.
| Discrepancy | At the dock | Usual disposition | Tell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fewer packages than the carrier’s note | Write the shortage on the carrier’s note before you sign | Receive what arrived; the line stays open or is closed short | Buyer and carrier |
| Fewer units inside the packages than the delivery note | Record the count and photograph the opened cases | Receive the counted quantity; ask for the balance or a credit | Buyer and accounts payable |
| Over-delivery | Count the excess and set it aside | Accept the ordered quantity and return the excess, or keep it only on an amended purchase order | Buyer |
| Wrong or substituted item | Do not put it away | Hold for the buyer; accept a substitute only with an approved change | Buyer and requester |
| Visible damage on arrival | Note it on the carrier’s note and photograph it | Quarantine or reject the damaged quantity | Carrier, supplier and buyer |
| Damage found after unpacking | Stop, photograph the goods and keep the packaging | Quarantine; report to the carrier and the supplier at once | Carrier, supplier and buyer |
| Missing certificate or document | Receive the goods to quarantine, not to stock | Hold until the document arrives, then inspect and decide | Buyer, supplier and inspector |
| Fails inspection | Label the goods and keep them apart | Reject and return, rework or sort, or accept under concession | Inspector, buyer and supplier |
| Expired or short shelf life | Check the expiry against the purchase order | Reject, or accept only with the requester’s agreement | Buyer and requester |
| No valid purchase order | Do not receive it into stock | Hold until a purchase order exists, or refuse the delivery | Buyer and requester |
Accepting and rejecting goods has legal effects. In the UK, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 gives a business buyer a reasonable opportunity to examine goods before it is treated as having accepted them (s.35(2)), but a buyer that keeps goods for more than a reasonable time without telling the seller it rejects them is treated as having accepted them (s.35(4)). A buyer may reject a short delivery, or accept the ordered quantity from an over-delivery and reject the rest (s.30), unless the difference is so slight that rejecting would be unreasonable (s.30(2A); in Scotland the test is whether it is material). Accepting the goods that conform does not lose the right to reject the rest (s.35A). In the US, Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code, as enacted in the state whose law governs the contract, gives the buyer a right to inspect before payment or acceptance (§ 2-513), lets it reject the whole, accept the whole or accept some commercial units and reject the rest (§ 2-601), and makes a rejection effective only if it is made within a reasonable time and the seller is told (§ 2-602).
Rejected goods are held for the seller. Under the UK Act a buyer that rightly refuses goods does not have to send them back unless the contract says so; telling the seller is enough (s.36). Under the UCC, a buyer that has the goods must hold them with reasonable care for long enough for the seller to remove them (§ 2-602(2)(b)). Most of these rules give way to what the contract says, and purchase order terms often say more, so read yours before you rely on this summary.
The inspector’s decision to accept, quarantine or reject is assigned to them alone, and the checklist halts there: the goods receipt, the put-away and the handoff to accounts payable cannot be completed until it is recorded. See how approvals that halt a checklist work.
Choose anything other than Accept in full and the quarantine, supplier report, carrier claim, remedy, concession and return tasks appear, each assigned and dated from the delivery date. The inspection choice adds a sampling task or a full inspection task. Change the steps or the offsets in the template designer.
The count, the discrepancy log, the photos, the inspection result and the decision stay on the tasks they belong to, with who did each one and when. The Reports Grid shows every delivery still open, so the buyer and accounts payable can see where a receipt has got to.
CheckFlow is not a warehouse management system or an ERP. It does not hold stock levels or post goods receipts: you post the receipt in your own system and record its number on the checklist. What it does is make sure every delivery is checked the same way, with a record of who did what and when.
This template receives one delivery. Approve the order before it is placed with the Purchase Order Approval Checklist, run your inspection programme with the Product Inspection Workflow Checklist, pay the invoice with the Accounts Payable Process Checklist and review the supplier with the Supplier Performance Evaluation Checklist. Clear imported goods through customs first with the Import & Customs Compliance Checklist, and count the stock you already hold with the Inventory Audit Process Checklist.
Purchase Order Approval Checklist
Product Inspection Workflow Checklist
Accounts Payable Process Checklist
Inventory Audit Process Checklist
Supplier Performance Evaluation Checklist
Describe the process in a sentence and the AI checklist generator drafts the phases and tasks for you.
Preparation before the delivery, then the checks at the dock: the vehicle and seal, the delivery note against the purchase order, the certificates the order requires, the packaging, and a signed carrier’s note that records any shortage or damage. Next come the count, the identity of each item, batch and expiry details, a discrepancy log and the quality inspection, by sampling plan or in full. The inspector then decides to accept, quarantine or reject, and the receiver posts the goods receipt for the accepted quantity. Rejected goods need a supplier report, a remedy and perhaps a return or carrier claim.
A goods received note (GRN), or goods receipt, is the record that goods arrived and were accepted against a purchase order. It shows the supplier, the purchase order and line numbers, the delivery note number, the date and the quantity accepted, and it is usually posted in the purchasing or ERP system, which adds the goods to stock. Accounts payable matches it with the purchase order and the supplier’s invoice before paying. Post it for the quantity you accepted, not the quantity on the delivery note, or the invoice will match goods you never had.
Blind receiving means the receiver counts the goods without seeing the quantity expected on the purchase order or the delivery note, and records what is actually there. The count is then compared with the paperwork. It takes a little longer than ticking off a delivery note, but it stops the receiver counting to the number they expect, which is how shortages slip through. You can use it for every delivery, or only for high-value items and for suppliers with a history of short deliveries.
Sign for what you can check while the driver is there: the number of packages or pallets and their visible condition. Count them, look for damage, and write any shortage or damage on the carrier’s note before you sign, then photograph it. Your signature is the carrier’s record of what it handed over, so a clean signature makes a later claim for missing or damaged packages harder to support. Damage found after unpacking is concealed damage: report it to the carrier and the supplier as soon as you find it, and check the carrier’s terms for any time limit.
Quarantine is a hold. The goods are kept apart from usable stock and blocked in the system while someone decides what happens to them, for example while a missing certificate is chased or a test result is awaited. Rejection is the decision that the goods do not conform and will not be accepted: they are returned, replaced or credited, or disposed of as agreed with the supplier. Quarantined goods can end up accepted, accepted under concession or rejected. Either way, they must not be picked or used until the decision is made.
Usually, yes. In the UK, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 lets a business buyer keep the goods that conform and reject the rest without losing the right to reject (s.35A), and accept the ordered quantity from an over-delivery while rejecting the excess (s.30(2)), unless the contract says otherwise. In the US, UCC § 2-601 lets the buyer accept any commercial unit or units and reject the rest. In both, a rejection has to be made within a reasonable time and the seller told. Record the quantities accepted and rejected, and the reason, on the day.
Three-way matching compares the purchase order (what was ordered, at what price), the goods receipt (what was received and accepted) and the supplier’s invoice (what the supplier is charging) before the invoice is paid. Receiving supplies the middle document. If the goods receipt is posted for the delivery note quantity rather than the accepted quantity, the invoice will match and be paid for goods that were short or rejected. Send accounts payable the receipt, the discrepancy log and any credit agreed, and use the Accounts Payable Process Checklist for the match and the payment.
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