# Receive Goods

Count first, then type.

The form pre-fills the ordered quantity, which is convenient and is also the single most reliable way for a wrong number to enter your stock figures.

![The New Purchase Receive screen, where the order being received against is chosen and each line's received quantity is entered before saving.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/purchase-receives/new-purchase-receive-form.png)

*Count what arrived, then change the quantity. The pre-filled figure is the order, not the delivery.*

## Record a receive

- **Open the purchase order**

  Receiving always happens against an order, so quantities can be compared to what was agreed.
- **Enter what actually arrived**

  Count first, then type. Defaults are pre-filled with the ordered quantity, which is a trap if you accept it without checking.
- **Confirm the location**

  Which warehouse or site the stock lands in. It defaults to the order's delivery location.
- **Note shortages or damage**

  Receive the good units and record the rest as short. Do not receive damaged goods as sellable stock.
- **Record the vendor delivery note number**

  Optional and worth doing. It is what you will quote when querying a shortage.
- **Save**

  Stock on hand increases at this point, and the order updates its outstanding balance.

> **Warning:**
>
> **Do not receive what has not arrived**
>
> Receiving in advance to clear a queue makes stock on hand a fiction, and every downstream count, valuation and reorder decision inherits that fiction. Receive what is on the pallet.

## Locations and batches

- The **location** is where the stock becomes available. Getting it wrong means the count is right and the shelf is empty.
- One receive can land into **one location**. Split a delivery across sites with two receives.
- A **variant** is received in its own right, since it is a full item with its own stock.
- Receiving a non-stocked line records the arrival without moving any stock figure.

## Partial receives

Orders rarely arrive in one piece. Each receive records what turned up, and the order tracks the outstanding balance until it is complete or you close it short. There is no limit to how many receives one order can have.