# Introduction - Purchase Receives

A purchase receive records what physically arrived against a purchase order.

**Video coming soon:** Booking goods in against an order, and what that does to stock on hand.

This is the moment stock increases, so it is the document your warehouse owns and your accountant depends on. Receiving accurately is what keeps stock on hand meaning something.

![The Purchase Receives screen listing twenty-two receives with columns for Receive Date, Receive Number, Purchase Order Number, Vendor, Warehouse, Status and Billed. The first row, PR-00022, is booked against PO-00033 for Black Country Tooling Ltd into Sheffield Depot, and reads Draft and Not Billed.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/purchase-receives/purchase-receive-list.png)

*Every receive names the order it came from and the warehouse the stock went into.*

## What receiving changes

| What | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| Stock on hand | Increases at the receiving location |
| Stock valuation | Increases at the purchase order cost |
| Purchase order | Outstanding quantity reduces |
| Payables | Unchanged. Only a bill creates a liability |
| Profit and loss | Unchanged for stocked items. Cost hits when you sell them |

> **Note:**
>
> **Receiving is a stock event, not an accounting one**
>
> It moves value from nowhere into your stock asset. Nothing appears in your costs and nothing appears in your payables. Both of those wait for the bill.

## Receiving against an order

Receiving always happens against a purchase order, so quantities can be compared with what was agreed. Goods that turn up with no order still need one: raise it retrospectively, which takes a minute and keeps the three-way match usable.

1. **Order issued**: What you agreed to buy
2. **Goods arrive**: Counted on the dock
3. **Receive recorded**: Stock increases
4. **Bill matched**: Liability created

## Do you need them at all

If you buy only services and non-stocked items, receives add nothing and you can bill straight from the order. The moment you hold stock, they stop being optional, because without them your stock on hand is whatever somebody last guessed.