# Introduction - Shipments

A shipment is the moment goods leave.

It is the only sales-side document that reduces stock on hand, which makes it the one fulfilment record that has to be right. Everything before it is preparation.

![The Shipments screen listing thirty-six shipments with columns for Shipment Number, Shipment Date, Shipment Type, Source, Customer/Vendor, Packages, Carrier and Tracking. Carriers read Palletways Overnight, Evri Courier, Tuffnells Two Day, Royal Mail Tracked, DPD Next Day and Crewe Rail Components, each against its own tracking number.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/shipments/shipment-list.png)

*This is the document that takes stock off your books, so the date on it is an accounting date.*

## What a shipment changes

| What | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| Stock on hand | Reduces at the despatching location |
| Stock valuation | Reduces at cost, per the item's valuation method |
| Cost of goods sold | Recognised at this point |
| Sales order | Lines marked shipped, remainder stays open |
| Revenue | Unchanged. Only an invoice recognises revenue |

## Shipping and invoicing

> **Warning:**
>
> **Shipping and invoicing are independent**
>
> You can ship without invoicing and invoice without shipping. Both are sometimes correct, but a persistent gap between the two means your revenue and your cost of goods are landing in different periods.

At month end, the list worth running is shipped and not invoiced. Every line on it is a cost you have recognised against revenue you have not, which makes your margin for the month look worse than it was.

## Where shipments come from

- **From packages** (split deliveries): One shipment can carry several packages, which is what a single courier collection looks like.
- **From a sales order** (simple despatch): Straight from the order, skipping picklists and packages entirely. Perfectly valid.
- **From a picklist** (warehouse route): When you pick but do not pack, this is the shortest path from shelf to van.