# Receive a Transfer

Receiving completes the movement and makes the stock available again at the destination.

Until somebody does it, the units are invisible to both sites, which is the most common cause of a phantom stockout.

![An open transfer order, TO-00002, showing its source and destination warehouses, the reason it was raised, its status and the quantities on each line.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/stock-transfers/stock-transfer-detail.png)

*Until this is received, the units belong to neither site.*

## Receive it

- **Open the transfer at the destination**

  From the transfers list, filtered to in transit.
- **Count what arrived**

  Against the transfer note that travelled with the goods.
- **Enter the received quantities**

  What is on the pallet, not what the note says.
- **Save**

  Stock becomes available at the destination and the transfer completes.

## Shortfalls in transit

If fewer units arrive than were despatched, receive what arrived. The difference stays in transit rather than vanishing, which is deliberate: it is a real question about where your goods went, and it should stay open until somebody answers it.

| Outcome | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| The rest turns up later | Receive it. The transfer completes. |
| It was miscounted at despatch | Receive the true amount and adjust the source. |
| It was lost or stolen | Write off the in-transit balance with an adjustment and a reason. |
| It was damaged in transit | Receive it as damaged, then decide: claim, repair or write off. |

> **Warning:**
>
> **In transit is not a parking space**
>
> A balance sitting in transit for months is stock nobody can sell and nobody has written off. It inflates your valuation and hides a real loss. Resolve it at the next period end at the latest.

## Transfers left open

Filter the transfers list to in transit and sort by despatch date. Anything older than the journey takes is either sitting unreceived on a loading bay or has gone missing. Both are worth a phone call and neither will surface any other way.