# Create a Package

Record what physically went into one box, from the order or from the pick that preceded it.

A package is raised against a source document and describes one carton. Several boxes for one order is the normal case.

> **Before you start:**
>
> A confirmed sales order. A completed picklist too, if you use them.

## Pack a box

- **Go to Packages and select Package**

  Or start from the sales order itself, which fills the source document in for you.

  ![The Packages list with its Package action and columns for Package number, Date, Type, Source number, Customer or Vendor, Items, Status, Carrier, Tracking and Shipment Date.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/inventory/packages/packages-list.png)
- **Set the quantity that is actually in this box**

  The document's lines carry across as the starting point. Reduce them to the contents of one carton; anything you leave out stays available for the next package.
- **Save it**

  The package takes its own number, which is what a packing slip and a carrier label reference.
- **Repeat for the rest of the order**

  Each carton is its own package, so a dispute about one box does not put the whole order in question.

> **Note:**
>
> **Packing moves no stock**
>
> The count falls when the shipment goes. Until then the package's status stays unshipped and the units are still yours.

## The rules the form enforces

| Rule | Why |
| --- | --- |
| A package belongs to exactly one source document | A box mixing two customers' orders cannot be shipped to one address |
| The total packed cannot exceed the document | You cannot ship what was never agreed |
| A line may be split across packages | Because deliveries genuinely go in stages |

> **Tip:**
>
> **Pack from the picklist, not from the order**
>
> The picklist records what was actually on the shelf. Packing from the order re-introduces the short pick you just took the trouble to record.