# Receive Returned Goods

The step that puts stock back on the shelf, and the one to be careful about.

Receiving is what moves stock, so it is the half of a return that deserves attention. Everything before it was paperwork.

## Receive a return

- **Open the return when the goods arrive**

  Match the pallet to the return number the customer was given.

  ![A sales return record showing its number and status, the sales order it was raised against, the customer and the lines and quantities coming back, with an activity panel at the right.](https://www.sorviai.com/help/inventory/sales-returns/return-detail.png)
- **Count what actually came back**

  A customer who says they are returning four and sends three has returned three.
- **Choose the depot it is landing in**

  Returns often come back to a different site from the one that shipped them.
- **Receive it**

  The Received column flips, the units go back into stock at that depot and become available immediately.

> **Warning:**
>
> **Received goods are sellable goods**
>
> Receiving puts the units straight back into available, where the next order can take them. If they came back damaged, receive them and then raise a stock adjustment with reason Damaged goods, rather than pretending they never arrived.

## Handling what came back

| Condition | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| Resaleable | Receive it. Nothing more to do |
| Damaged | Receive it, then adjust it out with reason Damaged goods |
| Fewer than expected | Receive what came. The rest stays outstanding on the return |
| Not what was on the return | Do not receive it against this return. Query it first |

> **Tip:**
>
> **Receive and credit are separate on purpose**
>
> Goods arrive on a Tuesday and somebody decides on Thursday whether they are resaleable. A return can sit received and uncredited, and that is a real state rather than an unfinished one.