Receiving into the warehouse

Receiving is the warehouse's job of counting supplier goods into stock on the goods receipt, the procurement document released from a purchase order or an inbound shipment. xMatix has no separate warehouse receiving document. The dock works on the receipt the buyer released, records what physically arrived and where it is put, and runs Receive to post it to the inventory ledger. This page covers receiving from the warehouse's side: the storage location, the count, damage and shortage, and the inspection hold. The full receipt procedure, including billing and the accrual, is Receive goods against a purchase order.

Overview

Goods receipts are in the Procurement app, under Goods Receipts. They are not in the Warehouse app. The list opens on All Goods Receipts. The Pending Inspections view lists receipts whose Status is Start Inspection.

A receipt opens on a record page with a Status stepper (Draft, Receive, Start Inspection, Complete Inspection, Bill) and four tabs:

• Lines: one row per item received, with the ordered, supplier and received quantities. This is where the warehouse works.
• Details: the header in five sections: Key Information, Supplier Details, Transporter Details, Related Sources and System Information.
• PDI: a checklist ticked by hand. It is separate from the inspection that holds stock.
• Related: the Inspection Lines and Bills created from the receipt.

The goods receipt is also in the xMatix mobile app, with the same actions and rules.

When to use it

• A supplier delivery has arrived at the dock and must be counted into a storage location.
• A tracked inbound shipment has arrived and its contents must be booked in.
• Items that need a quality check have arrived and must be held until they pass.
• Goods arrived short, in excess or damaged and the difference must be on record.

Stock arriving from another branch of your organization comes in on an inward transfer, not a goods receipt. See Receive a transfer from another branch.

How xMatix handles it

The line, not the header, decides where stock lands. Each receipt line posts to one stock balance: the receipt's company and branch plus the line's item, SKU and Storage Location. The stock balances page explains these records. Releasing a receipt from an order or shipment does not fill the storage location. A line received with no location posts to a balance with no location.

There is no putaway step. Posted stock is in the storage location named on the line. If goods should end up somewhere else, set the right location before Receive, or move them afterwards with a transfer.

Receive posts each line once. A line posts only while it has no Inventory Ledger reference. Lines already posted are skipped, so you can receive a delivery in several passes. A line that has posted never posts again, so later edits to its quantity or location do not move the stock.

One line writes several ledger entries. On Receive, a line can write up to four entries, each to its own stock bucket:

So damaged and short quantities lower Available but not In Hand. Allocation, invoicing and most other features read Available.

Inspection holds stock only once it starts. For items with Inspection On Receipt, the Inspection action creates inspection lines. Their quantity goes into the Inspection bucket, which lowers Available until Inspection Complete releases it. Between Receive and Inspection, the received quantity of those items already counts as available.

Prerequisites

• A goods receipt released from the purchase order or shipment (see Step 1 of the receipt procedure).
• Storage locations for the receiving branch (see Storage locations and vans).
• Items set up for stock: Track Inventory for anything that should post, plus Track Lots, Track Asset or Inspection On Receipt where needed (item record, Details → Inventory Settings).
• A security profile that grants Receive and, for flagged items, Inspection and Inspection Complete (see Permissions).

Procedure

Step 1 — Open the arrival's receipt

Open Procurement → Goods Receipts and find the receipt by supplier, branch and date. Open the existing receipt rather than creating a new one with New: a released receipt already carries the expected lines and their links to the order. A receipt created by hand has no order links, so nothing rolls back into the purchase order.

Step 2 — Set the storage location on each line

On the Lines tab, select Edit on a row. In the Additional Information section, set Storage Location to where the goods will be put. You can also open the line and edit the field on its record page. The receive panel does not show storage locations, so set them before you run Receive.

The Storage Location picker is not filtered by branch. Pick a location that belongs to the receipt's branch. For lot-tracked items, the location is also copied onto the lot that Receive creates.

Step 3 — Count the goods and record the differences

For each line, enter:

• Supplier Quantity: what the delivery note says. It is required before Receive.
• Received Quantity: everything that physically arrived, including damaged units.
• Damaged Quantity: how many of the received units are damaged.

Count damaged units in Received Quantity. If you leave them out, the line reports them as shortage as well as damage, and Available drops by twice the damaged quantity.

Shortage Quantity and Excess Quantity are worked out from the supplier and received quantities. You don't type them. Enter serial, batch and lot details where your items track them, either in the receive panel or with Scan serials in the header.

Step 4 — Receive

Select Receive. In the panel, tick the lines that arrived and correct their quantities. Ticking a line copies its Ordered Quantity into Received Quantity and Supplier Quantity, so tick first and then correct the figures. Lines you leave unticked stay pending for a later pass. If you tick nothing, every line is received. Save the panel.

Receive all as ordered, in the panel's footer, receives every line not yet posted at its ordered (or shipped) quantity. Lines that still need a serial or batch number stay pending. The full rules for the panel, serial numbers and batch numbers are in Step 3 of the receipt procedure.

Each posted line now shows an Inventory Ledger reference. That reference is the proof that the line is in stock. When every line has one, the Receive button disappears from the header.

Step 5 — Start the inspection straight away

If any item on the receipt has Inspection On Receipt, select Inspection as soon as every line is received. The button appears only when every line has posted and no inspection has started yet. It creates one inspection line per flagged receipt line. The quantity is the pending inspection quantity less the damaged quantity, and that quantity moves into the Inspection bucket. Until you run it, the flagged goods count as available and can be allocated.

The inspection lines appear under Related → Inspection Lines. Each carries the receipt line's item, lot, SKU, storage location and unit cost. Record findings there as described in Inspect received goods.

Step 6 — Complete the inspection

When the checks are done, select Inspection Complete. It closes every open inspection line and releases the held quantity from the Inspection bucket, so the goods become available. The button appears while Status is Start Inspection and some inspection line is still open.

Step 7 — Check the result

Confirm the stock the way the system does:

1. On Lines, every line has an Inventory Ledger reference.
2. On Related → Inspection Lines, every inspection line is done.
3. In the inventory ledger, the item shows the Inward entry at the storage location you chose.

The shipped Details tab has the five sections listed in the Overview. The Received, Inspected, Inspection Completed and Bill Generated switches in the picture are calculated fields that an administrator can add to the form. Received is on once every line has an Inventory Ledger reference.

Receive a transfer from another branch

Goods sent from another branch arrive on the Inward transfer that the source branch's release creates. The destination receives the quantities that arrived, records damaged, short and excess quantities on the transfer inward lines, and posts the transfer to put the stock into the storage location named on each line. See Branch transfers: the warehouse view and the transfer procedure.

Fields

The line fields the warehouse fills or reads. For every receipt and line field, see the goods receipt procedure.

Business rules

• Quantity that posts. An order receipt posts Received Quantity, and only on lines whose Ordered Quantity is above zero. A shipment or stand-alone receipt posts Supplier Quantity. A shipment receipt whose stock was posted in transit moves it out of the in-transit bucket.
• Posting is final. A line with an Inventory Ledger reference never re-posts, and deleting it does not reverse its stock. A line with a received quantity cannot be deleted. Correct stock with an inventory adjustment.
• Shortage lowers Available a second time. On an order receipt, Inward already posts only the received quantity, and the Shortage entry then subtracts the shortfall from Available again. After a short delivery, Available is lower than the good stock on the shelf by the shortage quantity. In Hand is not affected.
• Inspection hold. Only items with Inspection On Receipt are held. The hold starts when Inspection creates the inspection lines and ends at Inspection Complete. Completing an inspection replaces the receipt line's Damaged Quantity with the total damaged quantity found in inspection.
• Header buttons follow the lines. Receive shows until every line has posted. Inspection, Release Bill and Post General Ledger show only once every line has posted. Inspection also needs that no inspection has started.
• Status. Seeded business rules update Status when the receipt is saved: to Receive when every line has posted (and also when a receipt has lines with nothing left to bill, which includes one where nothing is received yet), then to Start Inspection, Complete Inspection and Bill from the lines. Status can lag behind the lines, so read the lines, not the stepper.

Example

A supplier delivers 40 cartons of hand gel and 10 infrared thermometers to the main warehouse. The thermometers have Inspection On Receipt and Track Lots enabled. The buyer has already released the receipt from the purchase order.

1. The storekeeper opens the receipt and sets Storage Location to Aisle 3 Rack B on both lines.
2. The delivery note says 40 cartons and 10 thermometers. The count finds 38 cartons, 3 of them crushed, and all 10 thermometers.
3. They select Receive and tick both lines, which fills both quantities with 40 and 10. On the cartons line they change Received Quantity to 38 and Damaged Quantity to 3, then save.
4. The cartons post Inward 38, Shortage 2 and Damaged 3. In Hand is 38 and Available is 33. The thermometers get a lot and post Inward 10.
5. The quality lead runs Inspection at once. One inspection line holds the 10 thermometers, and Available for them drops to 0. After testing, they run Inspection Complete, and the 10 become available.

Training

Practice exercise

In a sandbox, release a receipt from a purchase order for 10 units of a stock item with Inspection On Receipt set. Set a storage location on the line. In the receive panel, tick the line, change Received Quantity to 9 and Damaged Quantity to 1, and save. Open the item's stock balance at that location. Then run Inspection, check the balance again, and run Inspection Complete.

Expected result: after Receive, the line has an Inventory Ledger reference, Shortage Quantity is 1, In Hand is 9 and Available is 7 (9 inward, less 1 shortage and 1 damaged). After Inspection, one inspection line for 8 units exists and Available is lower by 8. After Inspection Complete, Available rises by the 8 again.

Quick reference

• Receive on the goods receipt in the Procurement app; the Warehouse app has no receiving document.
• Set Storage Location on each line before Receive: the releases leave it empty, and the receive panel doesn't show it.
• Pick a location of the receiving branch; the picker is not filtered.
• Received Quantity includes damaged units; Damaged Quantity says how many.
• Tick a line first, then correct its quantities.
• An Inventory Ledger reference on a line means it is in stock, and the posting is final.
• Run Inspection straight after receiving, or flagged goods stay available.
• Damaged, short and inspected quantities lower Available, not In Hand.
• Goods from another branch arrive on the inward transfer, not a goods receipt.

Permissions

Access is set on security profiles.

• App. The shipped System Admin, Standard User, Sales Manager and Sales Executive profiles have the Procurement app, where Goods Receipts lives.
• Receiving actions. Receive, Inspection, Inspection Complete and Scan serials are granted to System Admin, Standard User and Sales Manager. Sales Executive can open and edit receipts but has none of these actions, even though it is one of the two profiles with the Warehouse app.
• Not granted to any shipped profile. The header's Scan receipts button.
• A user without an action does not see its button. Grant it on the profile's Actions tab, entity Goods Receipt. Line permissions are listed in the goods receipt procedure.

Configuration

Common problems

The stock went to the wrong place, or has no location

The line had no Storage Location, or a different one, when Receive ran. Posting is final, so editing the line now does not move the stock. Move it with a transfer or correct it with an adjustment, and set locations before receiving next time.

Available is lower than what is on the shelf after a short delivery

The Shortage entry lowers Available on top of an Inward entry that already counted only what arrived. In Hand shows the physical quantity. See Business rules.

Damaged goods were counted twice

Received Quantity left out the damaged units, so they show as both shortage and damage. Include damaged units in Received Quantity before Receive. A posted line cannot be re-posted, so correct the stock with an adjustment.

Goods awaiting inspection were allocated to an order

Inspection was not run straight after Receive, so the goods counted as available in the meantime. Run Inspection as soon as all lines are received.

The Inspection button is missing

It shows only when every line has an Inventory Ledger reference and no inspection has started on the receipt. Receive the remaining lines first. If inspection already started, the existing inspection lines are on Related → Inspection Lines.

The Inspection Complete button is missing

It shows only while the receipt's Status is Start Inspection, inspection has started and some inspection line is still open. Status is set by a seeded rule when the receipt is saved, so it can lag. Save the receipt (for example, edit and save it) to let the rule run, or set Status with the stepper.

"Supplier Quantity is required for Goods Receipt Lines before receiving."

A ticked line has no Supplier Quantity. Enter it and run Receive again. For every other receiving message, see Common problems in the receipt procedure.

Common questions

Why can't I find a receiving document in the Warehouse app?

Receiving is part of the purchase order lifecycle, so the goods receipt lives in the Procurement app with the order, the shipment and the bill. The warehouse still does the physical work on it: it sets the storage locations, counts the goods, records damage and runs Receive and the inspection. If your receivers only have the Warehouse app, give their profile the Procurement app and the receiving actions (see Permissions).

What if goods arrive without a purchase order?

You can create a receipt with New and add lines with Quick Add. Such a line posts its Supplier Quantity to stock. Nothing rolls back into an order, and the bill has no order to match against in the three-way match. Raising the purchase order first and releasing the receipt from it is cleaner.

Can I receive into several storage locations for one item?

Each line posts to exactly one location. A line released from an order can't be split by hand: its Ordered Quantity is locked, and lowering its Received Quantity would book the rest as shortage. Receive the whole line into one location, then move part of it to the other location with a transfer. Lines are split automatically only by the item's Maximum Lot Quantity, and the split lines keep the same location.

Does damaged stock leave the warehouse?

No. A Damaged entry lowers Available but not In Hand, so the units are still counted as on hand until you write them off with an adjustment. A supplier credit note does not change stock. A claim generation setup can also raise supplier claims from damaged receipt lines.

Related topics

• Receive goods against a purchase order
• Inspect received goods
• Inbound shipments
• Stock balances
• The inventory ledger
• Storage locations and vans
• Branch transfers: the warehouse view
• Item lots and lot types
• Warehouse troubleshooting