Receiving and exceptions

Receiving Clerk records an arrival against a purchase order and a named location. Receipt lines distinguish ordered, received, accepted and rejected quantities. Inspection status and a rejection reason help the team decide what can be accepted. The posted receipt links to the order revision and a procurement event, preserving the basis for the next financial or inventory handoff.

• Record what arrived. Keep arrival, inspection and accepted quantity separate.
• Trace returns. Link the returned quantity to its receipt line and authorization.
• Resolve differences. Keep invoice discrepancies tied to the order and receipt.

A partial shipment is a useful rehearsal. Record the received quantity, inspect it, accept the usable portion and reject the damaged portion. The remaining open order quantity should still be visible at the line. If rejected goods go back to the supplier, a supplier return links to the receipt line, states the returned quantity and reason, and tracks authorization, shipment and expected credit separately. Accounts payable may return a match exception when its invoice differs from the order or receipt. Buyer and Controller can read the invoice reference, exception type and related records, then record the resolution. A correction to a receipt and a supplier re-invoice are different paths. A receipt reversal must refer to its source; it should not erase the original arrival. The handoff to connected inventory, warehouse and accounts payable systems uses procurement events and delivery status.

Define locations, inspection responsibility and the evidence required for rejected goods. Agree who authorizes returns and how an expected credit is followed. Set the connected accounts payable, inventory and warehouse destinations. Decide how a failed delivery is reconciled before downstream teams rely on it.

Receive part of an acknowledged order at a dock. Accept some units and reject the damaged balance. Raise a return against that receipt line, then examine an invoice quantity exception. Check that the open order quantity, original receipt, posted event, return and exception can all be traced without replacing one another.

• Receipts awaiting posting — Arrivals waiting for final receipt posting.
• Open match exceptions — Invoice differences assigned to buyers and finance reviewers.

Start with the request and review path, then check the supplier delivery path. Review implementation choices with the owners before the first operating cycle.