Guides
- What is a goods received note The record your own team writes when a delivery arrives, and why the supplier's note is not enough.
- A goods received note template Designed so the person holding it has to count, rather than tick.
- Short and damaged deliveries What to do in the ten minutes while the vehicle is still there.
How to make a goods received note
- Enter your own details and the supplier who delivered.
- Reference your purchase order and the supplier's delivery note.
- Count what actually arrived, recording received quantities rather than ordered ones, and note the condition of each line.
- Have the person who checked it sign, then file it against the purchase order.
When to use one
Raise a GRN at the point of delivery, before the supplier's invoice is approved for payment. It's the third document in the three-way match (purchase order, goods received note, invoice), and it's what stops you paying for twelve when eleven arrived.
Questions
Who writes a GRN, the buyer or the supplier?
The buyer, not the supplier. They send a delivery note saying what they believe they sent; you write the goods received note saying what actually turned up. Signing a driver's paperwork under time pressure is not the same as checking a delivery, which is why both documents exist.
Why not just sign the supplier's delivery note?
You should do that too, but their note says what they think they sent. Your GRN is your own record, in your own numbering, and it's the one your accounts team matches against.
What about short or damaged deliveries?
Record the quantity actually received and describe the damage in the condition column, then reject the items while the driver is still there so they go back on the vehicle. That discrepancy is what supports a credit note request or a short payment. Photograph anything damaged before it leaves.
Do I need one for services?
There is nothing to count, but the same control applies. Some organisations raise a service equivalent: a note confirming the work was performed, signed by whoever received it, so the same three-way match works for non-physical purchases. For repair and maintenance work a signed job card does the same job. Three way matching explains the check.
Do I need to create an account?
No. There is no sign-up, no login and no trial, and nothing is held back behind one. The page works the first time you open it and the hundredth. Since nothing you type is stored anywhere, there would be nothing for an account to hold. The privacy page sets out what that means in practice.
Can I put my own logo on it?
Yes. Click the logo box at the top left of the sheet and choose an image. Resize it to around 600 pixels wide first: a photo straight off a phone can be several megabytes, and that weight goes into your saved file and any PDF you export. The logo is stored inside the sheet, so it comes back with the goods received note next time you open it.
Can I save it and change it later?
Use Save as file to write a small .json file to your own disk, then Open a saved file to bring it back with everything in place, logo included. That file is also the quickest way to build a template: fill in your own details once, save it, and open that copy each time. The goods received note template guide covers what to fix and what to leave blank.
How do I get a PDF?
Choose Print or save PDF, then pick Save as PDF as the destination in your browser's print dialogue. The file is produced on your own machine and never passes through a server. Two settings decide how it looks: background graphics on, and scale at 100%. Turning an invoice into a PDF explains both, and they behave the same on every sheet here.
Which currencies can I use?
Every currency in common use. The picker opens on the one that matches your country, worked out from your browser's own locale rather than by looking anything up over the network. Change it whenever you like and the symbol follows through to every figure on the goods received note. If you bill across a border, invoicing a client in another currency covers the decisions worth making first.
Is anything I type sent anywhere?
No. There is no server behind this page. Client names, prices, notes and your logo stay in the browser tab while it is open and go when you close it, which is why saving to a file matters. The privacy page sets out exactly what does and does not happen, including the one external request the site still makes.
What if the delivery is short or damaged?
Record what actually arrived, not what was ordered, and note the condition on the line. Reject damaged items while the vehicle is still there and photograph them. That difference is what stops the supplier's invoice being paid in full. Short and damaged deliveries covers the ten minutes that matter.
Who should raise the GRN?
Whoever physically receives the goods, at the point they arrive. Raising it later from the supplier's paperwork defeats the purpose entirely: you have copied their claim into your system and called it verification. What is a goods received note explains why the two differ.
Do I still need a delivery note?
They are different documents. The supplier's delivery note says what they sent; your goods received note says what you got. The gap between the two is the entire point, and it is what an accounts team checks before releasing payment.