A goods received note template has one design job: make counting easier than not counting. Everything else follows from that.
The columns that matter
Two columns, side by side: what was ordered, and what arrived. If your form shows only one, whoever fills it in will copy the delivery note.
On the sheet here, the default columns for this document are Qty received and Condition. Add an Ordered column from the column bar if you want the comparison on the page.
The Amount column and the totals are switched off on this document. Prices are not the receiver’s business, and a GRN showing values invites a conversation about cost at the loading bay.
Fix these once
- Your business name and the receiving site address.
- The standard instruction: count, do not copy.
- The signature block, switched on.
- Your standard condition wording, if you use codes.
Leave these blank
The supplier, the PO number, the date, the lines and the quantities. Especially the quantities.
A template to copy
[Your business name]
[Receiving site address]
GOODS RECEIVED NOTE No. GRN-____
Date received: ____
Time: ____
Received from
[left blank]
Against PO ____
Their note number ____
Description Qty received Condition
____________________________ ____________ _________
____________________________ ____________ _________
Count every line. Do not copy from the delivery note.
Checked by ____________________ Signature ____________
Driver ____________________ Signature ____________The instruction line looks patronising written down. It is the single most effective thing on the form.
Two signatures
Your person and the driver. Yours confirms the count; theirs confirms they saw it and took back anything rejected.
Switch the signature block on in the sidebar and the two ruled columns appear at the foot of the sheet.
Variants
Standard delivery. As above.
Partial delivery. Same, with a Balance outstanding column so the remainder is recorded rather than remembered.
Returns. Reverse the logic: what went back, why, and who collected it.
Each is a saved file, written to your own disk with Save as file.
A barcode, if you scan
The sheet can place a Code 39 barcode at the top or foot, carrying the GRN number. If your stock system scans documents in, that saves keying.
Keep the caption accurate. A barcode captioned “GRN reference” that encodes something else is worse than none.
A check before saving
- Is the received quantity column blank rather than pre-filled?
- Is the signature block switched on?
- Is the PO number field present?
- Is the Amount column off, so no prices appear?
Where the template stops
It cannot tell you whether the count was done properly. That is a habit, not a form. What the form can do is make the honest version quicker than the lazy one.
The goods received note format
A GRN’s format is a delivery note’s mirror, written by the receiving side. The supplier and the order reference at the top, then for each line: what was ordered, what actually arrived, and its condition. Ordered and received sit in adjacent columns on purpose, so a shortfall is visible as a mismatch rather than buried in prose.
Date and signature at the foot, because the whole value of the document is that somebody counted, on a known day. See what is a goods received note.
A worked goods received note example you can copy
A sample goods received note with a shortfall, which is when the format earns its keep:
GOODS RECEIVED NOTE GRN-0019
Supplier: Tilemart Ltd Against: PO-0112
Description Ordered Received Condition
Floor tile, grey, 600x600 24 22 1 box crushed
Adhesive, 20kg 6 6 Good
Counted by: J. Mwangi Date: 5 Sept 2026The example records three facts the supplier’s invoice will need to answer to: two boxes short, one damaged, counted by a named person on a named date. When the invoice arrives claiming 24, the credit conversation starts from this document instead of from memory. That is three way matching working as intended.
Next
For the reasoning behind each field, see what is a goods received note. For what to do when the numbers do not match, see short and damaged deliveries. For using the same form to log customer returns, see paperwork for returns. Or open the goods received note generator.