What is a delivery note?

A wholesaler of installation materials sends thirty items to a customer. With the goods comes a document listing what was sent. The recipient counts, signs, or reports a difference. That is the delivery note.

The delivery note is your proof of what was delivered, and you need it when a customer later says something was missing or damaged. It is separate from the sales invoice: the delivery note says what arrived, the invoice says what the customer has to pay. That is why prices are often left off.

Without one, things get messy. You cannot show what went out, the customer disputes the invoice, and nobody knows whether a part-shipment has already left. With part-deliveries it matters even more that each shipment has its own delivery note, traceable to the order confirmation the customer ordered against.

Check the details that must appear: the order number, the delivery address, the description and the item number per line, and the quantity. Recipients often search by item number, so it has to match their own order. Make sure the delivery note and the invoice come from the same order, so the two do not drift apart.

In the warehouse the same order usually also drives picking: what is on the delivery note should end up in the box.

Keep the delivery notes as well. With a complaint, a return or an audit of your records, you want to be able to find exactly what went to whom, and when. A scanned copy filed with the order is usually enough.