Delivery Note

A delivery note is a document that accompanies a supplier shipment and lists the goods included in that consignment. It allows the buyer to check what has arrived against what was ordered before accepting the delivery and approving the supplier's invoice for payment.

What a Delivery Note Contains

A delivery note typically includes the supplier's name and contact details, the buyer's delivery address, a reference to the original purchase order, a description of each item, the quantity sent per line, and any batch or serial numbers where relevant. Some suppliers include the unit price; others do not - the price is confirmed on the invoice that follows separately.

The purchase order reference is the critical field. It lets the receiving team pull up the original order immediately and compare what was expected against what arrived. Without that link, matching becomes a manual exercise that slows processes and lets discrepancies go unnoticed.

The Three-Way Match: PO, Delivery Note, and Invoice

Paying a supplier accurately involves checking three documents against each other: the purchase order (what you agreed to buy and at what price), the delivery note (what the supplier says they sent), and the supplier invoice (what the supplier is requesting payment for). This is called three-way matching.

When goods arrive, the receiving team checks the delivery note against the open purchase order - confirming quantities, noting any shortfalls or substitutions, and flagging damaged items. Once the delivery note is accepted and recorded, the business has a confirmed record of what physically arrived. When the invoice comes in, finance checks it against both documents. If all three align, the invoice is approved. If there is a discrepancy - a quantity difference, a price that does not match the PO, or goods that were never delivered - the team has the evidence to query it before paying.

Without a delivery note on file, businesses often pay for goods they never received, or spend hours investigating discrepancies after the fact when the goods and the circumstances are harder to reconstruct.

Zigaflow's delivery notes feature allows businesses to log and match delivery notes against specific purchase orders, turning three-way matching into a structured process rather than an informal check that relies on individual team members.

FAQs

What is the difference between a delivery note and an invoice? A delivery note confirms what physical goods have been sent by the supplier. An invoice is the formal request for payment. A delivery note arrives with or just before the goods; an invoice may follow days later. The delivery note does not create a payment obligation - only the approved invoice does.

What should a business do if the delivery does not match the delivery note? Note the discrepancy on the delivery note before signing - record the short quantity, wrong item, or damaged goods. Notify the supplier the same day and do not approve the corresponding invoice until the issue is resolved through a credit note or a confirmed replacement delivery.

Do delivery notes need to be retained after goods are received? Yes. Delivery notes should be filed and linked to the corresponding purchase order and supplier invoice. If a supplier later disputes what was delivered, or an auditor reviews procurement records, the delivery note is the primary evidence of what physically arrived and when.