Delivery Note
Go to: Inventory → Delivery Note
The delivery note is where a sale becomes physical. It records what actually left the warehouse against a sales order, takes the stock out, posts cost of goods sold, and opens the door to the sales invoice.
Delivery notes live in the Inventory module because they move stock, but they belong to the sales cycle. This page covers them from the sales side — what they do to your order and your invoice. For the stock-side reference (valuation, batches, serials, bundles, reorder levels), see Inventory → Delivery Note.
Where it sits in the chain
A delivery note cannot be typed from scratch. Every item row must be pulled from an approved sales order or a letter of credit using Get Items. Rows typed by hand are rejected on save.
Creating a delivery note
You can start it from either end:
- From the sales order: Create → Delivery Note. The order is already selected.
- From Inventory: Inventory → Delivery Note → Add Delivery Note, then Get Items → Sales Order (or Letter of Credit).
Pull in the order lines
Get Items lists the approved orders with quantity still to deliver. Select the rows you are shipping.
Set the posting and delivery dates
The delivery date is the real dispatch date — it is what selects the valuation rate used for cost of goods sold.
Choose the source warehouse
The stock has to be there on the delivery date.
Adjust quantities for a partial shipment
Reduce quantities where you are sending only part of the order. The order stays open for the balance.
Fill in transport details
Transporter, vehicle number, LR number, driver, transport receipt number.
Save, then approve
Save keeps it in Draft — nothing has moved. Approve dispatches the stock.
Header fields (sales-relevant)
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Number | Auto-generated document number |
| Customer | Carried from the sales order or LC |
| Posting Date | Accounting date of the dispatch |
| Delivery Date | Date the goods left |
| Source Warehouse | Where the stock leaves from |
| Currency / Exchange Rate | Carried from the order |
| Priority | Low / Medium / High |
| Payment Term / Price Term | Carried from the order |
| Customer Purchase Order / PO Date | The customer’s own reference |
| Ship To / Bill To / Dispatch Address | Addresses printed on the note |
| Transporter, Vehicle Number, LR Number, Driver, Transport Receipt No | Outbound logistics |
| Billed Amount | How much of this delivery has been invoiced |
| Status | See Statuses |
What approval does
On a large delivery — one where later stock movements exist for the same items and have to be recalculated — approval is handed to a background job. The delivery note sits at Pending while that runs, and the screen tells you the operation is still processing. Unapproval and cancellation can behave the same way.
While a delivery note is Pending, you cannot raise a sales invoice, packing list, or shipment from it: “Cannot create Sales Invoice from a Delivery Note whose approval, unapproval, or cancellation is still processing. Please wait for the operation to finish.” Refresh in a moment and try again.
Statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Being prepared. No stock effect |
| Pending | An approve, unapprove, or cancel is running in the background |
| To Bill | Delivered, waiting to be invoiced |
| Completed | Fully invoiced |
| Closed | Closed short — the remaining quantity will not be delivered |
| Return | This note is itself a customer return |
| Return Issued | A return has been raised against this note |
| Cancelled | Reversed; kept for audit |
Actions
| Action | Available when | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Edit | Draft | Opens the note for changes |
| Approve | Draft | Issues the stock and posts the accounting entries |
| Unapprove | To Bill or Completed | Reverts to Draft, undoes the stock and financial entries, and unlinks quality inspections |
| Cancel | Approved, not Draft / Cancelled / Return / Return Issued / Completed | Sets status to Cancelled and reverses stock, financial entries, and parent quantities |
| Delete | Draft | Permanently removes the note |
| Create → Sales Invoice | Status is To Bill | Opens a new invoice pre-filled from this delivery |
| Create → Delivery Note Return | Status is To Bill | Raises a return over the still-returnable quantity |
| Assign | Not Cancelled, Completed, or Pending | Assigns to a colleague and notifies them |
| View → Stock Ledger | Approved | Shows the stock entries this note created |
| View → Accounting Ledger | Approved, when valuation is shown | Shows the general ledger entries |
| Save PDF | Saved note | The delivery note document |
| Save with Packing List | Saved note | Delivery note combined with its packing list |
Delete and Cancel are both blocked by child records — packing lists, shipments, and sales invoices. Delete is blocked by any of them; Cancel by any that are not themselves cancelled. Deal with those documents first.
Partial and multiple deliveries
Deliver less than ordered and the sales order stays open for the balance. Raise another delivery note when the rest is ready. The order’s Delivered Quantity climbs with each approval, and only moves the order to To Bill once nothing is left to ship.
If the remainder will never be sent, close the delivery short rather than leaving the order open forever.
Returns from customers
Create → Delivery Note Return raises a return against the original note. ERPX resolves the rows from the original, so a return can never exceed what was delivered, and marks the original as Return Issued.
A return brings the stock back at the original valuation rates, so the reversal is cost-neutral. To reverse the billing as well, raise a credit note against the sales invoice.
Quality inspections
The Quality Inspections tab links inspections to delivery note rows. The screen warns you before approving if an inspection for the delivery has been rejected, and points you at the tab so you can reinspect first.
Unapproving a delivery note unlinks its quality inspections, because the batch allocation may change when it is re-approved. The inspection records themselves are kept.
Tabs
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Details | Customer, dates, warehouse, items, taxes, totals |
| Addresses | Ship To, Bill To, dispatch address |
| Other Details | Transport details, terms, accounts |
| Associations | Sales invoices, packing lists, shipments, and returns raised from this note |
| Quality Inspections | Inspections linked to the delivered rows |
Common validations and troubleshooting
| Message / behaviour | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| “Parent Document Required — Use Get Items…” | A row is not linked to a sales order or LC row | Remove the row and pull it in with Get Items |
| “Quantity must be greater than 0” | An empty quantity on a row | Enter a quantity or delete the row |
| “Delivery Note approval is already processing” | An approve/unapprove/cancel is running in the background | Wait for it to finish |
| “Cannot create Sales Invoice from a Delivery Note whose approval … is still processing” | The note is Pending | Wait, then retry |
| Insufficient stock in the source warehouse | Not enough stock at the delivery date | Receive stock, or reduce the quantity |
| “delivery note date cannot be before the stock opening for item …” | The posting date predates the item’s opening stock in that warehouse | Move the posting date forward |
| “Each tax or charge must have either a rate or an amount greater than zero” | An empty tax or charge line | Fill it in or remove it |
| Quality inspection warning on approve | An inspection for the delivery is rejected | Reinspect, then approve |
| Delivery note not in the list | It is assigned to someone else and you lack CAN_VIEW_ALL_DELIVERY_NOTE | Ask for the capability |
Related pages
- Inventory → Delivery Note — the full stock-side reference
- Sales Order — what a delivery is raised against
- Sales Invoice — billing the delivered quantity
- Packing — carton-level contents
- Delivery Schedule — planned vs actual delivery dates