The short answer
A goods receipt note (GRN) records what physically arrived at the factory, against which purchase order and delivery, in what quantity and under which batch number. A good GRN process compares the receipt with what was promised, gets short, excess and late deliveries decided by a manager, and sends the material to quality inspection before it counts as usable stock.
What a GRN should record
- The purchase order and the specific delivery (schedule line) being received
- Supplier and supplier document reference, such as invoice or delivery challan number
- Material and quantity received
- Batch or lot number — the supplier’s batch or one assigned at receipt
- Receipt date and the person who received it
- Where the material was put: warehouse and bin location
The batch number is the most important field most factories skip. Without it, receipts from different deliveries of the same material merge into one stock figure and can never be separated again.
Receive against the order, not against a blank page
A GRN typed on a blank register page tells you what arrived. A GRN created from the purchase order tells you whether that is what should have arrived. The second is far more useful.
Large orders are rarely delivered in one go. A 1,000 kg order might be scheduled as 600 kg in the first week and 400 kg later in the month. Receiving against each scheduled delivery, rather than against the order as a whole, makes it clear which delivery is late and which is complete.
Handling short, excess and late deliveries
| Mismatch | Example | Decision needed |
|---|---|---|
| Short delivery | 550 kg received against 600 kg scheduled | Accept the short quantity and keep the balance open, or close the balance |
| Excess delivery | 650 kg received against 600 kg scheduled | Accept the excess, or return it to the supplier |
| Overdue delivery | Material due on 4 Oct arrives on 12 Oct | Accept the late delivery; note the supplier delay |
The key point is who decides. The person at the gate should record what arrived; a purchase manager or plant head should decide what to do about a mismatch. Mixing those roles means mismatches are settled informally and never reach the record — which is exactly the information you need when reviewing suppliers.
Why received material should not be stock yet
If a GRN immediately increases usable stock, uninspected material becomes available to production. When quality later rejects part of it, the stock figure is already wrong — and some of the material may already be on the shop floor.
A safer sequence is: receipt creates a "waiting for QA" quantity; quality inspection decides the accepted and rejected quantities; only the accepted quantity becomes usable stock.
- Record the GRN against the scheduled delivery, with batch number.
- Route any mismatch to a manager for approval or rejection.
- Send cleared receipts to quality inspection.
- Post only the accepted quantity to stock, by batch and location.
- Update the purchase order to partially or fully received.
How mosaicOne handles goods receipts
In mosaicOne, approving a purchase order creates delivery batches with promised quantities and dates. Receiving posts a GRN against an open delivery batch and captures the batch number and received quantity. Over, short and overdue receipts wait for a purchase manager or management decision; clean receipts move to QA. Inventory is posted only from the quality-accepted quantity, and the PO moves to partially or fully received.
Key takeaways
- Create GRNs from the purchase order and its scheduled deliveries.
- Always capture a batch number at receipt.
- Let the gate record mismatches and a manager decide them.
- Stock should come from quality acceptance, not from receipt.