Receiving Inventory from a Distributor
How Receiving Works
Access requirements. You'll need edit access to "Purchase orders" — the same access that lets you create one.
You choose which purchase order to receive against — it's not looked up automatically. When you start receiving, you'll pick the store and distributor, then check off which of that distributor's open purchase orders you're receiving.
You can combine several open purchase orders from the same distributor into one receiving session. Tick as many of them as you're receiving when you start. Once you're in the session, "PO details" lists the orders you're receiving together and lets you set each one's "Division" — the branch of that distributor the order came from, if they've set any up.
Skipping the invoice doesn't mean starting from scratch. If you don't upload one, every line starts pre-filled with what you ordered — quantity and cost — so you're only correcting what's different, not typing everything in from zero.
Receiving a different quantity or cost than you ordered is never blocked. There's no required confirmation step for it — you can receive more or less than you ordered and finish receiving anyway.
You can pause and come back later. As long as you haven't clicked "Finish receiving" yet, reopening the purchase order drops you right back into the same session, wherever you left off.
There's no way to leave part of an order "still owed" once you finish. Purchase orders don't have a partially-received state — whatever wasn't received by the time you click "Finish receiving" isn't tracked afterward. If you need the rest later, that's a new purchase order.
Important: if an item on the purchase order has since been deleted from your catalog, you can't finish receiving until it's removed from the order or you contact support — there's no way around this.
Where to Access Each Feature
To… | Go to |
Start receiving against an existing purchase order | Purchase orders → "Start receiving" → "Receive against an existing PO" |
Resume a receiving session already in progress | Purchase orders → open that purchase order again |
Abandon receiving and return the order to Ordered | Receiving workspace → "⋮" → "Back to ordered" |
Starting a Receiving Session
Step 1
Click on "Purchase orders," then click "Start receiving."
Step 2
Choose the "Store" and "Distributor."
Step 3
Under "How do you want to receive?" choose "Receive against an existing PO."
Step 4
Check off the purchase order you're receiving. You can tick more than one — any open orders from that distributor can be received together in a single session.
Step 5
Click "Start receiving."
Uploading an Invoice, or Skipping It
Step 6
If you have an invoice, click to upload it, or drag and drop it in — items, quantities, and costs are extracted automatically.
Step 7
Once you're done uploading, click "Continue to review items." If you don't have an invoice, click "Skip and add items manually" instead.
Matching and Reviewing Items
Step 8
On the items screen, review each line. Anything that couldn't be automatically matched to a catalog item shows a "Match item" button; anything with an unusually low or high margin shows "Fix margin."
Step 9
Click "Match item" on any unmatched line, select the correct item, and confirm.
Step 10
If an item genuinely isn't in your catalog yet, you don't have to leave the match window to add it — click "Create new product or item" right there. (The same option also appears as "Create item" on the main items screen toolbar, if you'd rather add it before matching anything.)
To put an item that's already in your catalog onto the order, click "Add items" on that toolbar and search by distributor ID, name, SKU (your store's own product code), or barcode. Items that are already on the order still show in the results, grouped under "Already on this order," and searching lets you pick one again to add another line for it. If you'd rather scan than search, turn on "Quick scan to add" in that window — each barcode you scan is added to the order straight away and appears in the items list. Scanning works differently on purpose: scanning a barcode for an item that's already on the order won't add a duplicate.
To take lines off the order, tick the checkbox on each row you want to drop — or the checkbox at the top of the column, which selects everything matching the filters you have on — then click "Remove selected" in the bar that appears, which also shows how many are selected. A message confirms how many items were removed. Changing a filter clears whatever you had selected, and lines can't be removed once you've finished receiving.
Step 11
Once every line is matched, click "Next."
Reviewing Margins
Step 12
Review "Suggested pricing updates" — this lists items whose cost changed enough that your price may need adjusting.
Step 13
For any flagged line, open it, adjust the retail price or margin as needed, and click "Update." If the margin is fine as it is, check "Skip margin checks for this line" instead.
Step 14
Click "Next."
Reviewing Negative Stock
Step 15
For any item that would go negative, choose "Add" to add the received stock onto the current count, or "Replace" to set the count to exactly what you received. Do this per line, or use "Set all" to apply one choice to everything at once.
Step 16
Click "Next."
Finishing Receiving
Step 17
Fill in "Received by," "Receiving at," and optionally "Invoice number" and "Payment due."
Step 18
Click "Finish receiving."
Troubleshooting
You received a different quantity or cost than you ordered and don't see a warning: that's expected — receiving doesn't require matching what you ordered, and nothing stops you from finishing with a different amount.
You need to receive the rest of an order later: you can pause any time before clicking "Finish receiving" — reopen the purchase order and you'll land back in the same session where you left off.
You can't finish receiving because of a deleted item: remove that line from the purchase order, or contact support for help — a deleted catalog item blocks completion entirely.
You want to undo receiving and go back to Ordered: use "⋮" → "Back to ordered" in the receiving workspace — this discards your progress, including any uploaded invoices.