Restaurant Month-End Review: Open Orders, Receipts and Invoices
A month-end purchase review answers one question: what is the current state of every purchase order? It is not a cash report and not an accounting close. It is an operational handover that shows what has been ordered, what has been received, what is still open, and which invoices still need attention before the next month begins. Run it monthly and your receiving staff, buyer, and manager all work from the same list, with no open order mistaken for cash already spent.
This guide is operational and gives no accounting or tax advice. Keep original orders, receipts, and invoices unchanged, and link any approved correction to the original record.
Build the working list
Gather every open purchase order (PO), every goods receipt note (GRN), and every supplier invoice into one list. For each line record a reference, a branch, a status, a quantity basis, evidence, an owner, a due date, and a next step.
Use descriptive statuses such as these, allowing multiple relevant flags where issues overlap:
- Ordered but not delivered. Nothing has arrived. The order status alone does not show whether an invoice or payment exists; verify those records separately.
- Partially delivered. Some units arrived and the rest is still pending.
- Received but not invoiced. Goods are on site and the invoice has not come yet.
- Invoiced with a mismatch. The invoice differs from the GRN or the PO.
- Supplier issue pending. A difference is being resolved with the supplier.
- Possible duplicate, still under review. The document resembles another invoice or record. Review identifiers, supplier details and evidence before confirming whether it is a duplicate.
Review the list each month
- For every order marked not delivered or partially delivered, note the expected delivery date and who is responsible.
- Confirm with the supplier how many units remain and when they will arrive.
- Match each invoice to its goods receipt note before accepting it.
- For any mismatch, compare the quantity and the total against the GRN and the PO.
- Assign an owner and a due date to every open supplier issue and every possible duplicate.
A clearly hypothetical example
A branch processes a product ordered in 12 boxes. The supplier delivers 9 boxes, and 3 boxes are still outstanding at month end.
The list is recorded as ordered 12, received 9, outstanding 3. You do not call the 12 boxes cash already spent, and you do not list the 3 open boxes as unpaid invoices. The invoice for the accepted goods matches the 9 boxes delivered, and the remaining 3 boxes stay against the same PO with the expected delivery date recorded. When those 3 boxes arrive, you close them against their own GRN. This only records the position; it does not claim any saving.
| Reference | Branch | Status | Quantity basis | Evidence | Owner | Due date | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PO-1142 | Marina | Received | 9 boxes | GRN-1142 | Store lead | 28 Sep | Match to invoice |
| PO-1142 | Marina | Outstanding | 3 boxes | PO-1142 | Buyer | 05 Oct | Confirm delivery |
Quick answers
Is an open purchase order an unpaid invoice? No. An open PO records an order. It does not by itself establish whether a related invoice has been issued or paid; check linked documents.
Should I pay an invoice that does not match the receipt? Flag the mismatch and have the authorized reviewer determine the agreed treatment under your business policy and supplier terms. Preserve the supporting documents.
Can a quantity be corrected without a trace? No. An approved correction is recorded and points back to the original order, so the change stays visible.
Make it routine
Run the same checklist at the end of each month and the next period starts from a clear list. TajerGo helps you run this purchase review with branch purchase orders, partial receiving, and a comparison of PO, GRN, and invoice differences, all with staff approval and a documented trail. For the ordering side, see TajerGo purchasing and suppliers: https://tajergo.ae/features/purchasing-suppliers/
To turn supplier invoices into usable food cost data, read the TajerGo supplier invoice scanning workflow: https://tajergo.ae/blog/supplier-invoice-scanning-food-cost-workflow-uae/
To see this month-end review in practice, request a walkthrough of the workflow. Bring one open purchase order and one recent supplier invoice, and we will go through the checklist together.