A short delivery happens when a supplier delivers fewer units than your purchase order (PO) shows. The fix is simple: approve the invoice against what actually arrived, never against what the order said. Record the gap on the spot, agree the replacement or credit, and only sign off once the paperwork matches.
Approving against the PO alone is a quiet way to leak food cost. When you book ten cases because the order said ten, but only eight showed up, you pay for stock you never received and your inventory is wrong the moment it is loaded. Check every delivery against the checklist below while the driver is still there, and the team can identify the gap before the receipt is finalized.
The short delivery checklist
Count each line as the cases come off the truck.
- Ordered quantity, the number your purchase order asked for.
- Physically received, the units that actually arrived.
- Accepted quantity, the cases you keep after inspection.
- Rejected quantity, the units you send back because they are damaged, spoiled, or about to expire.
- Missing quantity is ordered minus physically delivered. Quantity awaiting resolution includes missing and rejected units; the agreed outcome may be replacement, cancellation, or an invoice adjustment.
Record each row with the branch or unit, the delivery date, the supplier name, and the delivery note number so every entry is traceable across your locations. On the note, write received, accepted, and rejected in clear figures, and leave any outstanding amount visible until it is resolved.
Worked example: ten cases ordered
In this hypothetical example, a branch orders ten cases of coconut milk.
Eight cases arrived. One was damaged, the carton was crushed and two cans had leaked, so you reject it. The remaining seven are clean and you accept them. Count carefully: two cases are missing, the ten ordered minus the eight delivered; one is rejected, the crushed unit; and seven are accepted into stock. Never book all ten as received. Seven enter inventory, and three remain unresolved until replacement, cancellation, credit, or another authorized outcome is recorded.
| Line | Cases |
|---|---|
| Ordered | 10 |
| Physically received | 8 |
| Accepted into inventory | 7 |
| Rejected (damaged) | 1 |
| Outstanding (2 missing + 1 rejected) | 3 |
Notify the supplier and agree the fix
Once the short is confirmed, close it cleanly.
- Notify the supplier in writing. A photo of the delivery note and the damaged unit, sent with a timestamped message, is easier to reconcile than a phone call.
- Agree the resolution line by line, a replacement for the rejected case and a credit or re-delivery for the two missing.
- Confirm how each outstanding line is put right, a credit note, a replacement, or a corrected delivery note.
- Keep the delivery note, photo, and confirmation filed by branch and date so the record closes.
- Name the authorized reviewer and record the agreed treatment of each unresolved line. Follow the business approval process for accepted quantities and disputed amounts.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between missing and rejected? Missing never arrived; rejected arrived but you refused it. Keep them as separate rows because they are resolved differently.
Can I keep the good units and only reject the damaged one? Yes, and document it. In the example above, keep 7, reject 1, and follow up on the 2 that were missing, leaving 3 to be made good.
Why not book the full 10 as received? Because booking against the PO overstates your stock, inflates what you owe, and hides a real mismatch. Recording the accepted 7 records accepted stock accurately; reconcile the invoice separately through authorized review.
Book a walkthrough
A tight receiving process protects margin before cost enters the kitchen. TajerGo supports branch purchase orders, partial receiving, PO and GRN and invoice differences, and named staff approval, while keeping a clean record for every branch. Book a purchasing walkthrough using your branch's delivery and invoice process. To see how a clean delivery unlocks the wider food-cost workflow, read our guide to supplier invoice scanning in a food-cost workflow and how purchasing and supplier tools tie each branch, PO, and receipt together.