Checking deliveries against what was ordered

The problem

Deliveries get signed for without a careful count. Shortages, wrong items and price increases are discovered weeks later, after the invoice is paid.

What SI does

Staff snap a photo of the packing slip or forward the supplier invoice. SI reads it, matches it line by line to the purchase order, and lists anything short, extra, substituted, backordered or priced differently. It drafts a note to the supplier for credits or missing items and updates the open-orders sheet.

Examples

The same job looks different in different businesses. These are illustrations, not client results.

• Restaurant

  The fish delivery is two kilos short and the produce invoice shows a higher price on lemons; both are flagged before the invoice is entered.

• Hardware store

  A pallet arrives with a substituted brand of fasteners; the note to the distributor asks for confirmation of price.

• Medical clinic

  A supply order arrives with one item backordered, and the clinic manager is alerted so the item can be sourced elsewhere.

What it takes to set up

Open purchase orders in a sheet or system, and a phone or email path for packing slips. Setup is often a few days.

Try it yourself

Paste this into your SI tool of choice and swap the [bracketed] parts for your own details. It asks SI to stop and show you before it does anything.

Compare this packing slip or invoice [photo/PDF] with purchase order [number or file]. List lines that are short, extra, substituted, backordered or priced differently. Draft a note to [supplier] asking for credit or the missing items. Update [open-orders sheet]. Pause and show me before sending, submitting, posting or changing anything.