Invoicing and documents
Delivery note (DN)
A delivery note is a commercial document accompanying a shipment of goods that lists the description and quantity of items enclosed without displaying their financial value.
What is Delivery note?
A delivery note, often called a dispatch note or goods receipt, travels alongside your physical shipment to tell the buyer exactly what is in the box. You use it to list the product descriptions, item codes, and quantities included in the delivery. Crucially, a delivery note usually hides the prices. This ensures that warehouse staff or transport drivers do not see the financial value of the goods they handle. When the shipment arrives, the receiving party checks the physical items against the delivery note. If the quantities match, they sign the document. This signed copy becomes your proof of delivery. If a dispute arises later over missing items or incomplete orders, you can produce the signed delivery note as concrete evidence that the customer received exactly what was promised.
How Delivery note works
The process begins after a customer confirms an order and your team prepares the physical goods for dispatch. You generate the delivery note directly from the sales order, ensuring the item quantities match what is actually packed. The printed document is then attached to the outside of the parcel or handed to the delivery driver. Upon reaching the destination, the customer inspects the shipment. They use the delivery note as a checklist to verify that the correct items and quantities have arrived. If everything is in order, the customer signs and dates the document. The driver returns the signed copy to your office, where your accounts team files it and triggers the final sales invoice for the delivered goods.
- You generate the document from an approved sales order before packing the goods.
- The warehouse team uses the printed note to pick and pack the correct quantities.
- The driver transports the goods with the note attached to the shipment.
- The customer counts the received items and compares them against the listed quantities.
- The customer signs the document to acknowledge receipt and hands it back to the driver.
Why it matters for your business
Issuing a delivery note protects your business from false claims of non-delivery. Without a signed proof of delivery, a customer might argue they never received the goods, leaving you with no evidence to demand payment. It also streamlines the receiving process for your clients, helping them update their own stock records quickly. If items are damaged or missing, the customer notes this on the document before signing, which simplifies the returns process. Because Paper & Pen creates invoices, quotations and receipts, you can easily link your delivery documentation to your final billing.
See also
Questions
Common questions
Is a delivery note the same as an invoice?
Do I need to keep signed delivery notes?
What happens if a delivery is short or damaged?
Related terms
- Sales order A sales order is an internal document generated by a seller upon receiving a purchase order, confirming the details of the goods or services to be provided to the buyer.
- Invoice An invoice is a commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer, detailing the products or services provided and specifying the amount owed for that transaction.
- Purchase order A purchase order is a legally binding document issued by a buyer to a supplier, authorising a purchase and detailing the exact items, quantities and agreed prices.
- Credit note A credit note is a commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer, reducing or cancelling the amount owed on a previously issued invoice due to errors, returns, or damages.
- Debit note A debit note is a commercial document issued by a buyer to request a credit, or by a seller to increase the amount owed on an existing invoice.
- Estimate An estimate is an approximate calculation of the expected cost for a specific job or project, provided by a business to a potential client before work begins.