Delivery note

In practice for trades

A delivery note usually shows quantities but no prices, because its job is to confirm the goods, not to bill for them. The money side follows on the invoice.

The moment that matters is the signature. Signing a delivery note without checking it is an expensive habit: once it is signed clean, arguing later that four lengths were missing or two panels arrived cracked is a much weaker position. Anything short, damaged or wrong gets written on the note before it is signed, and a photo takes seconds.

For trades the note also does a second job on the way out. When you hand finished work or supplied materials over to a customer, the same document becomes proof of handover, which is why the generator covers both directions.

Keep the signed note. It is the middle link in the chain that catches supplier billing errors: purchase order, then delivery note, then invoice. All three should agree, and when they do not, the delivery note is usually the one telling the truth.

Worked example

You order 40 lengths of conduit. 36 arrive. The driver's note is marked "36 received, 4 short" before signing. When the supplier's invoice arrives for 40, the signed note is the whole argument, and the difference is corrected by credit note rather than absorbed.