Finance Index
How do I record a partial receipt and handle receiving exceptions?
Reference guide to partial receipts receiving exceptions, including request intake, purchasing controls, approval routing, vendor coordination, and finance visibility.
Record what actually arrived, line by line, and leave the rest open. A partial receipt confirms the quantity delivered against each PO line while keeping the balance pending - so matching can proceed on what's here and the system still expects the remainder. The discipline is line-level receiving plus a clear status (partially received, backordered, won't be received) on every open line.
At a Glance
| Aspect | Short Answer | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Record a partial receipt | Record what actually arrived, line by line, and leave the rest open. | Keeps spend tied to policy, ownership, and review. |
| Vendor impact | The receipt is your evidence. | Keeps evidence clear and reduces control risk. |
| Card control | Enter the received quantity against each line and leave the balance open as remaining - the PO stays partially received until the rest arrives or the line is closed. | Reduces payment errors, timing issues, and reconciliation cleanup. |
| Handle over-shipments | Record the actual quantity received and decide deliberately: accept and amend the PO (and pay for the extra) or reject and return the overage. | Reduces payment errors, timing issues, and reconciliation cleanup. |
| Record damaged | Receive the good quantity, log the damaged/rejected quantity with documentation (photos help), and open a return or credit request to the vendor so the invoice matches only what you're keeping. | Keeps vendor records and payment decisions reliable. |
The vendor short-shipped and invoiced for the full quantity - how do I handle the dispute and the match?
The receipt is your evidence. Record the quantity actually received, which puts the full-quantity invoice into a quantity exception (billed more than received). Hold the disputed portion, pay for what arrived if your process allows partial payment, and route the variance to the buyer to resolve with the vendor - credit, reshipment, or corrected invoice. Without a receipt capturing the true quantity, you have nothing but the vendor's number, and short-ships get paid in full. This is the single clearest argument for 3-way matching on goods.
How do I record a partial receipt when only some of the order arrived?
Enter the received quantity against each line and leave the balance open as remaining - the PO stays partially received until the rest arrives or the line is closed. Line-level partial receiving is what keeps split shipments from forcing all-or-nothing confirmation.
How do I handle over-shipments - the vendor delivered more than the PO quantity?
Record the actual quantity received and decide deliberately: accept and amend the PO (and pay for the extra) or reject and return the overage. Either way the receipt reflects reality and the matching variance is resolved on the record, not silently absorbed.
How do I record damaged or rejected goods at receipt and trigger a return or credit?
Receive the good quantity, log the damaged/rejected quantity with documentation (photos help), and open a return or credit request to the vendor so the invoice matches only what you're keeping. Don't receive damaged goods as good just to clear the PO - that pays for product you returned.
The invoice arrived before the goods - should we hold it, and how do we track invoices waiting on receipt?
Hold it in a pending-receipt state rather than paying or rejecting - the invoice is valid, the delivery just hasn't been confirmed. Track these so they don't get lost: an invoice waiting on receipt should be visible and aging, not buried, so it pays promptly once goods arrive.
How do I handle backorders and split shipments against one PO?
Receive each shipment as a partial against its lines; the PO accumulates received quantity and tracks remaining until complete. Backorders are just an open remaining balance with an expected date - the line stays open and visible until filled or closed.
How do I receive against the wrong PO and fix it after the fact?
Reverse or correct the erroneous receipt and record it against the correct PO, leaving both actions in the audit trail rather than deleting history. The ability to decline or correct a misassigned receipt is what prevents one mistake from cascading into a match failure.
How do I track expected vs actual delivery dates and chase late orders?
Capture a need-by/expected date on the PO line and report on lines past due without a receipt - that aging list is your follow-up queue and your input to vendor on-time-delivery tracking. You can't chase late orders you can't see are late.
How should receiving exceptions feed back into vendor performance tracking?
Aggregate short-ships, over-ships, damages, and late deliveries by vendor over time - the pattern is the input to vendor scorecards and renewal conversations. A single short-ship is noise; a vendor with a recurring short-ship rate is a sourcing decision.
Stampli perspective
Stampli records full or partial receipts at the PO line level, so each line carries its received, remaining, and status detail, and AP sees that context during invoice review. Receivers can confirm partial deliveries, attach proof, decline incorrect assignments, and close or correct receiving lines, with every action timestamped in an audit-ready history. A short-ship surfaces as a quantity discrepancy at matching rather than slipping through on the vendor's full-quantity invoice.