Item receipt

Glossary / Item receipt · Also called Goods received note, Receiving report

How it works

Deliveries and bills often travel separately. The truck arrives with a packing slip on Tuesday; the invoice comes by email a week later. If you wait for the bill to record the goods, your stock count is wrong for a week and you may sell what the books say you do not have.

An item receipt solves that. Stock goes up the day the goods arrive, at the price on the purchase order or packing slip. When the bill comes, you open the item receipt, check the amount, adjust it if the bill differs, and save it as a bill. Only then is it due for payment.

Worked example: Receiving coffee beans before the bill

A cafe receives 50 kg of coffee beans at $18 per kg on June 3, with a packing slip but no bill. It records an item receipt for $900.

Inventory rises by $900 and the amount sits in accounts payable as not yet payable. On June 10 the bill arrives for $900. The cafe turns the item receipt into the bill, which is now due on its terms and appears in Pay Bills.

In AcboBooks

In AcboBooks, an item receipt is recorded from a purchase order (or entered directly), puts the goods into stock, and holds the amount in accounts payable as not payable until the vendor's bill is entered against it.

Related terms

• Purchase order (PO)
• Bill
• Accounts payable (A/P)
• Inventory valuation
• Average cost

Related on this site

• Purchase orders in AcboBooks
• Inventory in AcboBooks
• FIFO vs average cost

Updated October 25, 2026. General information, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Rules and rates change; check with the IRS, the CRA, your state or province, or your accountant.

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