The goods received note nobody wants to fill in

A goods received note is a short record, made at the delivery door, of what actually arrived: which items, how many, in what condition and at what temperature. In most restaurants it either does not exist or exists as a signature scrawled on the driver's delivery note during prep. It is one of the least loved pieces of paper in a kitchen, and one of the most valuable.

The reason is simple. The delivery door is the cheapest place in the business to catch an error. Once a short delivery has been signed for, put away and mixed with yesterday's stock, it is almost impossible to prove. Once a box of wilted herbs has gone into the walk-in, it becomes waste rather than a credit. Once an invoice for the full order has been paid, getting the money back takes phone calls, emails and goodwill. At the door, the same problem takes a minute to note and a sentence to resolve.

This guide explains what a goods received note is for, what it should record, how to make the check quick enough that it actually happens, and what to do with it afterwards. Every figure in it is an example.

A goods received note, often shortened to GRN, records the receiving side of a delivery. The supplier's delivery note says what they sent. The goods received note says what you got. Where the two agree, the delivery note can serve as the record, signed and annotated. Where they differ, the difference is the whole point.

In a small kitchen, the goods received note can simply be the supplier's delivery note with the checker's notes written on it: crossed-out quantities, a note of anything short or damaged, temperatures, the time and the checker's name. In a larger operation it may be a separate form or an entry in a purchasing system. The format matters far less than the habit of making the record, every time, at the door.

Compare the cost of catching the same error at three points.

At the door, a missing case of chicken is noticed by counting the cases. The driver is still there, the delivery note is in hand, and a note on it is all that is needed. The supplier usually credits it or delivers it the next day, without argument.

At the end of the week, the same shortfall appears, if at all, as a stock count that does not add up. By then nobody can say whether the case was never delivered, was used and not recorded, or was miscounted. The supplier has an unannotated delivery note signed by your team.

At the month end, it is buried in a food cost figure that is a point higher than expected, for reasons that will take hours to investigate and may never be found. Our guide to reading food cost variance shows how much effort a single unrecorded error can cost later.

Most delivery problems fall into a few kinds, and the check is designed around them.

None of these requires anyone to be dishonest. Pickers make mistakes, vans run warm, and substitutions are made in good faith. The goods received note simply records what happened.

The check only happens if it is quick. A practical target is about ninety seconds a crate or case, as an example, which for a typical produce or dairy delivery means a few minutes in total.

Not every item needs every step. Dry goods need counting and checking but not weighing or temperature. Expensive proteins need all seven. Decide, for each supplier, which steps apply, and write them on a card by the door.

The record should be quick to make and complete enough to settle any later question. For each delivery:

If everything matched, a tick and a signature is enough. The note earns its keep on the days when something did not.

Delivery checks need a person with three things: the time to do the check, the knowledge to recognise a problem, and the authority to refuse goods. A commis signing for deliveries in the middle of service has none of them.

In many kitchens, the best person is whoever runs the morning shift, at a time when deliveries are expected. Train two or three people to do it properly, so the check does not depend on one person being in. Give them the authority to reject goods that are wrong or unsafe, and back their decisions.

If deliveries routinely arrive during service, when nobody can check them, ask the supplier for a different delivery window. A delivery that cannot be checked is a delivery you are trusting entirely to the supplier.

Much of the difficulty with delivery checks comes from timing. Deliveries that arrive at random, or at the busiest moment of the morning, get signed for rather than checked.

Agree delivery windows with each supplier that fit the kitchen's day: early, before prep is in full swing, or mid-afternoon, between services. Keep a scale, a thermometer, a pen and the order sheet by the delivery door, so the checker does not have to go looking for them. Clear a space for deliveries to be put down and checked before they are put away. Small changes like these turn the check from an interruption into a routine.

Sometimes the right response is not a note but a refusal. Reject goods that are unsafe, such as chilled food above your temperature limit or anything with damaged packaging that could be contaminated, and goods that are clearly not what was ordered and that you will not use.

When you reject something, record it on the goods received note with the reason, ask the driver to take it back, and tell the supplier the same day. Do not accept goods "for now" and sort it out later: once something is in your walk-in, it is much harder to return.

Food safety sets some of the limits. Your food safety management system should state the temperature at which chilled and frozen deliveries are accepted, and the goods received note is where the check against that limit is recorded.

The goods received note is only half of its job done at the door. The other half comes when the invoice arrives. Our guide to supplier invoices covers the matching in detail; in short:

Without the goods received note, the first comparison is impossible, and the invoice will be paid for the full delivery whatever actually arrived.

A credit note is the supplier's acknowledgement that you were invoiced for something you should not pay for: a short delivery, a rejected item, a wrong price. Wikipedia's article on credit notes describes the document in general. In a kitchen, credit notes are where much of the money protected by the goods received note comes back.

Request a credit the same day the problem is found, with the delivery note reference and a copy of the annotated note or a photo of it. Keep a simple list of credits requested, with the date and amount, and tick each one off when the credit note arrives. Check the list every week. Credits that were promised and never sent are a common, quiet loss.

Suppliers substitute when they are out of stock: a different brand, a different size, a similar product. Some substitutions are fine, some are not, and the kitchen should decide which in advance.

Agree a substitution policy with each supplier: which items may be substituted without asking, which need a phone call first, and which must never be substituted. A brand of tinned tomatoes may be fine; a different cut of beef for a signature dish is not. Record every substitution on the goods received note, along with whether it was accepted, so the invoice can be checked for the price of what actually arrived.

Many disputes come from units. A case is not always the same number of items, a "kilogram" pack may be a nominal weight, and items sold by weight vary. The goods received note needs to record what you actually received in the unit you will be invoiced in.

Weigh proteins and fish that are invoiced by weight. Count items that are invoiced by count. Note the actual pack size when it differs from the usual one. Over a few months, the notes will show which suppliers' weights are reliable and which are consistently a little light, which is useful information when you next negotiate.

Every delivery adds to stock, and the goods received note is the most accurate record of what was added. If your stock is counted weekly or monthly, the purchases figure used to calculate food cost should come from what was received, not from what was invoiced, until the invoices have been matched and corrected.

Deliveries arriving close to a stock count need particular care. A delivery that arrives after the count but is recorded before it, or the other way round, puts the same stock in the books twice or not at all. Note the time on every goods received note and check deliveries around count times against the count. Our guide to cost of goods sold explains why this matters so much.

An invented kitchen takes eleven deliveries in a week from five suppliers. It starts checking every one against the delivery note, with a scale and a probe thermometer by the door.

Over the week, the notes record four differences. A produce delivery is one case of lemons short. A meat delivery is invoiced at 9.2 kilograms of lamb shoulder but weighs 8.7 on the kitchen's scale. A dairy delivery arrives with two litres of cream at a temperature above the kitchen's limit, which are rejected and sent back with the driver. And a dry goods order includes a substituted brand of olive oil at a higher price per litre than the usual one.

Each takes a minute to note. Together, at example prices, they come to a little over 60: the lemons, half a kilogram of lamb, the cream and the price difference on the oil. Each is credited or corrected within a few days because the note was made at the door, with the driver present and the evidence in hand. Without the notes, the same four problems would have been paid for in full, and two of them would probably never have been noticed at all.

A week like that is not unusual. What is unusual is a kitchen that knows about it.

The goods received note does not need a project to introduce. A kitchen can start with the next delivery.

Put a scale, a thermometer and a pen by the delivery door tonight. Tomorrow, whoever receives the first delivery counts it against the delivery note and writes any difference on it before signing. File the note where the invoices go. When the invoice arrives, check it against the note. Do the same for every delivery for a week, then look at what the notes caught.

Most kitchens find enough in the first week to make the habit worth keeping. The rest of this guide, from substitution policies to credit tracking, can be added once the basic check is part of the morning.

The goods received note fails for predictable reasons: it takes too long, nobody knows how to do it, nobody looks at it afterwards, or someone is told off when they record a problem. Each has a fix.

Within a few weeks, a kitchen that checks every delivery usually finds that its suppliers make fewer mistakes. They know the deliveries are checked.

Delivery checks, goods received notes, supplier invoices and credit notes stay on your own paper or purchasing tool today: servearound does not record deliveries or hold supplier invoices. Inventory tracking, for the stock behind the menu, is coming.

servearound covers the other end of the food that came through the door: what was sold. The menu report in Analytics shows units sold for every dish over any range of dates, which is the sales side of the stock figures your deliveries feed. If you would like to see it, get in touch.

It is a record, made at delivery, of what actually arrived: items, quantities, condition, temperature and any differences from the supplier's delivery note. In a small kitchen, the annotated delivery note can serve as one.

No. The delivery note is the supplier's record of what they sent. The goods received note is your record of what you received. Where they agree, a signed delivery note is enough; where they differ, your notes on it are what matters.

As a rough guide, about ninety seconds a crate or case, which is a few minutes for most deliveries. Expensive proteins deserve more care; dry goods less.

Someone with the time, the knowledge and the authority to refuse goods, usually whoever runs the morning shift. Train two or three people so the check never depends on one.

Write the shortfall on the delivery note before signing, ask the driver to acknowledge it, and request a credit note from the supplier the same day with a copy of the note.

When they are unsafe, such as chilled food above your temperature limit, or clearly not what was ordered and not something you will use. Reject them at the door and record why.

They let you check that every invoice reflects what actually arrived, so you pay only for what you received, and claim credits for the rest.

The difference between the price you agreed or ordered at and the price on the invoice. The goods received note and the order together make it possible to catch.

Good suppliers expect it. A check at the door with the driver present is fairer to both sides than a dispute raised days later.

The goods received note records what actually arrived, at the door, while the driver is still there: counts, items, weights, quality, temperatures, dates and every difference from the delivery note. It is the cheapest place to catch an error, because after the goods are put away and the invoice is paid, the same error is hard to prove and slow to recover.

Make the check quick, about ninety seconds a crate, with a scale and thermometer by the door and a person with the authority to refuse goods. Then use the notes: match every supplier invoice against them, request credit notes the same day, track every credit until it arrives, and watch the prices for purchase price variance. Kitchens that check every delivery soon find their suppliers make fewer mistakes.