Receive goods and register the purchase delivery note in SamBooks

When a supplier delivers goods, you record the arrival with a purchase delivery note (DN): here is how to create one, either from an order or from scratch, and how the warehouse actually gets loaded.

What this is for

The purchase delivery note is the document SamBooks uses to record that the supplier's goods have arrived: received against an already confirmed purchase order, or entered directly if you never placed an order first. This is the moment the warehouse is actually loaded, at weighted average cost, and the document becomes available to link to the supplier's invoice once it arrives. The same page also lists customs declarations for non-EU imports: they share the list but are a different document (see "Related guides").

Before you start

• You need the Manager, Administrative, or Logistics role: a Viewer can see delivery notes but cannot create or edit them.
• If you're receiving against an order, the order must already be confirmed and have lines with a remaining quantity to receive.
• If your company is on the flat-rate tax regime (RF19), the entire purchasing cycle — including purchase delivery notes — is not available.
• A note on language: some validation checks run on the server and their error text is shown in Italian even when your interface language is set to English. This guide flags where that happens.

How to do it, step by step

1. Open "Purchase delivery notes"

From the left menu open Purchase delivery notes. This is a single view mixing delivery notes and customs declarations, told apart by a DN or Customs badge in the Type column. The columns are Type, Number, Supplier ref., Date, Supplier, Packages, Weight/Volume, Status (To invoice/Invoiced), and Actions. Available filters: Type, Status, Year, Supplier, and Carrier (choosing a carrier restricts the view to delivery notes only, since customs declarations have no carrier). If there's nothing yet, you'll see "No purchase documents" / "There are no purchase delivery notes or customs declarations yet. Use «New document» to add one."

2. Click "New document" and choose the purchase DN

At the top right, click New document: a dialog opens with a two-option toggle, Purchase DN and Customs declaration (Purchase DN is selected by default). Choosing it starts the three-step wizard described below.

3. Step "Source & lines"

Choose between two modes with a toggle:

• From order (selected by default): filters for Number, Supplier, and Period, plus a table of orders with a checkbox per row — you can select more than one, as long as they belong to the same supplier (if you pick one from a different supplier, SamBooks warns "A delivery note has a single supplier: this order belongs to a different supplier than the one already selected."). Selecting one or more orders pre-fills the supplier and the remaining lines on their own ("Lines and supplier prefilled from the orders. You can edit them."); if there are no orders left to receive for the chosen filters, you'll see "No open orders with these filters."
• Manual: no reference order. At the top there is a Fill from PDF or image (OCR) drop zone to upload the supplier's delivery note (PDF, JPEG, or PNG) and get the supplier, lines, and carrier suggested — always to be reviewed before continuing — or you can pick the supplier manually and fill in the lines yourself.

4. Step "Transport"

Fill in the shipping details: Transport reason (a dropdown of predefined reasons — not free text, unlike editing an already created DN — with "Purchase" selected by default and an Other… option if you need a different reason), Supplier DN number (the supplier's own delivery note number: SamBooks' internal receiving number is only assigned once you issue the document), Carrier, Carriage (shipping terms), Packages, Gross weight (kg), Volume (m³), Goods appearance, DN date (with a "Today" shortcut), and Notes.

5. Step "Summary" and creation

The last step shows a read-only summary of everything you've filled in. Use Back/Next to move between steps, then confirm to create the document. The DN is created in draft status: at this point the warehouse has not moved yet.

6. Issue the DN: this is where the warehouse actually loads

Open the newly created draft (click it from the list) and click Issue (load). This is when:

• the internal receiving number is assigned (the draft didn't have one — the hint on the form says "The internal receipt number is assigned on issue.");
• every line linked to a stock-tracked item loads the warehouse, updating the on-hand quantity and the weighted average cost: the new average cost is the weighted mean between the previous stock (valued at its old average cost) and the quantity just received (valued at this document's price) — you don't need to calculate it yourself, SamBooks does it automatically. Service lines or lines without a catalog item generate no warehouse movement;
• if the DN comes from fulfilling an order, the order's status moves forward (partially or fully fulfilled, depending on what remains);
• if the originating order had a pickup mandate with an external carrier, SamBooks automatically generates the purchase order for the carrier's shipping cost (see the shipping guide for details).

The confirmation message is "DN issued: warehouse loaded."

Linked documents: orders and invoice

Opening a DN's detail (not yet linked to an invoice) shows the Linked documents card with two columns:

• Orders: you can attach one or more open orders from the same supplier ("Link this DN to one or more open orders of the same supplier.") — if there are none, you'll see "No open orders for this supplier."; after attaching, the message is "Orders attached: fulfilment updated." You can also unlink an already linked order.
• Invoice: you can link the DN to an existing purchase invoice from the same supplier ("Invoice linked: 3-way match evaluated." — if the 3-way check is active, it's evaluated at that moment) or unlink it ("Invoice unlinked: DN back to issued.").

Once the DN's lines are entirely covered by the linked invoice, the status moves from To invoice to Invoiced; as long as coverage is partial, it stays "To invoice."

DN statuses and what you can do in each

• Draft: you can freely edit it (supplier, lines, transport) or delete it. The warehouse hasn't moved yet.
• Issued: the warehouse is loaded. The lines can no longer be edited — the server enforces this with an Italian-language message meaning that the lines of an already issued DN can't be changed and that you have to cancel the DN to correct the quantities. You can still link/unlink orders and link/unlink the invoice from this status. You can cancel it: cancelling also reverses the warehouse load.
• Invoiced: the linked invoice covers all lines. To edit or cancel it, you must first unlink the invoice from the DN's detail (attempting to edit or cancel first also produces an Italian-language server message telling you to unlink first).
• Cancelled: final status; any warehouse load has been reversed.

Editing and deleting a DN

• Editing: from the row in the list, use the Edit action. If the DN is linked to an invoice, you must unlink it first; if it's already issued, you can still change the shipping data but no longer the lines.
• Deleting: only a draft DN can be deleted, with the confirmation "Delete the draft? The draft DDT will be permanently deleted." An issued DN can't be deleted: it must be cancelled instead.
• If the DN is linked to an invoice, the row's action menu shows "Linked to invoice: read-only" instead of the usual actions.
• You can always download the document (the original attachment uploaded during OCR, if any) via that same action.

Ask Sam

You can get the same result by writing to Sam in chat: "register the purchase DN for order 12, I received everything", "create a purchase DN from supplier Rossi with no order, 50 pieces of M6 screws", "issue DN 7", "link DN 7 to invoice 34", "cancel DN 9". Both paths — the form and chat — are equivalent: you can start with one and continue with the other.

If something goes wrong

• You're receiving against an order still in draft: the server refuses (in Italian) with a message meaning the order must be confirmed before you can register a DN against it. Confirm the order first.
• The order has nothing left to receive, or every quantity is set to zero: the server refuses with a message meaning there is no remaining quantity to receive. Check the order's status and its residual quantities.
• "A delivery note has a single supplier": in the "From order" wizard you selected orders from different suppliers; pick orders from a single supplier at a time.
• You can't edit a DN's lines: if it's already issued, the lines are locked — cancel it to correct them, then recreate or reissue it.
• You can't cancel or edit a DN: if it's "Invoiced", you must unlink the invoice from the Linked documents card first.
• Customs declarations don't show up under the Carrier filter: that's expected — customs declarations have no carrier, so the filter automatically restricts the view to delivery notes only.

Frequently asked questions

How do I register the delivery note my supplier sent me? From "Purchase delivery notes" click "New document" → keep the Purchase DN option, choose whether to start from an already confirmed order or fill it in manually (you can also upload the supplier's PDF via OCR), complete the Transport step, and confirm in the Summary. The DN starts as a draft: to actually load the warehouse you still need to open it and Issue it.

How do I load goods into the warehouse from a purchase? Only by issuing the DN: creating the draft doesn't touch stock. Issuing loads the warehouse and updates the weighted average cost.

What is weighted average cost and how is it calculated? It's the average cost of an item accounting both for what you already had in stock and for what you just received, weighted by quantities and their respective prices. SamBooks calculates it automatically on every load: you never enter it yourself.

Can I receive goods without a linked purchase order? Yes: in the wizard choose "Manual" instead of "From order" and fill in the supplier and lines directly, with or without OCR assistance.

How do I link a delivery note to several purchase orders? In the "From order" wizard you can check several orders from the same supplier at once; on an already created DN, you can add more from the "Linked documents" card → "Attach purchase orders."

When does a purchase delivery note become invoiced? When you link it to a purchase invoice that covers all of its lines. If coverage is only partial, it stays "To invoice."

Can I upload my supplier's delivery note PDF and have it filled in automatically? Yes, both in the wizard (the "Source & lines" step, Manual mode) and when editing: it's always a suggestion to review, never an automatic action.

What happens if I cancel an already issued DN? That DN's warehouse load is reversed, and if it was linked to an order, the order's fulfilment moves back accordingly. If the DN is already "Invoiced", you must unlink the invoice first.

What's the difference between a customs declaration and a purchase delivery note? The delivery note records goods received from a regular supplier; a customs declaration instead records an import from a non-EU country, with duties and import VAT. They share the same list but are two different documents (see the dedicated customs declaration guide).

How do I link an order to a delivery note that already exists? Open the DN, "Linked documents" card, Orders column → "Attach purchase orders", select one or more open orders from the same supplier, and confirm.

Does a purchase delivery note create a bookkeeping entry? No: the DN only moves the warehouse. The general ledger entry is created when you register the supplier's invoice (or the related customs declaration, for import VAT).

Related guides

• Create and manage a purchase order
• Recording a purchase invoice