Delivery Notes — Complete User Guide — Two Accounts Web

Comprehensive guide for managing delivery notes, tracking goods dispatched to customers, and integrating with sales orders, invoices, and inventory

Table of Contents

1. What Are Delivery Notes?
2. Enabling the Tab via Customize Menu
3. System Accounts
4. Field-by-Field Guide
   • Header Fields
   • Line Fields
5. Creating a Delivery Note
   • Manual Creation
   • Creating from a Sales Order
   • Copying from Other Documents
6. Settings Configuration
   • Delivery Note Footers
   • Email Template
   • Custom Fields
7. Accounting Impact
   • GL Posting
   • Inventory Impact
   • Non-Inventory Items
8. Opening Balances
9. Reports
   • Delivery Notes Listing
   • Quantity on Hand
   • Quantity to Deliver
   • Inventory Valuation
10. Integration with Other Modules
    • Sales Orders
    • Sales Invoices
    • Credit Notes
    • Goods Receipts
11. Sample Data and Report Output
12. Accounting Regulation Compliance

1. What Are Delivery Notes?

A Delivery Note is a non-financial document that records the physical dispatch of goods from your business to a customer. Unlike Sales Invoices, Delivery Notes do NOT:

• Record revenue or income
• Create Accounts Receivable
• Generate tax entries
• Change profit or loss

Delivery Notes are used for:

• Tracking inventory movement from your location to the customer
• Recording partial or full deliveries against a Sales Order
• Providing a packing slip or delivery docket for the customer
• Tracking quantities delivered to support the Quantity to Deliver workflow

2. Enabling the Tab via Customize Menu

Delivery Notes are linked to the Customers tab. To enable:

1. Ensure Customers is visible in the navigation bar (via Customize Menu)
2. Delivery Notes should appear automatically under the Sales section when Customers is enabled
3. If not visible, open Customize Menu and find "Delivery Notes"
4. Toggle to Visible and click Save

The Delivery Notes tab also controls visibility of related settings:

• Delivery Note Footers — create reusable footer content for delivery note documents
• Email Template for Delivery Note — configure email subject and body for sending delivery notes
• Track Quantity to Deliver — an option on Inventory Items that only appears when Delivery Notes is enabled

3. System Accounts

Delivery Notes use the following system accounts for their GL posting:

These accounts are configured in Settings > Chart of Accounts:

• Balance Sheet > Inventory On Hand — the main inventory asset account
• Balance Sheet > Suspense — temporary account for non-inventory items

4. Field-by-Field Guide

4.1 Header Fields

4.2 Line Fields

5. Creating a Delivery Note

5.1 Manual Creation

1. Go to Delivery Notes > New Delivery Note
2. Set the Delivery Date (defaults to today)
3. Select the Customer — the Delivery Address auto-populates
4. Optionally link a Sales Order or Sales Invoice
5. Select the Inventory Location from which goods are dispatched
6. Add lines:
   • Select the Item being delivered
   • The Description auto-populates from the item
   • Enter the Qty being delivered
7. Add an optional Description for the delivery as a whole
8. Configure Custom Title, Theme, and Footers if needed
9. Save

5.2 Creating from a Sales Order

The recommended way to create Delivery Notes is from a Sales Order's Qty to Deliver view:

1. Go to Sales Orders and open the order
2. The Qty to Deliver column shows how many units are still undelivered for each line
3. Click the Qty to Deliver value to open the batch delivery form
4. Select the items and quantities to deliver
5. Click the batch action to create Delivery Notes for all selected items
6. The system creates a new Delivery Note with the Sales Order linked, and all lines pre-populated

Alternatively, from the Sales Order view page, click Copy to and select Delivery Note to create a single delivery note from the order.

5.3 Copying from Other Documents

The Delivery Note form can copy data from multiple source documents. Click the Copy to button on any of these and select Delivery Note:

• Sales Quote, Sales Order, Sales Invoice
• Purchase Quote, Purchase Order, Purchase Invoice
• Credit Note, Debit Note
• Delivery Note (another), Goods Receipt

6. Settings Configuration

6.1 Delivery Note Footers

Navigate to Settings > Delivery Note Footers to create reusable footer content:

Once created, footers are selected on individual Delivery Notes via the Footers multi-select field. Multiple footers can be added to a single delivery note.

6.2 Email Template

Navigate to Settings > Email Templates > Delivery Note to configure the email sent when sharing a Delivery Note:

• Subject — the email subject line (supports merge tags)
• Message Body — the email body content

6.3 Custom Fields

Navigate to Settings > Custom Fields. Delivery Notes support custom fields at two levels:

• Delivery Notes — header-level custom fields (e.g., "Shipping Method", "Delivery Window")
• Delivery Note Lines — line-level custom fields (e.g., "Batch Number", "Serial Number")

Custom fields appear automatically on the Delivery Note form and document view. They can also be displayed as columns in the Delivery Notes listing.

7. Accounting Impact

7.1 GL Posting

A Delivery Note creates inventory movement entries — it does NOT create revenue, receivable, or tax entries.

For each inventory item line, the system creates two GL transactions, both with a monetary amount of zero:

Entry 1 — Customer side (tracks which customer received the goods):
    Inventory On Hand (Customer reference set)    Amount: 0.00, Qty: +60

Entry 2 — Location side (tracks which warehouse the goods left):
    Inventory On Hand (Location reference set)    Amount: 0.00, Qty: −60

Both entries post to the same Inventory On Hand account with zero monetary
value. The net accounting balance is unchanged — only the quantity tracking
per customer and per location is updated.

Important: The Delivery Note is a non-financial document. It records physical inventory movement only. The actual financial impact — reduction of inventory value, recognition of Cost of Goods Sold, creation of Accounts Receivable, and recognition of Revenue — occurs when the Sales Invoice is created, not at delivery.

7.2 Inventory Impact

7.3 Non-Inventory Items

If a line item is a non-inventory item (service, labor, or non-stocked item), the GL entry posts to the Suspense Account instead of Inventory On Hand. Non-inventory items have no stock to track, so no quantity impact occurs.

8. Opening Balances

Delivery Notes cannot have opening balances. There is no opening balance entry type for Delivery Notes.

To set opening inventory quantities, use the Inventory Item form:

1. Go to Inventory Items
2. Open the inventory item
3. Set the Opening Inventory Quantity and Opening Unit Cost
4. Save

The system posts an opening balance GL entry to the Inventory On Hand account. This establishes the starting inventory levels from which Delivery Notes will later reduce quantities.

9. Reports

9.1 Delivery Notes Listing

The main Delivery Notes page shows all delivery notes with the following columns:

• Delivery Date — the date of dispatch
• Reference — the delivery note reference number
• Order Number — linked Sales Order or manual order number
• Invoice Number — linked Sales Invoice or manual invoice reference
• Customer — customer code and name
• Inventory Location — the dispatch location
• Description — delivery description
• Qty — total quantity delivered (sum of all line quantities)

Clicking the Order Number or Invoice Number drills into the linked document. A footer link opens the Delivery Note Lines page showing individual line items.

9.2 Quantity on Hand

The Quantity on Hand report for each inventory item includes Delivery Notes in its calculation. When a Delivery Note with a linked Sales Order is processed, the inventory-location-side entry (negative quantity) reduces the quantity on hand. The customer-side entry (positive quantity) is tracked separately and does not affect on-hand quantity.

9.3 Quantity to Deliver

The Quantity to Deliver report tracks outstanding deliveries against Sales Orders. When a Delivery Note is created against a Sales Order, the delivered quantities are subtracted from the outstanding Qty to Deliver. This report helps you identify which orders still need fulfillment.

9.4 Inventory Valuation

Delivery Notes appear in the Inventory Valuation Report as part of opening inventory calculations. They are treated as inventory movement transactions alongside Goods Receipts and Journal Entries.

10. Integration with Other Modules

10.1 Sales Orders

Delivery Notes are most commonly created from Sales Orders. The integration works in both directions:

• From Sales Order: The Qty to Deliver column shows how many units are undelivered. Clicking it opens the batch delivery form, or use Copy to > Delivery Note.
• On Delivery Note: When a Sales Order is linked, the delivery note automatically references the order number.

10.2 Sales Invoices

A Delivery Note can optionally link to a Sales Invoice. When both are linked, the invoice number appears on the delivery note document. However, the Delivery Note does NOT create the invoice — they are separate processes.

10.3 Credit Notes

If goods are returned, a Credit Note can be created from the Delivery Note using the Copy to feature. The Credit Note reverses the sale and increases inventory.

10.4 Goods Receipts

A Delivery Note can be created by copying from a Goods Receipt (inward goods). This is useful for return-to-supplier or inter-company transfer scenarios.

11. Sample Data and Report Output

Setup

Delivery Note DN-001

GL Transactions Created

Line 1 — Widget-X (inventory item):
    Entry 1 (Customer side):
        Inventory On Hand (to ABC Retail)          Amount: 0.00, Qty: +60
    Entry 2 (Location side):
        Inventory On Hand (Main Warehouse)         Amount: 0.00, Qty: −60

    Net quantity movement: +60 + (−60) = 0 (net, tracked per dimension)
    Net monetary value: 0.00 — no financial impact at this stage.
    Inventory cost is NOT reduced at delivery. COGS recognition occurs
    when the Sales Invoice is created.

Line 2 — Gadget-Y (non-inventory item):
    Entry 1 (Suspense account):
        Suspense Account                           Amount: 0.00, Qty: +5

    Single entry — non-inventory items have no stock to track.
    No monetary value posted.

Inventory Quantity on Hand — After DN-001

Sales Order Qty to Deliver — After DN-001

DR = CR Verification

Widget-X delivery (2 entries):
    Entry 1: Inventory On Hand (customer side)    Amount: 0.00, Qty: +60
    Entry 2: Inventory On Hand (location side)    Amount: 0.00, Qty: −60
    
    Net monetary value:  0.00 + 0.00 = 0.00 ✓
    Net quantity change: +60 + (−60) = 0 (tracked per dimension) ✓

Non-inventory (Gadget-Y):
    Entry 1: Suspense Account                     Amount: 0.00, Qty: +5
    
    Net monetary value: 0.00 = 0.00 ✓
    Single entry — non-inventory items have no location-side tracking.

12. Accounting Regulation Compliance

12.1 IAS 2 — Inventories

Requirement (§34): When inventories are sold, the carrying amount shall be recognized as an expense in the period the related revenue is recognized.

How this system complies: The Delivery Note records the physical inventory quantity movement and tracks which customer the goods were dispatched to. The Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) and corresponding reduction in inventory value are recognized later when the Sales Invoice is created — not at the time of delivery. This separation allows physical dispatch and financial recognition to occur in different periods if needed (e.g., goods dispatched at month-end, invoiced next month). The Inventory Valuation report includes Delivery Notes in its opening quantity calculation to ensure accurate stock tracking.

12.2 IFRS 15 — Revenue from Contracts with Customers

Requirement (§35): A performance obligation is satisfied when control of goods transfers to the customer. This may occur at a point in time (delivery) or over time.

How this system complies: The Delivery Note records the point at which goods physically transfer to the customer. If your business recognizes revenue upon delivery (rather than upon invoicing), the Delivery Note serves as the supporting document. For point-in-time revenue recognition, the Sales Invoice (created from the Delivery Note) triggers the actual revenue entry.

12.3 IAS 21 — The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates

Requirement (§23): Monetary items are translated at closing rate. Non-monetary items measured at historical cost are translated at the rate at the transaction date.

How this system complies: Delivery Notes do not involve monetary amounts. They track only quantities. Any currency conversion occurs at the Sales Invoice stage, not at the delivery stage. This separation avoids FX complications at the delivery point.

12.4 IAS 1 — Presentation of Financial Statements

Requirement (§54): Inventory shall be presented as a separate line item on the Balance Sheet.

How this system complies: The Inventory On Hand account appears on the Balance Sheet under Current Assets. Delivery Notes track the physical quantity movement of goods but do not change the inventory monetary value — that change occurs when the Sales Invoice records the Cost of Goods Sold. The inventory valuation is maintained at weighted average cost and is adjusted at the invoicing stage, not the delivery stage.

12.5 DR = CR Verification

Delivery Note DN-001 — Widget-X (60 units):
    Entry 1: Inventory On Hand (Customer: ABC Retail)   Amount: 0.00, Qty: +60
    Entry 2: Inventory On Hand (Location: Warehouse)    Amount: 0.00, Qty: −60
    
    Net monetary value: 0.00 + 0.00 = 0.00 ✓
    Net quantity: +60 + (−60) = 0 (tracked per dimension) ✓

Delivery Note DN-001 — Gadget-Y (non-inventory):
    Entry 1: Suspense Account                           Amount: 0.00, Qty: +5
    
    Net monetary value: 0.00 = 0.00 ✓
    Single entry — non-inventory items have no location-side tracking ✓

12.6 Relevant but Not Applicable

• IFRS 16 (Leases): Delivery Notes relate to the sale of goods, not lease arrangements.
• IAS 7 (Cash Flow Statement): Delivery Notes are inventory movements, not cash flows. They do not appear on the CFS. The cash flow occurs when the Sales Invoice is paid, not when goods are delivered.
• NBR VAT Act 2012: Delivery Notes are not tax documents. VAT is triggered by the Sales Invoice, not the Delivery Note. The Delivery Note itself has no tax implications.

End of Delivery Notes Guide