When a delivery doesn't match the order, record the difference against the purchase order or supplier document while the receiver is still at the door: the line, the unit, what arrived and what's wrong. Then name one person to follow it up by a date. Use your POS receiving features first. The log only covers what happens next; the purchase order and supplier paperwork remain the official record.
Where discrepancies get lost
Spotting a short or damaged case is only half the job. The other half is what happens afterwards. If the note sits on a packing slip in a drawer and the receiver goes off shift, nobody may be sure whether the supplier was told.
When receiving is squeezed into a busy hour, follow-up can end up depending on someone's memory. A short log turns it into a named task.
Use what your POS already does
Product check: November 1, 2026.
Square, for example, supports purchase orders, vendors and receiving on eligible plans and POS modes, for staff with the right permissions. That includes receiving part of an order and marking lines as damaged or not fulfilled. Purchase order quantities are whole numbers. Square can also convert between stocking and selling units, item by item, for items set up that way. Check what your own plan, mode and permissions allow before building a routine around it.
A quantity recorded as received is not the same as a supplier credit or a reconciled invoice. Those stay with whoever handles your accounts.
Get the unit right first
Some discrepancies turn out to be unit mix-ups: a case of 12 versus a case of 24, or cases versus eaches. Before recording a shortage, check how the item is set up in your system. If the pack size that arrived doesn't match, log it as a wrong pack and leave the line open. Don't quietly convert it or guess. How the delivery itself is received follows your store's usual procedure.
This guide covers packaged goods. Fresh and variable-weight items, such as produce, meat and deli, need their own store procedure.
At the door: a quick checklist
- Have the purchase order or supplier document in hand. If there's no purchase order, for example when a vendor's rep writes the order, use the vendor's invoice or delivery note.
- Count using the unit shown on the document.
- Handle damaged items under your store's existing procedure, and note what you saw.
- If you use your POS for receiving, record received quantities there once, through your usual process.
- Write one log line per discrepancy, with a follow-up owner and a due date.
A copyable discrepancy log
These columns are our suggestion, not fields in Square or any other system. The log records delivery differences, not stock on hand. It doesn't replace or repeat the receiving entry in your POS, so it doesn't become a second inventory.
| Column | What to record |
|---|---|
| Received | Date and time |
| Store | Location name, if you run more than one |
| Supplier | Name only |
| Document reference | Purchase order, invoice or delivery note number |
| Item and pack size | As written on the document |
| Ordered | Quantity and unit |
| Arrived | Quantity and unit |
| Issue | Short, damaged, wrong pack or not delivered |
| Recorded in POS? | Yes or no |
| Follow-up owner | One name |
| Due | Date |
| Supplier response | Date, and what the supplier said |
| Closed | Date, and what resolved it. A promise alone doesn't close a line. |
Synthetic example, not a customer result
A Tuesday delivery arrives against a six-line purchase order. Three lines don't match:
- Line 3: ten cases of canned tomatoes ordered, eight arrived.
- Line 5: one case of bottled water arrived crushed.
- Line 6: a 24-pack of paper towels arrived, but the item is set up as a 12-pack.
Following the store's receiving procedure, the receiver records the partial quantity on line 3. The receiver also records the line 5 case as damaged on the purchase order, and the case is handled under the store's procedure for damaged goods. Line 6 isn't converted or guessed; it is logged as a wrong pack and left open. Each line gets the store manager as follow-up owner, due Thursday.
On Thursday, the manager notes the supplier's response on each line. The supplier promises a credit for lines 3 and 5, so both lines stay open and go to the bookkeeper, with the date of the promise, to confirm when it's settled. Line 6 stays open until the manager decides how that item should be set up.
Owner-receiver or staffed store?
If you receive, stock and pay suppliers yourself, the log works as a memory aid. Keep it with the purchase orders and review open lines once a week.
In a staffed store, the receiver records and the manager owns follow-up. Check that POS permissions match this split; you may not want every staff role to be able to receive or edit purchase orders.
What the log doesn't do
It doesn't place orders, adjust stock, claim credits, confirm that a credit has been applied, make payments or decide whether a product can be sold. Damaged, recalled or temperature-sensitive goods follow your existing procedures and the people responsible for them.
When automation is worth a look
After a month, look at the lines still open. If they keep sitting open for the same reason, and neither your POS receiving features nor your supplier's own process covers it, that specific follow-up gap is worth examining. If lines close on time, there's no follow-up gap to automate.
Next step
At your next few deliveries, use the checklist and keep the log alongside your purchase orders. If one type of discrepancy keeps going unresolved, Abundance Applied can talk it through with you. We only need a description of the process, not supplier or customer records.
Sources
Product documentation checked 1 November 2026. Features depend on the current plan, permissions and setup.