Goods Receipt Note: What to Include and a Simple Format

When a truck pulls up and the boxes come off, there is a moment when responsibility changes hands. Before it, the goods belong to the driver's delivery; after it, they are in your warehouse and your care. A goods receipt note, or GRN, is the paper that records that moment. It is short, but it settles arguments months later: how many boxes came, in what condition, who handed them over and who received them.

What is a goods receipt note?

A goods receipt note, also called a goods received note, a receiving report or a delivery receipt, is a document the warehouse completes when goods arrive. It confirms what was physically received, which may differ from what the paperwork says. It is signed by the person delivering and the person receiving, and a copy usually stays with each side. In Arabic it appears as سند استلام, محضر استلام بضاعة or إذن استلام بضاعة, depending on the company.

What a GRN must contain

A useful GRN answers six questions: what, how many, from whom, for whom, in what condition, and who signed. In detail:

• A reference number unique to the receipt, so it can be found later.
• Date and time received, and who at the warehouse received it.
• The owner of the goods, meaning the customer, and the sender or agent.
• How it arrived and the identifying numbers: container, bill of lading or air waybill, truck plate and driver name.
• Quantities: packages, weight and volume as received, not as declared.
• What was received, line by line, with the location where it was stored.
• Condition: good, damaged, or a note on exceptions such as a missing box.
• Signatures of the delivering driver and the warehouse, with name and date, and room for a stamp.

A simple template you can copy

Use this as a Word or Excel layout, or as a printed pad:

• Goods receipt note no.: ______ Date / time: ______
• Received by: ______ Warehouse: ______
• Customer: ______ Sender / agent: ______
• Arrival method: sea / air / truck / courier / walk-in
• Container no.: ______ B/L or AWB: ______ Truck plate: ______ Driver: ______
• Packages: ______ Weight (kg): ______ Volume (CBM): ______
• Item or lot, packages, location, barcode: ______
• Condition: good / damaged / other: ______
• Notes: ______
• Delivering driver: name ______ signature ______ date ______
• Warehouse: name ______ signature ______ date ______ Stamp: [ ]

When to write it

Write the note at the dock, while the driver is still there, not at the end of the shift. That is the only moment when both sides can look at the same boxes and agree. If the count differs from the paperwork or a box is damaged, write it on the note before anyone signs, and take photos. A signature on a clean note means the goods were fine when they arrived, so do not sign one that you have not checked.

Common mistakes

1. Copying the quantity from the delivery paper without counting.
2. Writing good condition when nobody opened the box. If you did not check, say so.
3. Missing signatures, which makes the note worth little in a dispute.
4. Losing the paper. A note that is not tied to the shipment record is hard to find.
5. Recording the receipt after the goods are already put away, when memory has faded.

The goods received note in Tafsee Logistics

In Tafsee Logistics, the goods received note is printed from the shipment's page with the button Goods received note. It produces one A4 sheet in English and Arabic, so the delivering driver, whatever language they read, can check it before signing.

The sheet carries the reference, the date received and who received it, the customer, the sender or agent, the arrival method, the container, bill of lading, air waybill and truck plate, the number of packages, the weight and volume, and the delivering driver. It lists each lot with its packages, location and barcode, plus notes and a condition line. At the bottom are signature boxes for the delivering driver and the warehouse, each with name, signature and date, and a stamp box.

Because the note is made from the shipment record, the numbers on paper are the numbers in the system. You can also record notes on arrival, take up to five photos of the goods and, if something is wrong, open an exception case for shortage, excess, damage or wrong goods. See the shipment page for the arrival itself.

Where to go next

The steps to print the note are in print a goods received note. For the wider routine, read the warehouse receiving process. Start at the Tafsee Logistics page and the 14-day trial.