A delivery short against the invoice at goods-in

2 days ago
3 min read

Introduction

A customer rings to say the order was invoiced for twelve cases and ten arrived. It is a small sum of money and a disproportionate amount of irritation, because somebody at their end now has to reconcile a delivery note, a credit and a stock count, and they were not paid to do that.

Shortages are the most common complaint in wholesale and they are corrosive in a way their value does not suggest. A customer who has to check every delivery against every invoice has been given a reason to consider alternative suppliers. That is the real cost.

1. A delivery short against the invoice is an administrative cost, not just a missing case

Understand what it actually costs the customer. It is not the case price.

Their time is the real expense

Counting, ringing, emailing, waiting for a credit, adjusting stock records. The two cases are trivial; the process around them is not. Respect that time.

Trust in the paperwork is what you are damaging

Once a buyer stops believing the delivery note matches the van, every delivery becomes a checking exercise and you become the difficult supplier. Trust is slow to rebuild.

2. Credit it immediately and without investigation

Speed matters far more than certainty on small values. Credit first, ask later.

Set a value threshold for automatic credits

Below a stated figure, credit on the customer's word, immediately. The cost of investigating routinely exceeds the cost of the goods. Set the figure and publish it.

Do not ask them to prove it

Requiring photographs of what is not there is both illogical and insulting. Save the investigation for patterns rather than incidents. Take their word.

3. Investigate the pattern, not the incident

That is where the money actually is. Individual cases tell you little.

Look at which products and which routes

Shortages cluster around specific items, pickers, shifts or drops. That is a warehouse problem and it is solvable. Review the data monthly.

Watch for repeat claims from the same customer

Occasionally the pattern is on the customer's side. Handle that with data and a conversation, not by tightening the process for everybody. Be direct about it.

4. Fix the picking and checking process

Most shortages are created before the van leaves. Look at picking first.

Check quantities against the note at dispatch

A second pair of eyes on high-value or frequently short-picked lines. Prevention is much cheaper than credits and goodwill. Focus on the worst lines.

Make the paperwork match reality at the point of loading

If two cases are unavailable, the note and the invoice should say so before the delivery, not afterwards. Most "shortages" are really unannounced substitutions or out-of-stocks. Print an accurate note.

5. Communicate stock problems in advance

This is the single biggest improvement available. It costs one message.

Tell them before delivery if something is missing

A message the morning of the drop turns a shortage into a known adjustment. Customers can plan around a shortage they were told about.

Say when it will arrive

A firm date for the balance. Uncertainty is what turns a small problem into a search for another supplier. Then meet the date.

Conclusion

A shortage costs the customer far more in administration than in goods — counting, ringing, waiting for a credit, adjusting stock — and it damages their trust in your paperwork, which turns every future delivery into a checking exercise.

So credit small shortages immediately on the customer's word, with a stated threshold, and never ask anybody to prove that something is absent. Save investigation for patterns, where the real money is: shortages cluster around particular lines, pickers, shifts and routes. Check quantities at dispatch, make the paperwork match what is actually loaded, and above all tell the customer before delivery when something is missing, with a firm date for the balance.