Checking a delivery against the invoice
A product invoiced and never delivered leaves no trace: it never enters stock, so no stocktake will ever miss it. The only moment it shows is at delivery.
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Check at delivery
Delivery note in hand, count and weigh before the driver leaves, and write the gap on the note before signing it. Once the lorry has gone, a shortfall becomes an argument; before, it is a record.
The invoice often arrives days or weeks later. It is the invoice that has to be matched against the note, line by line: gap = (quantity invoiced − quantity received) × invoiced unit price.
Worked example: a three-line delivery
Quantities invoiced against quantities received, at the invoice unit price.
| Chicken breast — 10 kg invoiced, 8.5 kg received, €9.80/kg | €14.70 |
|---|---|
| Cream 35 % — 6 L invoiced, 6 L received, €4.10/L | €0.00 |
| Lemons — 3 kg invoiced, 2 kg received, €3.20/kg | €3.20 |
| Gap to claim, on €132.20 invoiced | €17.90 |
| If a gap like this comes back once a week | €930.80 a year |
€17.90 on one delivery moves nobody. €930.80 a year does — for a single weekly delivery, from a single supplier.
At the invoiced price, always
The gap is valued at the price on the invoice, even if it differs from the price you negotiated. The invoice is a contractual document; the price you believe you obtained is not. Claiming at the invoiced price opens a discussion about quantity — the only one you can win.
When to claim
Below €5, the gap is weighing rounding, and the claim costs more time than it returns. Above that, it pays for itself. A small but repeated gap is a different thing: it shows in no margin, because it blends into breakage and comps. Margéo matches every note against its invoice and warns you above that threshold.