Help

Registering and Receiving an Expected Delivery

Use this guide when you know stock is coming into the warehouse and you want to plan it before it arrives.

This is the normal workflow for supplier deliveries, client-arranged inbound stock, and any delivery the warehouse should be expecting in advance.

When should I use this?

Use Register Expected Delivery when you want to:

tell the warehouse what is coming in
list the SKUs and expected quantities before the vehicle arrives
track receiving progress after the delivery starts
avoid creating stock too early

If the goods have already arrived and you just need to book them in, use Working with receipts instead.

Who does what?

Client users can:

register an expected delivery for their own client
add the expected items, quantities, and references
edit the plan before warehouse receiving starts
view progress after receiving has started

Warehouse and admin users can:

review the delivery plan
define handling units such as pallets, boxes / cartons, totes, or parcels before receiving starts
print A4 handling-unit labels for the planned pallets, cartons, or other units
click Start Receiving when the stock arrives
record what actually arrived
choose putaway locations
complete receiving so stock is added to inventory

How it works

The expected delivery is the plan.

Expected Lines describe what is expected: the products, stock quantities, receiving packaging for packages owned by one SKU, line notes, and any known serial numbers.

Handling Units describe how the delivery is physically arriving: optional pallets, boxes, cartons, totes, or other units that can be labelled or allocated when that detail is known. Use Handling Units when a pallet, carton, box, tote, or parcel can contain more than one SKU.

The warehouse then receives against that plan.

Stock is not added to inventory just because the delivery was registered. Stock is only added when the warehouse finishes the receiving step.

For controlled expected deliveries, the inbound plan is not receiving billing evidence. Planned packaging, Handling Units, and printed labels give the warehouse useful context, but an authorised warehouse/admin user must confirm the Receiving Charge / Receiving Basis on the linked receipt before completing a new chargeable controlled receipt. This keeps stock quantity separate from commercial receiving quantity. For example, receiving 1000 leaflets can add 1000 stock units while the confirmed receiving basis records 4 cartons for Monthly Operations.

Client workflow: create the inbound delivery

Use this route when you need to tell the warehouse what is coming before it arrives.

Open Inventory Inbounds and click Register Expected Delivery.
Choose the Client and Warehouse.
Let ParcelPilot generate the Inbound Reference.
Complete the planning fields that help the warehouse identify the delivery:
- Supplier / Sender for who is sending the goods
- External Reference for your PO, ASN, booking, container, or supplier reference
- Expected Delivery Date when you know the arrival date
- Client Notes for useful delivery instructions or context
Add the expected SKU lines under Item and Expected stock quantity. The expected stock quantity is how much stock the warehouse should receive, such as units, rolls, sheets, metres, or another item-level stock measure. You can select an existing Item, or create a basic Item directly from the Item selector if the SKU is not in ParcelPilot yet.
If a line is arriving in packages that belong to that SKU only, set Expected as to Individual items, Cartons, or Pallets. For cartons, enter Number of cartons and, when useful, Items per carton. For pallets, enter Number of pallets and, when useful, Items per pallet.
Leave Expected as blank when you do not know the packaging yet. If pallets or cartons are shared by multiple SKUs, use Handling Units after saving instead of splitting package counts across lines.
Use Line Notes where a specific line needs extra context. Notes are for warehouse context only and are not used to calculate receiving packaging.
If the items are serialised and you already know them, add Expected Serials. This is optional.
If you want the warehouse notice sent straight away, turn on Notify warehouse team.
Click Create or Save while you are still preparing the delivery.
After the inbound has been saved, optionally add Handling Units if you know the pallets, boxes, cartons, totes, or other physical units arriving.
Use Submit when the plan is ready for warehouse receiving.

Expected quantities and packaging

Expected stock quantity is always the stock quantity for the SKU line. For example, 1000 can mean 1000 units, stickers, sheets, rolls, or measured stock units depending on how the Item is configured.

Expected packaging is planning information that tells the warehouse how that stock is expected to arrive. Examples:

1000 stock units, Expected as Cartons, Number of cartons 4, Items per carton 250
1000 stock units, Expected as Pallets, Number of pallets 2, Items per pallet 500
20 stock units, Expected as Individual items

The warehouse still confirms what actually arrived during receiving. Planned packaging helps prepare the receiving review, but it is not the final warehouse confirmation by itself and does not create a receiving charge until the receipt's receiving basis is confirmed.

For measured items, expected and received quantities are stock quantities in the item's base unit, such as metres, kilograms, or litres. Physical evidence captured during receiving, such as 10 rolls x 50 m, helps create accurate inventory units. It is not an automatic receiving billing quantity. For new controlled receipts, a confirmed receiving-charge review is required before completion when the received stock is chargeable. Historical and manual receipts keep their legacy interpretation.

Use the header Expected Cartons and Expected Pallets fields for whole-delivery totals. They are useful when you know the delivery has, for example, four cartons in total but do not know or do not want to split those cartons by SKU. These header totals are not distributed across Expected Lines.

Add Handling Units

A Handling Unit is a physical part of the delivery, such as a pallet, box, carton, tote, or parcel.

Use Handling Units when you want the warehouse to know how the delivery is physically grouped before the lorry arrives. This step is optional: Expected Lines are enough to describe what is coming, and you can still use Print Inbound Contents without creating Handling Units.

Add one Handling Unit

Open the inbound.
In Handling Units, click Add Handling Unit.
Choose the Handling unit type.
Enter the Sequence within type if you need to override the next number.
Turn Contents known on if you know what is on that unit.
If Contents known is on, add the Planned contents by choosing the Inbound line and entering the Allocated quantity for each product.
Save the Handling Unit.

Add multiple Handling Units

In Handling Units, click Add Multiple Handling Units.
Choose the Handling unit type.
Enter How many units?
ParcelPilot creates the numbered units for you.
Edit any unit later if you want to add Planned contents.

When you do and do not need allocations

You do not need to know exactly which products are on each pallet or box.

If you know a delivery consists of two pallets but do not know which products are on each individual pallet, you can still create the two Handling Units without allocating their contents.

The current UI distinguishes these situations:

Contents unknown: the physical unit exists, but you do not know its SKU breakdown yet.
Known, no allocations: you turned Contents known on, but you have not entered the line-by-line quantities yet.
Allocated contents: the unit shows planned line and quantity totals, and the inbound summary can show Partially allocated or Fully allocated.

Generate Handling Unit labels

Use Handling Unit labels when a physical pallet or box should travel to the warehouse with a ParcelPilot identity attached.

Use Print Inbound Contents when you need a simple A4 document listing the expected contents for the whole inbound delivery. This document uses the inbound's expected item lines and can be printed whether or not Handling Units have been defined.

You can print:

Print Inbound Contents for the whole inbound delivery plan
Print Label for one Handling Unit
Print All Handling Unit Labels for the whole inbound

The inbound contents document shows the inbound reference, client, sender, external reference, expected arrival date, destination warehouse, warehouse address, and expected SKU quantities.

From the Inventory Inbounds list, select one or more inbounds and use the bulk actions menu to print one combined PDF:

Print Inbound Contents creates one contents PDF for all selected inbounds that have expected lines. Inbounds without printable expected contents are skipped and reported.
Print Handling Unit Labels creates one label PDF containing all Handling Unit labels from the selected inbounds that have Handling Units. Inbounds without Handling Units are skipped and reported.

Bulk Print Inbound Contents does not require Handling Units. Bulk Print Handling Unit Labels only includes inbounds where Handling Units have been planned.

Each A4 Handling Unit label shows the current planned identity for that unit, including:

the Handling Unit identifier, such as HU-00007648
the unit label, such as Pallet 1 of 2 or Box / Carton 1 of 3
the inbound and client details
the destination warehouse delivery address
expected contents where they were supplied
the QR code the warehouse can scan on arrival

Attach the correct label to the matching physical pallet or box, especially when you have allocated individual contents to specific Handling Units.

If contents were not specified, the label still gives the warehouse the Handling Unit identity, sequence, inbound reference, and destination details, but it will not pretend to know the exact SKU breakdown.

Labels can be reprinted later from the same Print Label or Print All Handling Unit Labels actions.

Creating an Item while planning

While entering Expected Lines, use Create new item from the Item selector when the SKU does not exist yet.

Select the inbound Client first. The new Item belongs to that client, so ParcelPilot needs the client before it can create the Item.

To create the Item:

In an Expected Line, open the Item selector.
Choose Create new item.
Enter the SKU and Name.
Optionally enter Weight and choose the Weight Unit.
Client users can optionally turn on Notify warehouse about this new product and add a Message to warehouse if the warehouse should be alerted as soon as the product is created.
Choose Create & select.

ParcelPilot creates the Item immediately and selects it on that Expected Line.

If the SKU already exists for the selected client, ParcelPilot selects the existing Item instead of creating a duplicate.

If the SKU already belongs to another client in the same tenant, creation is blocked. Use a different SKU or choose the correct client before creating the Item.

The Item remains available even if you leave the inbound without saving it.

This creates a basic, normal ParcelPilot Item. More detailed Item configuration can be completed later from Items, including images, dimensions, customs information, ecommerce mappings, stock settings, and assembly recipes.

Creating a basic Item here does not create an assembly recipe automatically. Standard Items can be used as components later when you configure a bundle or assembly recipe.

What happens after dispatch

After the stock has left the sender:

the warehouse can scan the Handling Unit QR when the pallet or box arrives
the scan page is informational first and does not create receiving records just by being opened
an authorised warehouse user chooses Start Receiving This ... or Continue Receiving This ... to open the normal receiving workflow
ParcelPilot records the actual goods received against the inbound through the existing controlled receiving process

Client-facing progress stays read-only and practical:

where a Handling Unit has a quantity plan, ParcelPilot can show planned versus recorded quantities
where no Handling Unit quantity plan exists, ParcelPilot shows the actual activity recorded for that unit instead of a misleading completion percentage
final client-visible discrepancy wording may appear after the inbound is completed

For the warehouse arrival workflow, see Receiving an inbound delivery from a Handling Unit label.

Warehouse workflow summary

When the delivery arrives:

Open the inbound or scan the Handling Unit QR.
Review the pallet or box details on the Handling Unit page.
Click Start Receiving or Resume Receiving from the inbound, or Start Receiving This ... / Continue Receiving This ... from the Handling Unit page.
Record the physical stock that actually arrived.
On the linked receipt's Edit page, review Receiving details and use the header action Confirm receiving basis when the received stock should count for receiving handling charges. Explicit warehouse carton overrides are preferred proposals; conflicting inbound plans and item-master references remain visible. Operators must explicitly confirm the proposal.
Finish with Complete Receiving when the accepted stock should be added to inventory.

If receiving was started by mistake and no receiving work has been recorded, authorised warehouse and admin users can use Undo Start Receiving from the inbound. This cancels the unused receiving session and returns the inbound to its editable planning state.

The action is only available before any actual receiving evidence exists. It is not available after quantities, receipt-line receiving records, receiving exceptions, stock posting, an attached receiving device, or other receiving-session activity has been recorded. Planned Handling Units by themselves do not count as receiving work.

For detailed warehouse instructions, see Receiving an inbound delivery from a Handling Unit label and Scan stock in.

What happens next?

After Complete Receiving:

the received stock is added to inventory
the linked receipt shows the final received quantities
the expected delivery shows whether it is finished or still waiting for the rest of the stock
the warehouse can continue later if only part of the delivery arrived

For any chargeable controlled receipt, ParcelPilot requires the receiving-charge basis to be confirmed before Complete Receiving, even when expected and received stock quantities match. The review records whether the receiving charge is pallets, cartons, individuals, or none without changing stock quantity. For measured stock, an unknown individual receiving count must be entered explicitly rather than copied from measured stock quantity. Already-open receipts use this same confirmation flow; no replacement receipt or backfill is needed.

Common questions

When is stock actually added?

Not when you register the delivery.

Not when you save receiving progress.

Stock is added when the warehouse completes receiving.

Can we receive only part of the delivery?

Yes. If only some of the stock arrives, the warehouse can receive that part first and leave the rest for later, or close the shortfall if the UI offers that option.

Do handling units change receiving?

Handling Units are still planning records.

They help describe the expected physical pallets, cartons, and similar units before receiving starts.

The actual received evidence still comes from the normal receipt and Scan Stock In workflow.

When warehouse staff launch receiving from a Handling Unit page, ParcelPilot still writes the warehouse evidence to the linked receipt and controlled receiving records rather than to the Handling Unit itself.

What happens when I scan a Handling Unit label?

The label QR opens the canonical Handling Unit scan page for that physical unit.

This page stays informational when it first opens. It shows the Handling Unit identity, inbound, client, warehouse, and planned contents where available.

If the inbound is submitted and the signed-in user is allowed to receive stock, the page shows Start Receiving This ... or Continue Receiving This ... for that unit type.

Receiving still only starts when the operator clicks that button.

The QR page itself does not create a receipt or record stock movement just by being opened.

The page now also shows read-only Receiving Progress for that specific handling unit.

This progress is derived from the normal controlled receiving evidence on the linked inbound, not from a separate handling-unit status field.

Warehouse users can see planning-vs-recorded detail such as planned quantity on that unit, recorded quantity, remaining quantity, and operational notes when activity was recorded elsewhere or outside handling-unit context.

Client users only see a safer summary and any client-visible discrepancy wording after the inbound is completed.

Do I need to allocate contents for every pallet?

No.

If you know there will be 2 pallets but you do not know which SKUs are on each one yet, you can define the pallets and leave the contents unknown.

If contents are known but not allocated yet, ParcelPilot can still show handling-unit activity later, but it treats that as activity without a handling-unit plan rather than as matched receiving progress.

Can receiving charges be changed?

Yes. The receipt may start with a default receiving-charge choice taken from the item, but the warehouse can still change the receipt-line setting during receiving.

What if this is an older record?

Older records may still use the previous receipt workflow. Use this guide for new expected deliveries.

Things to check if something looks wrong

Make sure the inbound has the right Client and Warehouse.
Check that the SKU lines and quantities match the physical delivery.
If stock is missing from inventory, confirm the warehouse clicked Complete Receiving.
If serialised stock will not post, check that the required serials were captured.
If only part of the delivery has arrived, check whether the inbound was left open for another receiving pass.