Receive PO & Fulfill Orders

When a vendor's delivery arrives, you record it against the purchase order (PO) in OrderPilot. Each delivery becomes a dated receipt with the units that arrived, the units you rejected, and what they cost. Receiving updates the linked customer orders, so your team knows which orders are ready to ship, and it updates stock in Shopify where the line calls for it.

This article explains how to receive a delivery, how to handle rejected and extra units, how to correct a receipt, how linked orders move as goods arrive, and how fulfillment in Shopify flows back into OrderPilot.

Note: Your shop can rename "Vendor" (for example, to "Supplier"). Labels in the app follow your shop's terminology setting, so you may see your own word wherever this article says "vendor".

Before You Start

Consider the following questions before getting started:

Can this PO be received?

You can receive a PO when its status is Sent, Partially received, or Received, some rejected. A Draft PO has not gone to the vendor yet, and a Sending PO is still waiting for its email to go out. A finalized PO takes no more deliveries until someone reopens it.

Have you checked the delivery?

Count the units and check their condition against the PO before you record anything. Note any damaged or wrong items so you can reject them with a reason.

Do you have the vendor's invoice and freight bill?

The receive screen lets you confirm the vendor's cost and add charges such as freight or duty for this delivery. Having the paperwork to hand keeps your landed costs accurate. See PO Costs and Landed Cost.

How to Receive a Delivery?

Step 1: From the OrderPilot dashboard, go to “Purchase Orders”. Search by PO number, vendor, or item name, and click the PO's row to open it.

Step 2: Click “Receive Items”.

Step 3: The Receive · PO-XXXX page opens. The badge in the header shows progress, such as Nothing received yet or Partial · 2 of 6 received. The New receipt card lists every line with these columns:

Column	What it shows
Item	The product, its SKU, how many remain, and the customer order it is for.
Ordered	Units on the PO.
So far	Units received on earlier receipts, plus any rejected.
Receiving now	Units arriving on this delivery. Enter a number.
Rejected	Units you are turning away from this delivery. Enter a number.
Vendor cost	Prefilled from the PO. Switch between Unit and Total to enter the cost per unit or as the invoice total. The other figure is worked out for you.
Landed / unit	The vendor cost plus this line's share of charges, per unit.

Step 4: Enter the units in Receiving now for each line. If everything still due has arrived, click “Receive all remaining” to fill in every line at once.

Step 5: If any units were damaged or wrong, enter them in Rejected. A Rejection reason field appears under the item. It is required, for example "Damaged in transit" or "Wrong fabric".

Step 6: Add any charges billed on this delivery, such as inbound shipping, under Additional charges on this receipt by clicking “Add charge”. See PO Costs and Landed Cost.

Step 7: Check the Receipt summary (Units, Goods, Charges, and Landed). A badge shows whether the receipt's cost is Final, Estimated, or has a Cost missing.

Step 8: Optionally, add a Receiving note, such as carton condition or who signed for the delivery. Each receipt keeps its own note.

Step 9: Click “Post receipt #N · X units” in the header. If you are only rejecting units on this delivery, the button reads “Save X rejected” instead.

OrderPilot saves the receipt, updates the PO's status, updates stock in Shopify where the line calls for it, and moves the linked customer orders forward.

Note: If the post button is greyed out, hover over it to see why, for example a missing rejection reason or a vendor cost below zero. Every problem is also listed under the Receipt summary.

Receiving more than ordered

When a line has nothing left to receive, it shows Nothing left to receive with a “Receive extra units” link. Click it to enter extra units. When you post, OrderPilot asks Receive more than ordered? and lists each line's ordered, remaining, and new totals. Click “Save anyway” to continue.

The final delivery and PO charges

If your PO has charges and this delivery completes it, OrderPilot first shows Review PO charges before the final receipt. Keep each charge that still applies, or tick a charge to cancel it, then click “Keep charges and post receipt” or “Cancel charges and post receipt”.

Rejected units

Rejected units are not received and do not count as stock. They go back to the customer's order line, so you can order them again on a new PO, from the same vendor or a different one. If a rejected item is reordered on a replacement PO, its row on the original PO shows that receiving moved to the new PO.

How to Correct a Receipt?

Mistakes at the dock happen. Every receipt can be corrected afterwards, and each correction is logged with a reason.

Step 1: Open the PO and click “Receive Items”. Your receipts are listed under Receiving history below the new receipt. On a PO that cannot take more deliveries, choose “Receiving history” from the ••• menu instead.

Step 2: Click “Edit” on the receipt you want to correct.

Step 3: Change the Received, Rejected, or Vendor cost figures. To add a line that was missed at check-in, click “Add another item to this receipt” and choose it under Item missed at check-in. You can also add or change charges under Charges on this receipt.

Step 4: Enter a Reason for change, such as "Vendor credit note" or "Carton missed at check-in". It is required.

Step 5: Click “Save adjustment”. Click “Discard” to leave without saving.

Saving recalculates the stock cost for the units on that receipt and records the change on the PO. Keep these limits in mind:

• Lowering a count takes those units back out of Shopify stock. OrderPilot refuses it if the units are already sold or allocated.
• Lines received into stock (the Create stock choice) cannot have their received count changed on the receipt. Correct the stock in Shopify instead. Their costs and rejections can still be corrected.
• A finalized PO cannot be corrected until it is reopened.

Finalizing a Purchase Order

When all goods are in and all costs are confirmed, click “Finalize” on the PO page. Finalizing closes the PO's costs and stops further receiving. If units are still due or a charge is still an estimate, OrderPilot tells you and asks you to confirm with “Finalize anyway”.

To change a finalized PO, choose “Reopen” from the ••• menu (or “Reopen to edit” on the banner), enter a Reason, and click “Reopen”. The reason is recorded in the PO's activity. See PO Costs and Landed Cost for more.

How Linked Orders Move as Goods Arrive

Each time you post a receipt, OrderPilot looks at every line on the linked customer orders and updates their status:

Order status	When it is set
Ready to Ship	Every line on the order has been fully received.
Partially Ready to Ship	Some units have been received, but not every line is complete.
Rejected	Every unit ordered for the order was rejected.

Note: A quote that has not been confirmed yet does not move to Ready to Ship, even when its goods arrive. It keeps its current status until it is signed and paid, or converted to an order.

Note: Lines that never go on a purchase order, such as lines you excluded because they were already in stock, are not counted as received. An order with such lines stops at Partially Ready to Ship. Change its status yourself when it is ready to go.

What Receiving Changes in Shopify

What happens to Shopify inventory depends on the kind of line:

• Shopify catalog products and stock-tracked options: the received units are added to stock at the PO's Fulfillment Location.
• Product template lines set to Do not create stock: Shopify inventory is not changed. The units only move the order forward.
• Product template lines set to Create stock: OrderPilot creates a Shopify product for that exact configuration on its first receipt and adds the units to it, holding the order's units for that order.

If a stock update fails, the PO shows a Stock not updated in Shopify banner with a “Retry” button. See PO Inventory and Stock for the full picture.

How to Fulfill Orders?

OrderPilot does not ship orders itself. You fulfill them in Shopify, and the status comes back to OrderPilot.

Step 1: Go to “Orders” and find orders with the status Ready to Ship or Partially Ready to Ship.

Step 2: Open the order to check the product, options, and quantities before packing.

Step 3: Fulfill the order in your Shopify admin, using Shopify's usual fulfillment steps.

Note: On the Shopify order, each stock-tracked option chosen on a product template line (for example, a tracked fabric) appears as its own add-on line beside the main product. Fulfill those add-on lines together with the product they belong to.

Statuses coming back from Shopify

As Shopify reports fulfillment and delivery, OrderPilot updates the order's status:

Status	What it means
Partially Shipped	Some units have been fulfilled in Shopify.
Shipped	All units have been fulfilled.
Partially Delivered	Some units have been delivered.
Delivered	All units have been delivered.

Delivery is counted when carrier tracking reports the package as delivered, when you mark a shipment or local delivery as delivered in Shopify, or when a local pickup is collected. A shipment with no carrier tracking stays at Shipped until you click Mark as delivered on the fulfillment in Shopify.

Each line on the order also shows how many of its units have been fulfilled and delivered.

Serial numbers after fulfillment

If a product template or an extended warranty plan requires a serial number, the line asks for one per fulfilled unit once Shopify fulfills it. The line shows Serials X of Y missing until every fulfilled unit has one.

To add them, click the ••• menu on the line and choose “Serial numbers” (or “Add serial numbers” on a line where they are optional), enter one serial per unit, and save. See Warranty and Serial Numbers.

Example: Receiving a Sofa Delivery

Harlow & Finch Interiors sent PO-10002 to Atelier Homeworks for two Linden Sofas: one for Olivia Bennett and one for Marcus Reed. The truck arrives with both sofas, but Marcus's has a torn arm.

1. Open PO-10002 and click “Receive Items”.
2. On Olivia's sofa line, enter 1 in Receiving now.
3. On Marcus's sofa line, enter 1 in Rejected and type "Torn arm on delivery" in Rejection reason.
4. Add a Receiving note: "Two cartons. Signed by Ethan."
5. Click “Post receipt #1 · 1 unit”.

PO-10002 moves to Received, some rejected. Olivia's order moves to Ready to Ship. Marcus's sofa goes back to his order line, ready to reorder on a new PO from Atelier Homeworks.

Important Notes & Tips

Receive on the day goods arrive

The sooner you post a receipt, the sooner your team sees which orders are ready to ship.

Always give a clear rejection reason

The reason is kept on the receipt and helps when you claim a credit or replacement from the vendor.

Correct receipts rather than working around them

If a count or cost was wrong, edit the receipt with a reason. Do not post an extra receipt to balance it out, because that adds stock that never arrived.

Use Mark as delivered for untracked shipments

If you deliver with your own van or a carrier without tracking, mark the fulfillment as delivered in Shopify so the order reaches Delivered and any warranty cover starts.

Need Help?

Need help receiving a delivery, correcting a receipt, or understanding why an order hasn't moved to Ready to Ship? Reach out to us at support@bevycommerce.com, and we'll help you work through the receiving and fulfillment flow.