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A goods received note (GRN), also called a goods receipt note, is an internal document that confirms your business physically received the items a supplier delivered. The receiving or warehouse team creates it when a delivery arrives, records what actually showed up, and checks it against the purchase order. The supplier never writes a GRN. It is your own record, and it exists so accounts payable can prove a bill is for goods that were really delivered before any money moves.
That single job, proof of receipt, is why the GRN sits at the center of good payables control. Without it, AP is trusting that whatever a vendor invoiced actually arrived, in the right quantity and condition. With it, the invoice can be matched against a document your own team signed off on. This guide covers what a GRN contains, who creates it, how it differs from the purchase order and the invoice, and the part it plays in three-way matching.
What a goods received note includes
A GRN is short, but the details on it are what make it useful for matching and disputes later. Most goods received notes capture the same core fields.
| Field | What it records |
|---|---|
| GRN number | A unique reference to track the receipt and tie it to the PO and invoice |
| Supplier details | The vendor name and address the goods came from |
| Purchase order number | The PO the delivery is fulfilling, so all three documents link |
| Date received | When the goods physically arrived |
| Item description and quantity | What was delivered and how many, line by line |
| Condition notes | Any damage, shortage, or discrepancy found on inspection |
| Received by | The person who checked and accepted the delivery |
The condition and quantity notes matter most. If a delivery is short two units or three boxes arrived damaged, the GRN records it, and that record is what stops AP from paying the full invoice for goods you did not fully receive.
Who creates the GRN, and when
The receiving department or warehouse team creates the GRN, not the supplier and not accounts payable. It happens at the moment of delivery: the goods arrive, someone counts them, inspects them against the packing slip and the purchase order, and logs what actually came in. A copy then goes to procurement and to AP so the receipt is on record before the supplier's invoice is processed.
Timing is the whole point. The GRN has to be raised when goods are received, not weeks later when the invoice shows up, because its value is capturing the true state of the delivery while the boxes are still in front of someone. A GRN written from memory after the fact defeats its own purpose.
GRN vs purchase order vs invoice
These three documents are easy to confuse because they describe the same transaction at different stages. The purchase order is the buyer's commitment to buy: what you ordered, how many, at what price. The GRN is the record of what you received. The invoice is the supplier's request for payment. Read in order, they tell the full story of a purchase: what was ordered, what arrived, and what is owed.
The reason to keep them separate is that they can disagree, and the disagreements are where money leaks. You order 100 units (PO), 98 arrive (GRN), and the supplier bills for 100 (invoice). Only by holding all three side by side do you catch that you are being asked to pay for two units you never got. That comparison is exactly what three-way matching automates.
The GRN's role in three-way matching
Three-way matching is the accounts payable control that checks a supplier invoice against the purchase order and the goods received note before payment. The GRN is one of the three documents, and it is the one that proves delivery actually happened. AP compares quantities across all three to confirm the PO, GRN, and invoice show the same amounts, checks that the invoice price matches the agreed PO price, and confirms the line items line up. Anything that does not match is flagged for someone to investigate before the payment moves.
This is where the GRN pays for itself. It blocks overbilling, catches deliveries that never fully arrived, and prevents duplicate or fraudulent invoices from slipping through, because a bill with no matching receipt has nothing to stand on. Modern invoice matching software does this comparison automatically, pulling the PO, the GRN, and the captured invoice data and matching them line by line so AP only touches the exceptions. For a deeper look at the tolerances involved, see our guide to three-way matching tolerance.
GRNs and month-end accruals
The GRN also does quiet work at month-end. When goods arrive but the invoice has not, the GRN is the evidence that you owe for something already received, which is the basis for a goods received not invoiced accrual. Accounting books the expense in the period the goods were received rather than waiting for the bill, so the financial statements reflect the real liability. Without GRNs, those accruals are guesswork, and close accuracy suffers. If you digitize the paper delivery paperwork, you can pull the data off a scanned receiving document automatically instead of keying it, which keeps the receipt record complete without the manual entry.
Frequently asked questions
What is a goods received note?
A goods received note (GRN) is an internal document that confirms a business received goods from a supplier. The receiving or warehouse team creates it when a delivery arrives, recording the items, quantities, and condition, then checks it against the purchase order. It gives accounts payable proof that goods were delivered before any invoice is paid.
Who prepares the goods received note?
The receiving department or warehouse staff of the buying company prepares the GRN, not the supplier. They create it at the point of delivery by counting and inspecting the goods against the packing slip and purchase order. Copies then go to procurement and accounts payable so the receipt is on record for matching.
What is the difference between a GRN and an invoice?
A GRN is the buyer's internal record that goods were received, created by the receiving team. An invoice is the supplier's request for payment, created by the vendor. The GRN proves what actually arrived; the invoice states what is owed. Accounts payable matches the two, along with the purchase order, before paying.
Is a GRN a legal document?
A GRN is not a contract, but it is an important internal control and audit record. It provides official proof of receipt, supports three-way matching, and creates a clear trail for resolving disputes over short or damaged deliveries. Auditors rely on GRNs to verify that recorded liabilities correspond to goods actually received.
What happens if there is no GRN?
Without a GRN, accounts payable has no independent proof that the goods on an invoice were delivered, so it must either trust the vendor or chase confirmation manually. That opens the door to paying for short shipments, duplicate invoices, or goods that never arrived, and it weakens both three-way matching and month-end accruals.