Receiving is how you record what physically shows up against a purchase order, split each line's arriving units into what you accepted and what you turned away, and keep your stock and counts accurate. If you have the Pro plan, you can also run a structured quality inspection on what arrived before it reaches sellable stock.
Receiving goods against a purchase order
You receive goods from the purchase order's detail page (Purchasing → Purchase Orders, then open the PO). Receiving works line by line, so you can record a full delivery or just the part of it that arrived and come back for the rest later (partial receiving is supported).
Record what arrived
Open the purchase order and find the line item that was delivered.
Start a receipt for that line (the "Receive goods" action).
Enter how many units you accepted, how many arrived damaged, and how many you are rejecting.
If you are rejecting any units, pick a rejection reason (this is required).
Add an optional note for context (for example, "2 cartons short, supplier notified").
Confirm the receipt.
The dialog shows the line's key figures as you work: Ordered, Received, Synced, and Remaining to receive, so you always know how much of the line is still outstanding.
Note: Receiving records what arrived. To move the accepted units into your live stock, turn on "Sync to inventory now" while receiving (it is off by default), or sync them afterward. Committing units to stock is where the inventory change and the Shopify sync happen, and where the receipt feeds each unit's landed and weighted-average cost.
Accepted, damaged, and rejected
Every receipt splits the arriving units into three buckets:
Accepted (good): units in good condition. These become sellable stock once synced.
Damaged: units that arrived damaged. On a multi-location inventory setup, these are routed to a damaged pool rather than sellable stock. (The damaged option appears on a line linked to a product variant on a multi-location organization.)
Rejected: units you are turning away. Rejected units never enter stock, and each rejection needs a reason.
The available rejection reasons are Damaged, Defective, Wrong item, Overstock, Expired, Recall, Quality issue, and Other.
Received, rejected, and backordered counts
As you record receipts, each line keeps a running set of counts so you can see exactly where the order stands:
Received: the accepted (good) units logged against the line so far.
Rejected: units turned away, kept separate from what you received.
Backordered: the still-outstanding units (what was ordered minus everything that has arrived, whether accepted, damaged, or rejected).
Receiving part of an order moves the purchase order to Partially Received; once every line is fully accounted for, the PO reaches Received. A closed or cancelled purchase order is terminal, so no further stock can be received against it until it is reopened.
Tip: Use the note field on a receipt to capture context that the counts alone cannot, such as a short shipment or a supplier follow-up. It is recorded on that goods-receipt event.
Inspecting received goods (Inspection Checklist)
Organizely can run a structured quality inspection on goods received against a purchase order. You define a standard checklist once, and it seeds an inspection for each incoming line so your team checks the same things every time.
Note: The goods-received inspection is part of Organizely's Manufacturing quality-control tooling. It requires the Pro plan (Raw-Material Tracking) and is currently in Beta. Everyday receiving (accepting, rejecting, and syncing units above) does not require the Pro plan.
Set up your receiving inspection checklist
Go to Purchasing → Inspection Checklist to build the standard checks for goods received on a purchase order. This checklist seeds every new receiving inspection.
Add a checklist item and give it a name (for example, "Visual inspection").
Optionally add instructions describing exactly what to check.
Add as many items as you need, then use the up and down controls to put them in the order you want inspectors to work through them.
Remove any item you no longer need.
You can leave the checklist empty if you prefer free-form inspections. With no items, an inspection is just an overall pass or fail plus a note.
Inspect a received line
Once a variant-linked line has received units, an inspection becomes available on that line in the purchase order.
On the received line, choose Inspect to open the "Inspect received goods" dialog.
Work through the checklist, checking off each item and adding a per-item note where useful.
Add an overall inspection note for anything worth recording about the arrival.
Record the result: Pass inspection or Fail inspection.
If you are failing the inspection, enter the failed quantity and a quarantine note explaining why the units failed and where they are being held.
How a failure is handled depends on whether the units have already been synced to stock:
If the failed units are already in stock, failing the inspection scraps those units out of stock through a quality-control (QC) adjustment. You are asked to confirm before scrapping, and this cannot be undone.
If the units are not yet in stock, failing simply records the inspection without moving any inventory.
Each inspection carries a status of Inspection pending, Passed, or Failed, shown right on the line. Inspection is advisory: it records and flags quality outcomes, but it does not hard-block you from receiving or syncing units.
Need help?
If you have questions about receiving or goods inspection, reach out to our support team.