The storekeeper makes it after counting and weighing. Quality fills the accepted, rejected and on-hold quantities. Purchase checks it against the purchase order. Accounts uses it to book the bill.

Should stock be based on the invoice quantity or the GRN?

On the quantity actually received and accepted, as shown on the GRN. Stock must match what is on the rack, not what is written on someone else's paper.

Why does the GRN date matter?

It is the day of acceptance. Payment terms, supplier delivery rating and stock all start from that date.

GRN (Goods Receipt Note): What Stores Must Check

What is a GRN, and what must stores check?

A GRN (goods receipt note) is a one-page record that proves material has come in: from whom, against which purchase order, how much was counted, and how much Quality accepted. Stores must check papers, count or weigh the material, match it to the purchase order, and send it for inspection before it is used.

Receiving is the most important hour in the life of any material. A short quantity, a wrong grade or a missing test certificate is cheap to catch while the truck and the supplier's papers are still at the gate. Once the material is mixed into the racks, the same mistake costs many times more.

The steps from gate to rack

1. Gate entry. The security guard checks that the driver has papers. He writes one line in the gate register: time, vehicle, supplier, invoice number and material. He does not count or check the material. That is the work of stores.

2. Check the papers. The storekeeper looks at the invoice, the delivery challan, the purchase order, the test certificate (where needed) and, for road transport, the e-way bill. For each paper, he asks one question. Does it match what we ordered?

3. Count or weigh. Do not trust the supplier's slip alone. Material sold by weight should be weighed on a weighbridge, loaded and then empty. Items sold by number should be counted. For large packs, count the packs and open a few at random.

4. Check identity. For steel and similar material, the heat number on each bundle should match the test certificate.

5. Make the GRN. Write the quantity actually counted, next to the purchase order quantity and the challan quantity. Show any short or excess.

6. Keep the material in a "under inspection" area. Put a tag on it. It does not go to the rack yet.

7. Quality inspects and records. Quality checks the certificate against the specification and measures samples. The result goes on the GRN as accepted, rejected or on hold. The three must add up to the quantity received.

8. Tag, store and enter. Only now does the accepted tag go on and the stock go into the bin card. Rejected material goes to a separate marked area, with a non-conformance report and a return note.

9. Send the GRN to Accounts. Accounts books the bill only when three papers agree: the purchase order, the GRN and the supplier's invoice.

From gate to rack

Which quantity is right?

Example only: the invoice says 2,300 kg. The weighbridge shows 2,296 kg. The purchase order allows a tolerance of 0.5%, which is 11.5 kg on 2,300 kg.

The difference is 4 kg, well inside the tolerance. The material is accepted and the invoice is paid as billed. But the GRN shows 2,296 kg, because that is what is on the rack. Weigh every time. The next shortage may be 40 kg, and if you never weigh, you never know.

Your stock must be what is on the rack, not what is written on someone else's paper.

Why the GRN date is important

The GRN date proves the day of acceptance. Three things start from it.

Payment terms. Credit days run from the bill date or acceptance, as agreed. A GRN made three days late makes the payment calendar wrong.
Supplier rating. On-time delivery is judged from the GRN date against the promised date.
Stock. The ageing of stock starts from the receipt date.

Watch one more gap. If the supplier's bill reaches your accounts two weeks after the material arrives, half of a 30-day credit period is gone before Accounts even sees the paper. Keep the receipt date and the date the bill reaches Accounts side by side, and chase the gap. For small suppliers, check the legal limit on payment days with your accountant.

Common mistakes

Using the material before Quality has accepted it.
Writing the invoice quantity on the GRN without counting.
Making the GRN days later, from memory.
One GRN for deliveries from many suppliers. One GRN should cover one delivery from one supplier.
No heat or batch number. Write it on every paper that touches the steel. It takes ten seconds, and it can turn a recall of 500 pieces into a check of 6.

How to start in your plant

List every material you buy, and give each a proper name and a code. Do this before anything else.
Print a one-page GRN with five blocks: receipt and supplier, items received, documents and condition, quality result, sign-off.
Mark a receiving area and an "under inspection" area on the floor.
Tell the storekeeper: no GRN, no entry into stock.
Tell Accounts: no signed GRN, no payment.

Key points

A GRN records what was received, counted and accepted, against the purchase order.
Weigh or count every delivery. Never copy the invoice quantity.
Material stays under inspection until Quality accepts it.
The GRN date drives payment, supplier rating and stock ageing.
No GRN means no stock entry and no payment.

GRN: What Stores Must Check on Every Delivery