Delivery Note Template (2026): What to Include + Free Example

A delivery note is the list of goods that travels with a shipment, issued by the seller or dispatcher so the receiver can check what arrived against what was ordered. It is everyday paperwork for small suppliers, wholesalers, online sellers, contractors and couriers, and it is usually signed at the door. This guide gives you the ten fields that matter and why, a comparison table covering invoices, purchase orders, packing slips and bills of lading, a worked three-way matching example, and two templates you can copy today.

Quick Answer

• A delivery note lists the items and quantities in a shipment; it confirms what was sent, not what is owed.
• The sender issues it with the goods. The receiver checks the lines, signs, and both sides keep a copy.
• Prices are normally left off. Billing is the invoice's job and ordering is the purchase order's job.
• It feeds receiving and three-way matching: purchase order, delivery note or goods received note, invoice.
• Shortages, damage and wrong items should be written on the note before the driver leaves.

What Is a Delivery Note, and Who Issues and Receives It?

A delivery note answers one practical question: what was in this shipment? The sender (the warehouse, the dispatch desk, or the owner loading a van) prints it before the goods leave, and it travels with them. The receiver (a goods-in clerk, a site foreman, or the customer) counts against it, signs it, and keeps a copy. Usage examples in the Cambridge Dictionary entry for delivery note record exactly that pattern: the note is signed by the purchaser when inventory arrives, as evidence that the goods ordered were delivered.

The name shifts by region, not by content. Across the UK, India, Australia, Singapore and South Africa, "delivery note" is the everyday term, with "dispatch note" also common in warehouses; US businesses usually call the same sheet a packing slip. It only matters when you and your trading partner need to agree on which document you mean.

What to Include on a Delivery Note (Field by Field)

Each field below does a specific job later, when something is checked or disputed. Leave one off the sheet and you will feel it in the follow-up.

1. Delivery note number. A unique reference such as DN-2026-0418. It gives every shipment a name you can search in email, quote over the phone, and attach to a dispute months later. Without it, all you have is "the delivery from back in March."

2. Dispatch date and delivery date. Two dates, not one. The dispatch date records when the goods left you; the delivery date records when they arrived. Return windows and back-order timing are measured against these lines.

3. Sender details. Full company name, address, phone and email. If a carton turns up damaged two days later, the receiver needs to know exactly who to call.

4. Recipient and delivery address, plus a contact person. The bill-to address and the ship-to address are often different, especially on site or contract work. Naming the person who accepted the goods removes the "nobody here ordered this" argument later.

5. Order or purchase order reference. The receiver checks your lines against what they authorized. If their order came in as a formal purchase order, quoting its number lets both sides reconcile in seconds; our purchase order template guide shows what a good one contains, and we cover keeping POs organized in AI purchase order tracking.

6. Invoice reference. Fill it when the invoice already exists, or add it when you bill. It ties the physical delivery to the request for payment, which is what your customer's accounts payable team matches against. Our how to create an invoice guide covers the billing side of that pair.

7. Itemized goods: description, SKU, unit, quantity ordered, quantity delivered, back-ordered. This is the core of the document. The two quantity columns are the point: they let a shortage show up on paper at the moment of handover instead of surfacing three weeks later when the invoice arrives. List back-ordered lines explicitly so they are a promise on record rather than a forgotten item.

8. Condition or damage notes. A short line such as "2 cartons crushed" or "pallet wrap torn, contents dry", written before signature, fixes the state of the goods at a moment nobody can recreate later.

9. Carrier and tracking or consignment number. Useful whenever the handover was not your own vehicle: it names who carried the goods and gives you the number to quote when a pallet goes missing.

10. Receiver name, signature, and date and time. The signature is what converts a list into evidence, and a timestamp narrows down exactly when possession changed hands.

Delivery Note vs Packing Slip vs Invoice: Seven Documents Compared

One shipment can generate seven pieces of paper. This table separates them by who writes each one, what it is for, whether prices appear, and who signs.

Document	Issued by	Purpose	Prices included?	Who signs
Delivery note	Seller or dispatcher, with the goods	List what was sent so the receiver can check it against the order	Normally no	Receiver on delivery
Packing slip	Seller, usually inside the packaging	Same content as a delivery note; the everyday US term for it	Normally no	Nobody by default; the receiver signs if it doubles as the delivery record
Purchase order	Buyer, before shipment	Authorize the order: items, quantities, agreed prices	Yes	Approved by the buyer; the supplier acknowledges it
Invoice	Seller, after delivery or on an agreed billing date	Request payment for goods or services	Yes, that is its purpose	Not signed as a receipt; approval happens on the buyer's side
Goods received note (GRN)	Receiver's goods-in team, on arrival	Internal record that goods arrived and in what quantity	No	The receiving clerk or warehouse supervisor
Bill of lading	Carrier, issued to the shipper	Contract and receipt for carrying goods along a route	Normally no	Shipper and consignee at the points of handover
Proof of delivery (POD)	Driver, carrier, or the seller's own driver	Evidence that delivery happened at a stated place and time	No	Consignee prints a name, signs, and records the time

A few notes on the edges. Packing slip and delivery note describe the same list of contents; which term you use is largely the regional habit described above. The bill of lading belongs to the carrier: in the US, federal law requires a motor carrier to issue a receipt or bill of lading for property it receives for transportation (49 U.S.C. 14706). The GRN is the buyer's internal twin of your delivery note, and it is one of the three documents in a three-way match: purchase order, invoice and goods receipt, as accounts payable guides describe it.

How a Delivery Note Fits Order-to-Cash and Three-Way Matching

Order-to-cash runs in one direction. The buyer raises a purchase order, you dispatch goods with a delivery note attached, they record receipt (their goods received note is often built from your signed copy), you send the invoice, they approve and pay, and you apply the cash. The delivery note is the hinge, because it is the only document created at the moment the goods physically move, so upstream order tracking and downstream billing both lean on it.

Three-way matching is the control that sits in the middle of that flow. Before releasing money, accounts payable compares three documents: the purchase order (what was authorized), the goods receipt or delivery note (what arrived), and the supplier's invoice (what is being charged). If all three agree on items and quantities, the invoice is approved for payment.

A worked example, using a clearly hypothetical wholesaler we will call Calder & Pike Supplies:

• Their customer's PO-4471 authorizes 120 cases of still water.
• Shipment DN-2026-0418 goes out, and the note reads "120 ordered, 118 delivered, 2 back-ordered." The receiving clerk signs it, and that signature becomes the buyer's goods received note.
• Calder & Pike invoice INV-2026-0311 bills for 118 cases only, quoting PO-4471 and DN-2026-0418.
• Accounts payable matches all three documents on 118 cases and approves the invoice under the agreed terms; our Net 30 payment terms guide explains how those deadlines work.
• The 2 back-ordered cases ship later on a fresh delivery note, and an AI invoice generator can produce the follow-up invoice with those references attached.

If the delivery note had not recorded the shortfall, an invoice for 118 cases would have failed the match against a PO for 120, and payment would have sat on hold while someone reconstructed what actually arrived.

Short, Damaged or Wrong Deliveries: What to Write on the Note

Discrepancies belong on the note itself, written in the moment. Wording that stays useful later:

• Short: "118 of 120 cases received, 2 short" on the line, plus a summary note at the bottom.
• Damaged: "2 cartons crushed, contents water damaged, rejected" or "received, 2 cartons crushed", depending on whether you are keeping the goods.
• Wrong item: "SKU BRK-40 delivered in place of BRK-42; item refused."
• Back-ordered: "6 units back-ordered, promised 26 March" so the outstanding balance has a date.

Write the correction on both copies, have the receiver initial it, and photograph damaged cartons while the driver is on site. Never sign a note with quantities you have not counted, and never sign a blank one. Record the discrepancy on the carrier's manifest too, then tell your supplier the same day.

Proof of Delivery: Signature Best Practices

1. Ask for the name in print, the person's role, the signature, and the date and time. A signature alone says little about who took possession.
2. Get it from the person authorized to accept deliveries at that site, not whoever happens to be free at the desk.
3. Print a confirmation line above the signature: "Received in apparent good order except as noted above." It forces a decision at signing: accept clean, or accept with exceptions.
4. Capture it on a phone. Drivers and small operators can open the delivery note on a phone or tablet, have the recipient sign on the screen, and keep a time-stamped digital copy instead of a paper slip left in a glovebox. The same habit works beyond deliveries, such as when you e-sign an existing contract without retyping it.
5. Send the signed copy right away. A proof of delivery is worth most in the first hours, while everyone still remembers the handover.

A Filled-In Delivery Note (Example)

Header details:

• Delivery note no.: DN-2026-0418
• Dispatch date: 18 March 2026, delivery date: 19 March 2026
• From: Calder & Pike Supplies (hypothetical), 14 Dock Road, Bristol
• To: Harbour View Cafe, attention R. Naidoo, 3 Quay Street
• Order/PO reference: PO-4471, invoice reference: INV-2026-0311
• Carrier: regional courier, consignment CR-8841207

Line items:

#	SKU	Description	Unit	Qty ordered	Qty delivered	Condition / notes
1	WTR-500	Still water 500 ml, case of 24	case	120	118	2 short, back-ordered to 26 March
2	CUP-8OZ	Compostable cups 8 oz, sleeve of 50	sleeve	40	40	Received in good condition
3	SERV-12	Serving trays, 12 inch, bundle of 10	bundle	15	15	1 bundle scuffed, accepted

Received by: R. Naidoo, Harbour View Cafe. Signature: on file. Date and time: 19 March 2026, 09:42.

Delivery Note Template (Copy and Paste)

Delivery Note

Delivery note no.: [DELIVERY NOTE NUMBER] Dispatch date: [DISPATCH DATE] Delivery date: [DELIVERY DATE] From: [SENDER COMPANY], [SENDER ADDRESS], [SENDER PHONE], [SENDER EMAIL] To: [RECIPIENT COMPANY], [DELIVERY ADDRESS], [CONTACT PERSON] Order/PO reference: [PO NUMBER] Invoice reference: [INVOICE NUMBER] Carrier: [CARRIER NAME] Tracking/consignment: [TRACKING NUMBER]

Line items:

1. [SKU] - [DESCRIPTION] - [UNIT] - ordered [QTY ORDERED] / delivered [QTY DELIVERED] - [CONDITION OR BACK-ORDER NOTE]
2. [SKU] - [DESCRIPTION] - [UNIT] - ordered [QTY ORDERED] / delivered [QTY DELIVERED] - [CONDITION OR BACK-ORDER NOTE]
3. [SKU] - [DESCRIPTION] - [UNIT] - ordered [QTY ORDERED] / delivered [QTY DELIVERED] - [CONDITION OR BACK-ORDER NOTE]

Shortage, damage or wrong-item notes: [DISCREPANCY NOTES]

Received in apparent good order except as noted above. Received by (print name): [RECEIVER NAME] Role/company: [RECEIVER COMPANY] Signature: [SIGNATURE] Date and time: [DATE AND TIME]

Create and Sign Delivery Notes with AiDocX

Tell AiDocX what you are shipping, the quantities, and who receives it, and it drafts a complete delivery note: an itemized table with SKUs and quantity columns, set up as a delivery note, packing slip or delivery order, with the PO or invoice reference you need. Adjust the line items in the editor, export the result as a PDF or Word file, and add an e-signature so the recipient can confirm receipt from their phone. The signed copy comes back with an audit trail certificate that records timestamps and device details. The playbook for the AI delivery note generator walks through each step, and you can start free at app.aidocx.ai.

FAQ

What is a delivery note?

A delivery note accompanies a shipment and lists the goods inside: descriptions, SKUs, quantities ordered and quantities delivered. The sender issues it with the goods and the receiver signs it, giving both sides a record of what arrived.

What is the difference between a delivery note and an invoice?

The delivery note confirms what physically arrived; the invoice requests payment for it. A delivery note usually leaves prices out, while an invoice states what is owed. Businesses commonly send both: the note travels with the shipment, the invoice follows separately.

What is the difference between a delivery order and a delivery note?

Warehouses and small suppliers often use the two terms interchangeably, much like "dispatch note". But "delivery order" can also mean a release instruction that authorizes someone to collect goods, which is how it is used in freight and shipping. Confirm which document your trading partner means before you rely on the name.

Can I use a delivery note as a VAT or GST invoice?

That depends on exactly which fields your tax authority requires, and the answer differs by country and by scheme. Check your local tax rules, or ask your accountant, before treating a delivery note as a tax invoice.

How do I capture a proof of delivery signature on a phone?

Open the delivery note on your phone or tablet and have the recipient sign on the screen, alongside their printed name, role and the time. A time-stamped digital copy is far easier to retrieve later than a paper slip in a vehicle.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Tax, record-keeping and signature rules differ by country, so check your local rules before relying on a delivery note as a formal record.