A delivery note accompanies goods and itemises them: descriptions, quantities, the order it fulfils, and space for the recipient to sign. It normally omits prices, because the person checking a delivery has no need for commercial terms and a warehouse signature should not imply agreement to a price.
Signed, it becomes evidence — of what arrived, when, and in what condition. That evidence is what turns a later billing disagreement into a two-minute check rather than a dispute.
Why It Matters
Buyers with procurement discipline pay invoices through three-way matching: the purchase order, the delivery evidence and the invoice must agree. If your invoice says ten units and the delivery note says nine, the invoice lands in an exceptions queue and payment stops — usually without anyone telling you. A large share of apparent "late payment" in goods businesses is really a failed match nobody flagged.
Example
A supplier ships 90 of 100 ordered units. The delivery note lists 90 with 10 marked back-ordered, and the customer signs it. The supplier invoices 90. The match succeeds and payment runs on schedule — whereas invoicing the full 100 would have stalled the whole amount over the 10 not yet sent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a delivery note the same as a packing slip?
Closely related and often the same piece of paper on a single-parcel shipment. Strictly, a packing slip itemises the contents of one parcel; a delivery note covers the whole delivery and is the document signed to acknowledge receipt.
Should prices appear on a delivery note?
Usually not. Keeping quantities on the delivery note and prices on the invoice separates confirmation that goods arrived from agreement about what they cost.