Goods receiving in the warehouse, step by step

November 13, 2026 · 7 min read

Receiving is the first point where stock can go right or wrong. What is miscounted at the dock is carried to the rack, from there to picking and, in the end, to the customer. This article walks through goods receiving step by step: what you need before the truck arrives, how to count, what to do with whatever does not match and when it is considered finished.

What goods receiving is in a warehouse

It is the process that turns what arrives on a truck into available stock: unloading, checking that it is what was expected, recording it and storing it. It has two halves that are best kept apart. The first is checking: has what should have arrived actually arrived, in the right quantity and condition? The second is storage: which bin does each thing end up in?

Steps of goods receiving

Swipe the table sideways to see all the columns →

Step	What is done	What is recorded
1. Notice	What is going to arrive is loaded: items and quantities	The expected delivery note
2. Arrival and unloading	The truck reaches the dock and the goods are taken down to the receiving area	Date and time of arrival
3. Outside check	The parcels or pallets are counted and checked for knocks, water damage or opened packaging	Reservations on the carrier's delivery note, if any
4. Count with scanning	Each item is scanned and counted against the expected delivery note	Quantity received per item
5. Differences	What is missing, what is extra and what arrives damaged is recorded	Shortages, overages and damaged goods, per item
6. Batch and expiry date	The batch and date of every item that carries them are captured	Batch and expiry date of each receipt
7. Putaway	Each thing is taken to its bin and item and bin are scanned	Which bin each unit is in

What the expected delivery note is and why it matters

The expected delivery note —also called an inbound notice or ASN, advance shipping notice— is the list of what is going to arrive, loaded into the software before the truck gets there. It can come from a purchase order to the supplier or, at a third-party logistics provider, from what the client who owns the goods announces.

It matters because without it there is nothing to count against. You can write down what arrives, but not know whether anything is missing or extra. With it, the warehouse also knows in advance what volume is coming and can get the dock, the people and the bins ready.

How to unload and check before counting

Before opening anything, the parcels or pallets are counted and compared with the number on the carrier's document. If a parcel is missing or one arrives broken, wet or with the seal open, it is written on that document before signing: that is what allows a claim afterwards.

The goods are left in a marked receiving area, separate from the rest. What is there is not stock yet: it has not been counted and it is not in a bin, so it must not be possible to pick it.

How to count the goods with scanning

Counting with scanning means reading the barcode of each item —or of each box, if the box has its own code— and letting the software add up. It has two effects. One, you count the right thing: if a similar but different item arrives, the code does not match and you see it on the spot. Two, the count is done against the expected delivery note, line by line, and what does not match is in plain view without cross-checking papers.

When the boxes carry a GS1 label, a single scan can give the item, the batch and the expiry date at once. If you count by full boxes, you have to be clear about how many units each box holds: confusing boxes with units is a typical inbound mismatch.

What to do with the differences: shortages, overages and damaged goods

→Shortages: less arrives than expected. You receive what there is, the shortage is recorded per item and the supplier or the client is notified. The receipt can be closed with shortages; what you should not do is leave it open indefinitely waiting for something that may never arrive.
→Overages: more arrives than expected, or something that was not on the delivery note. It does not simply go into available stock: it is set aside until it is decided whether to accept it or return it.
→Damaged: it arrives broken or in poor condition. It is separated, photographed and blocked so it cannot be picked.

The common rule is that none of this is settled at the dock from memory. It is recorded on the spot, with its quantity, and decided afterwards by whoever has to decide. How the goods set aside are handled is in warehouse quality control with a PDA.

When to record batch and expiry date

At receiving, always. It is the only moment when all the goods pass through the hands of someone with a scanner. With batch and expiry date recorded on the way in, the warehouse can ship first what expires first, warn about what is about to expire and, if a batch has to be recalled, know which bins it is in and which orders it left in. The dispatch rules are explained in FIFO, FEFO and LIFO.

How to put away the goods received

Putaway means taking each item to a bin and telling the software which one. The bin is chosen with judgment: what ships most, close by and at a good height; heavy goods, at the bottom; what must not be together, apart. And it is confirmed with two scans, the item and the bin, so that the software knows where each unit is and not where it is supposed to be.

Not all goods are put away. If what arrives already has an order waiting for it, it can go straight from the inbound dock to the outbound dock: that is cross-docking. And for putaway to be quick, the bins need clear numbering; we cover it in how to organize the locations.

Common mistakes at receiving

→Signing the carrier's delivery note without counting the parcels.
→Receiving without an expected delivery note and “we will square it later”.
→Counting by boxes without checking how many units each one holds.
→Leaving the goods received in the aisle without putting them away, where somebody takes them for an order.
→Not recording the batch because “it is the same as always”.
→Putting the overage on the rack to keep things simple.

How we do it at Ubika

In Ubika, receiving is done with the PDA against the expected delivery note. The PDA shows what was supposed to come; each unit or box is scanned and the count goes up by itself, and if everything has arrived it is confirmed in one go. The date and time of arrival are recorded automatically. The batch and expiry date are the ones the product carries, and with the GS1 code on the box they are filled in automatically.

What does not match is recorded and a notification is sent. What arrives broken is marked as “Damaged” and set aside; what arrives in excess goes to quarantine. If the receipt comes from a purchase order to a supplier, it is checked against it on receiving.

Putaway is a separate task: the PDA says what to take and to which bin —the software suggests the bin according to the item's turnover and compatible families— and requires scanning the product and the bin; if the bin is not the right one or the goods do not fit, it says so. In workflows with cross-docking, putaway is skipped.

You can see the rest in warehouse management software or, if you store other companies' goods, in software for third-party logistics providers.

Frequently asked questions

What is goods receiving in a warehouse?

It is the process by which the goods that arrive become warehouse stock: they are unloaded, checked against what was expected, the differences are recorded, batch and expiry date are captured if the goods carry them, and everything is stored in its bin.

What are the steps of goods receiving?

Notice of what is going to arrive, arrival and unloading of the truck, outside check of the parcels, item-by-item count against the expected delivery note, recording of differences (shortages, overages and damaged goods), capture of batch and expiry date, and putaway on the racks.

What is an expected delivery note or inbound notice?

It is the list of what is going to arrive —items and quantities— that the warehouse has loaded before the truck gets there. It is known as an ASN (advance shipping notice). It gives you something to count against: without it, you can only write down what arrives, not know whether it is what should have arrived.

What do I do if fewer goods arrive than the delivery note says?

You receive what has arrived, record the shortage per item and notify whoever it concerns: the supplier or the client who owns the goods. It is also worth noting it on the carrier's delivery note before signing.

What is done with goods that arrive damaged?

They are physically separated from the rest, photographed, recorded as damaged and left blocked so they cannot be sold or picked until somebody decides: return them, repair them or write them off.

Why do batch and expiry date have to be recorded at receiving?

Because it is the only moment when you are sure to have them in front of you. If they are not captured on the way in, later you cannot ship first what expires first, or know which orders carried a specific batch if it has to be recalled.

Keep reading

What Ubika does: warehouse management software · software for 3PLs · WMS for e-commerce