Track inbound shipments

An inbound shipment records goods that have left the sender but have not yet reached your branch, so that you can see them as in-transit stock and book them in quickly when they arrive. It sits between the purchase order (or the sender's invoice or delivery order) and the goods receipt: the shipment says what is on its way, and the goods receipt released from it records what actually arrived and puts it into stock.

Overview

Shipments live in the Procurement app, under Shipments, on the web and in the mobile app. The list is titled All Shipments. A saved shipment has a record header with the Document Date, Partner Account, Branch and Supplier Account, a Status stepper, and three tabs:

• Lines — one line per item on its way, with its quantity and price.
• Related — the records linked to the shipment, such as the goods receipts released from it.
• Details — Key Information, Supplier Details, Dispatch Details and System Details.

The shipment is always the receiving side's document. The Branch is the branch the goods are travelling to, the Partner Account is the company that owns that branch, and the Supplier Account is the party sending the goods.

When to use it

• A supplier ships in consignments. Release a shipment from the purchase order when the supplier confirms dispatch, then release the goods receipt from the shipment when the truck arrives.
• Goods move between companies in your group. When one company in your xMatix tenant invoices or delivers to another, the sender's Create Shipment (on the invoice) or Release Shipment (on the delivery order) creates the shipment for the receiving branch. The receiver books the arrival from it.
• You want in-transit stock to be visible. Posting a shipment adds its quantities to the branch's in-transit (pipeline) stock until they are received.
• Auto-ordering should count what is already on its way. Pending shipment quantities can be counted as incoming supply by auto orders.

If goods arrive without any advance notice, you do not need a shipment: release the goods receipt from the purchase order directly.

How xMatix handles it

A shipment is created in one of four ways:

From there, the shipment moves through up to three actions:

1. Post Inventory adds each unposted line to the branch's in-transit (pipeline) stock.
2. Release Receipt creates a goods receipt for everything still pending. When the receipt is received, the stock moves from in-transit into inward stock.
3. Cancel Shipment or Selective Cancel Shipment writes off quantity that will never arrive.

Every line keeps three counters: Receipt Quantity (what goods receipts have taken), Cancelled Quantity (what was written off) and Pending Quantity (Quantity − Receipt Quantity − Cancelled Quantity). Both release and cancel work only on pending quantity.

Prerequisites

• Access to the Procurement app and to the Shipment entity in your security profile, plus the action grants listed under Permissions.
• A partner account (your own company) and, if that company has branches, an active branch of it.
• The items on the lines must be active. Items that require a SKU need one on the line.
• For Post Inventory: the items must be stock-tracked. Items that are not tracked are skipped.
• For Release Receipt: every pending line whose item has Track Asset switched on must have a Serial Number.

Procedure

Step 1 — Create the shipment

Usually you do not type a shipment. Open the purchase order and run Release Shipment (all lines with pending quantity) or Selective Release Shipment (tick lines and enter a Requested Quantity for each). See the purchase order lifecycle. Shipments sent by another company in your tenant are created for your branch by the sender's action, with no step on your side.

To create one by hand, open Procurement → Shipments and select New. The form asks for:

• Supplier Account and Purchase Order at the top.
• Supplier Information tab: Supplier Invoice Number, Supplier Invoice Date, Delivery Order Number and Delivery Order Date.
• Dispatch Information tab: Shipment Date, Transporter Name and Transporter Reference No.
• System Details tab: Partner Account, Branch and Executive.

Save. If you leave Supplier Account empty and the branch has a Default Supplier Account, that account is filled in for you. The shipment gets its number from the shipment numbering series and opens with Status Draft.

Choosing a Purchase Order on a hand-made shipment only links it: it does not copy the order's lines. To get the order's lines, use Release Shipment on the order instead.

Step 2 — Add or check the lines

Open the Lines tab. Shipments released from another document already have their lines. To add lines yourself:

• New opens the line form: Item, SKU, Item Lot Type, Quantity, Unit Price and Description (the description is not kept on shipment lines). Total Amount is Unit Price × Quantity.
• Scan Shipment opens Barcode Quick Add: scan item barcodes to add lines with their quantity and price.
• Import loads lines from an Excel sheet with Item, Quantity and Unit Price columns.

Quantity must be above zero ("Quantity can't be zero"), and a unit price, if entered, must be above zero. When a line's quantity is above the item's or SKU's Maximum Lot Quantity, it is split into several lines, each within the cap.

Shipment lines do not take an item lot or a storage location, because the goods have not reached a bin yet. You choose those on the goods receipt.

For asset-tracked items, open each line and enter its Serial Number (and Component Number if you use one) with Edit. The goods receipt copies both from the shipment line.

Step 3 — Post the in-transit stock

Select Post Inventory on the shipment header. Every line that has not been posted yet adds Quantity − Cancelled Quantity to the receiving branch's in-transit stock, and the line is stamped as posted. The shipment's Document State becomes Inventory Posted.

This step is optional. If you skip it, the goods receipt adds the stock straight to inward stock when it is received. If you post it, receiving moves the quantity out of in-transit into inward stock. Either way the goods count once.

Running Post Inventory again only posts lines added since the last run. When every line is already posted, it stops with "No Shipment Lines found for Inventory Posting."

Changing the Quantity or Unit Price of a posted line reverses its in-transit entry and posts it again at the new figures. Deleting a posted line reverses it.

Step 4 — Release the goods receipt when the goods arrive

Select Release Receipt on the shipment header. A dialog lists the lines with their quantities. Tick at least one line and save.

Release Receipt creates one goods receipt for every line that still has pending quantity, whichever lines you ticked. The receipt copies the shipment's supplier, partner account, branch, supplier invoice number and date, and transporter name. Each receipt line gets the item, SKU, purchase-order-line link, the shipment line's unit price as its Unit Cost, its serial and component numbers, and a Supplier Quantity equal to the line's pending quantity.

As soon as the receipt is created, its Supplier Quantity counts as Receipt Quantity on the shipment line, so the line's pending quantity drops to zero. Correcting the Supplier Quantity on the receipt line, or deleting the receipt line, updates the shipment line again.

The shipment's Document State becomes Receipt Released. If the shipment is linked to a purchase order, the order's Document State becomes Receipt Released too.

Then open the new receipt from the shipment's Related tab and carry on with receiving it: check Received Quantity, receive, inspect if needed, and release the bill.

To receive only part of a shipment, your administrator can add Selective Release Receipt to the shipment page (see Configuration). It creates the receipt only for the lines you tick, each for the Requested Quantity you enter, which must be greater than zero and no more than the line's pending quantity.

Step 5 — Cancel quantity that will never arrive

• Cancel Shipment adds each line's whole pending quantity to its Cancelled Quantity. The shipment's Document State becomes Cancelled.
• Selective Cancel Shipment opens a list of lines that still have pending quantity. Tick the lines, enter a Requested Quantity for each (above zero and no more than the pending quantity) and save. Only those quantities are cancelled.

Cancelled quantity no longer counts as pending, so it cannot be received and auto-ordering stops counting it.

Cancelling does not by itself take the quantity out of in-transit stock that was already posted. The in-transit entry of a line is recalculated only when its Quantity or Unit Price changes. See Common problems.

Step 6 — Follow the shipment to the end

The Status stepper and the Document State field tell you where the shipment is. See Business rules. The lines' Pending Quantity is always the reliable picture of what is still expected.

On the mobile app

The Procurement app in the mobile app lists shipments too. A shipment there shows the same header actions (Release Receipt, Cancel Shipment, Selective Cancel Shipment, Post Inventory, Edit, Delete, Scan Shipment), a lines list with New and Scan Shipment, and the same detail sections.

Fields

Shipment

Shipment line

Business rules

• Partner account and branch. Checked when the shipment is created: the partner account must exist and be active; if it has branches, the branch is required and must be one of its active branches; if it has none, no branch may be given. Both fields are then locked.
• Supplier. If the supplier is empty and the branch has a Default Supplier Account, it is filled in on save.
• Numbering. Shipments are numbered by the Shipment Name Setting document name setting (series SN), lines by the Shipment Line Name Setting (series SLN).
• Line checks. Item active, SKU required or valid, quantity above zero, unit price above zero when given, no item lot or storage location. Quantity, Receipt Quantity and Pending Quantity cannot be negative when a line is edited.
• Line splitting. A new line above the SKU's Maximum Lot Quantity (or the item's, when the SKU has none) is split into lines no bigger than the cap.
• Deleting a line. A line that goods receipts have already taken quantity from cannot be deleted: "There are downstream transactions. The record cannot be deleted."
• In-transit posting. Only Post Inventory posts a line to in-transit stock; saving a line does not. The quantity posted is Quantity − Cancelled Quantity at the time of posting. A Quantity or Unit Price change re-posts a posted line; deleting it reverses it.
• Receipt release. Needs at least one line with pending quantity ("At least one Shipment Line with quantity greater than zero is required to create Goods Receipt.") and a serial number on every pending asset-tracked line.
• Status. Three shipped business rules set Status when the shipment is saved, in this order:
  • Recieved when no quantity is pending on any line (the rule also ticks Receipt Released).
  • Cancelled when every line is fully cancelled.
  • Partially Cancelled when some quantity is cancelled but not all of it. This one runs last, so it wins.

  Because the rules run on save, the stepper can lag behind an action until the shipment is next saved. Status can also be moved by hand on the stepper.

  • Document State. Release Receipt and Selective Release Receipt set Receipt Released (and, on a linked purchase order, the order's Document State too); Post Inventory sets Inventory Posted when it posted at least one line; Cancel Shipment sets Cancelled. Selective Cancel Shipment does not change it.
  • The purchase order's own counters. Receiving through a shipment does not add to the purchase order line's Receipt Quantity, so the order line keeps showing the quantity as pending. See Common questions.
  • Auto order. With Include In-Transit Shipments on, an auto order counts the pending quantity of every shipment line for the branch, posted or not, unless the line has Exclude In Auto Order ticked.

  Example

  Your East Depot branch ordered 40 brake assemblies and 10 hydraulic pumps from Harbor Valley Supplies on a purchase order.

  1. The supplier confirms dispatch. On the purchase order you select Release Shipment. A shipment is created for East Depot with two lines: 40 brake assemblies and 10 pumps, each at the order's unit cost. The order's Status becomes Shipment.
  2. On the shipment you enter Supplier Invoice Number HV-2291, the Transporter Name and the docket number in Transporter Reference No.
  3. You select Post Inventory. East Depot now shows 40 brake assemblies and 10 pumps in transit.
  4. The supplier calls: only 8 pumps were loaded. You run Selective Cancel Shipment, tick the pump line and enter 2. The pump line now shows Cancelled Quantity 2 and Pending Quantity 8.
  5. The truck arrives. You select Release Receipt, tick the lines in the dialog and save. A goods receipt is created with 40 brake assemblies and 8 pumps as Supplier Quantity. Both shipment lines now show Pending Quantity 0.
  6. On the receipt you check the received quantities and select Receive. The stock moves from in-transit to inward stock at East Depot.

  Training

  Practice exercise

  In a sandbox, create a purchase order for two items with 10 units each and run Release Shipment on it. On the shipment, run Post Inventory, then Selective Cancel Shipment for 3 units of the first item, then Release Receipt.

  Expected result: the first line shows Quantity 10, Cancelled Quantity 3, Receipt Quantity 7 and Pending Quantity 0; the second shows Receipt Quantity 10 and Pending Quantity 0. The Related tab shows one goods receipt with Supplier Quantity 7 and 10. The shipment's Document State is Receipt Released.

  Quick reference

  • The shipment belongs to the receiving branch: Supplier Account sends, Partner Account and Branch receive.
  • Release it from the purchase order, invoice or delivery order rather than typing it.
  • Shipment lines take no item lot and no storage location; choose those on the goods receipt.
  • Post Inventory is optional and puts the goods in transit; receiving then moves them to inward stock.
  • Release Receipt releases every pending line, whichever lines you tick.
  • Enter serial numbers for asset-tracked items before releasing the receipt.
  • Cancel what will never come with Cancel Shipment or Selective Cancel Shipment.
  • Pending Quantity on the lines is the truth; the Status stepper updates on save.

  Permissions

  New, Edit and Delete follow the Shipment and Shipment Line entity permissions in the security profile. The shipment's own actions are server actions, and each needs an explicit grant on the profile's Actions tab. The shipped profiles grant:

  Action	Shipped profiles with it
  Release Receipt, Selective Release Receipt, Post Inventory, Selective Cancel Shipment	Sales Manager, Standard User, System Admin
  Cancel Shipment	Sales Executive, Sales Manager, Standard User, System Admin
  Clone	Sales Executive, Standard User, System Admin

  All four profiles have full access to the Shipment and Shipment Line entities. xMatix does not ship a procurement profile, so to let a buying or receiving team work with shipments, grant the entities and these actions on the profile they use. See security profiles.

  Clone copies only the shipment header, not its lines, and keeps its Status.

  Configuration

  • Numbering. Change the Shipment Name Setting (default series SN, a day-month-financial-year date part, six digits, - separator) and the Shipment Line Name Setting (series SLN) in Setup → Feature Hub → Platform → Document Settings. Changes apply to shipments created from then on. See Templates and numbering.
  • Default supplier per branch. Set Default Supplier Account on the branch so hand-made shipments for it start with that supplier.
  • Header actions. The shipped record page shows Release Receipt, Cancel Shipment, Selective Cancel Shipment, Post Inventory, Edit, Scan Shipment and Delete. To give users Selective Release Receipt, add it to the page header of the shipment's View layout in Design Studio and switch on row selection (checkboxes) and a Requested Quantity column on the lines list in its dialog layout. Without row selection the dialog sends no lines and the action stops. See design a form layout.
  • Status stepper. The Status values and the three status business rules are metadata you can review or change under business rules for the Shipment entity.
  • Item settings. Maximum Lot Quantity (item and SKU) splits long lines; Track Asset makes serial numbers mandatory before release; stock tracking decides whether Post Inventory posts the item at all. See items and SKUs.
  • In-transit posting rule. The in-transit (pipeline) rule for shipment lines is part of the shipped inventory ledger rules, viewable under inventory configuration.
  • Auto order. Whether shipments count as supply is the Include In-Transit Shipments switch on each auto order; see auto-order.
  • Inter-company shipments. For Create Shipment on invoices and Release Shipment on delivery orders, the receiving company must have a branch in your tenant whose partner account is the customer account. See delivery orders and invoices.

  Common problems

  "At least one Shipment Line with quantity greater than zero is required to create Goods Receipt."

  No line has pending quantity left: everything was already released to receipts or cancelled. Check the receipts on the Related tab. With Selective Release Receipt, at least one of the lines you ticked must still have pending quantity.

  "Please Enter the Serial Number for item'…'."

  A pending line's item is asset-tracked and the line has no serial number. Open the line, select Edit, fill Serial Number, save, and release the receipt again.

  "No Shipment Lines found for Inventory Posting."

  Every line is already posted to in-transit stock. Nothing more is needed.

  "No eligible shipment lines found to cancel."

  None of the lines (or none of the ticked lines) has pending quantity left.

  "Requested quantity must be greater than zero." or "Requested quantity (…) cannot exceed the pending quantity (…)."

  In a selective dialog, every ticked line needs a Requested Quantity above zero and no more than its pending quantity.

  "Storage Location and Item Lot is not supported for Shipment Lines."

  Clear Item Lot and Storage Location on the line. You set them on the goods receipt.

  "Branch is required for this Partner Account." or "Invalid Branch for Partner Account."

  The partner account has branches, so pick one of its active branches.

  "Key fields are not editable once the related objects are added. Field Name : BranchId."

  Branch and Partner Account cannot be changed after the shipment is saved. Cancel the shipment and create a new one for the right branch.

  "There are downstream transactions. The record cannot be deleted."

  The line has quantity on a goods receipt. Delete or correct the receipt line first, or cancel the remaining quantity instead.

  In-transit stock is still showing after I cancelled

  Cancelling does not reverse an in-transit entry that was already posted, and receiving later moves only the received quantity out of in-transit stock. So the cancelled part stays in in-transit stock.

  Where you can, cancel before you run Post Inventory: posting then counts only Quantity − Cancelled Quantity. If the line is already posted and no receipt has been released from it yet, changing the line's Quantity or Unit Price and saving makes it re-post at Quantity − Cancelled Quantity.

  I ticked one line but Release Receipt took all of them

  Release Receipt always releases every pending line. Delete the receipt lines you did not want (the shipment lines become pending again), or ask your administrator to add Selective Release Receipt.

  Common questions

  Do I have to post a shipment before I receive it?

  No. Posting only makes the goods visible as in-transit stock. If you post, receiving the goods receipt moves them from in-transit into inward stock. If you do not, receiving adds them to inward stock directly. Either way they count once in your stock. Post when you want stock reports and planning to show what is on the road, for example when shipments travel for days or weeks.

  Why does my purchase order still show pending quantity after the shipment was received?

  Goods receipts released from a shipment carry the purchase order line link but no ordered quantity, and the purchase order line counts its receipt quantity from the ordered quantity on receipt lines. So receiving through a shipment does not reduce the order line's pending quantity, and the order does not move to Goods Receipt by itself. Track receipt progress on the shipment lines, and set the order's Status by hand when you have finished with it.

  Can I release a second shipment for the same purchase order?

  Yes, and xMatix will not stop you. Releasing a shipment does not reduce the order line's pending quantity, so a second Release Shipment creates another shipment for the same quantities. Check the order's Related tab for existing shipments first, and use Selective Release Shipment with requested quantities when the supplier ships in parts.

  Why is the stepper still at Draft after I released the receipt?

  The Status rules run when the shipment is saved, and the release does not always save the header in a way that runs them. Open the shipment, select Edit and save, or rely on Document State and the lines' Pending Quantity, which are always current.

  How does a sister company's shipment reach me?

  When a company in your tenant invoices or delivers to your company and runs Create Shipment or Release Shipment, xMatix creates the shipment directly for your branch, with the sender as Supplier Account. You find it under Shipments (subject to your record access) and release the goods receipt from it as usual.

  Related topics

  • The purchase order lifecycle
  • Receive goods against a purchase order
  • Delivery orders and dispatch
  • Invoices
  • Auto-order: rules-based purchase suggestions
  • The inventory ledger
  • Shipment reference
  • Shipment line reference