---
title: "What is a purchase order and a goods receipt?"
description: "The purchase order is your order to the supplier; the receipt registers the goods into inventory."
url: https://support.sapera.io/en/articles/658-what-is-a-purchase-order-and-a-goods-receipt
collection: "The Sapera glossary"
updated: 2026-07-01
language: en
alternates: [da]
---

# What is a purchase order and a goods receipt?

The purchase order is your order to the supplier; the receipt registers the goods into inventory.

These are the two steps in getting goods in from a supplier.

## Purchase order

A purchase order is your order to the supplier: which items, quantities and agreed prices. It documents what you have ordered but does not by itself move inventory.

## Goods receipt

A goods receipt registers that the goods have arrived. Here they are added to inventory so the stock level is correct. You can receive a whole purchase order or only part of it, if the delivery arrives in several batches.

## What comes next

After the receipt usually comes a **purchase invoice** — the supplier's bill — which you can create directly from the receipt.

Read more in [Purchase orders](https://support.sapera.io/en/collections/169), [Goods receipts](https://support.sapera.io/en/collections/170) and [Purchase order / goods receipt (quickguides)](https://support.sapera.io/en/collections/267).