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How to Receive Purchase Orders in ShipHero

When a purchase order (PO) is delivered to a warehouse, it is essential to be able to add stock to inventory, accurately track the progress, and report any issues as needed. ShipHero makes receiving purchase orders easy!

Table of Contents

For more information on how to create a purchase order, see How to Create a Purchase Order.

Navigating the Purchase Order Receiving Page

To access the Receiving page, select Receiving > Purchase Orders from the left hand menu on the New & Updated features page. Open the purchase order details page that needs to be received and select the Receiving page button.

Purchase Orders page Purchase Order details page
List of purchase orders with clickable PO numbers
Purchase order detail page with the Receiving Page button in the upper right corner

On the Receiving Page, you can easily monitor the activity, and keep track of how many items from this specific PO have been or still need to be received.

Receiving page showing the items received progress tracker

Receiving Best Practices

The receiving team is the first line of defense to ensure inventory and product information is correct from inception! We've listed a few best practices to consider adding to the receiving process. Adding these features will improve the data, increase workforce efficiency, and reduce cost and loss potential.

  • First Article Inspection - FAI is a feature that allows receiving teams to receive a product in a purchase order. If the product does not have the dimension and weight information, the system will provide an option to enter the information or opt-out.
  • Product Cases - If using product cases within the warehouse, the article explains how to receive the product case.
  • Lots and Expiration - This is a feature that is used for perishable items or items that have an expiration date. The article will explain how to add the feature to a product and also how to receive this type of item.
  • Label all of your products; barcodes provide unique, scannable identifiers for every item, enabling efficient and accurate tracking of inventory through receiving, storage, picking, and shipping. If products come in without labels/barcodes, add them during the receiving process.

How to Receive a Purchase Order

Receiving inventory is simple with ShipHero. In this section, learn how to receive a purchase order one of two ways:

Receive by Scanning Products (Recommended)

Receiving a purchase order by scanning the products can guarantee that barcodes work for the product. 

  1. To start receiving, go to the Receiving > Purchase Orders page, select the purchase order to be received then click the Receiving page button.
    Receiving Page button on the purchase order detail page
  2. Scan or select the Location where the inventory is being received. By default, ShipHero assigns the Receiving location. Location field on the receiving page with the default Receiving location selected
  3. Scan the product barcode. The system will jump to and highlight the line item green on the receiving page, and increment the accepted quantity as the products are scanned. Continue scanning until all items are scanned. 

    Receiving page with barcode scan field and unreceived item count updating

  4. Click Save.

Pro-Tip

The option to change the number manually after verifying the count is also available while receiving; just enter the amount received into the accepted field.

Receive As Expected

Receiving as expected will receive an individual product or the entire order simultaneously. As a best practice, verifying the products and the counts is still essential to ensure your initial inventory is correct.

  1. To start receiving, go to the Receiving > Purchase Orders page, select the purchase order to be received then click the Receiving page button.
    Receiving Page button on the purchase order detail page
  2. Scan or select the Location where the inventory is being received. By default, ShipHero assigns the Receiving location. Location field on the receiving page with the default Receiving location selected
  3. Check the box next to each Product being received. Then, click on Receive as Expected.
    Product list with checkboxes selected and the Receive as Expected button
     
  4. A pop-up will appear indicating the amounts for each product selected and the expected amounts. Click Confirm.
    Confirmation pop-up showing expected amounts for each selected product

Handling Exceptions During Receiving

When receiving a purchase order, there are bound to be items that were damaged in the shipment or products that were supposed to be part of the shipment. This section covers how to handle each of these scenarios while receiving a purchase order.

Select a scenario below to jump directly to the instructions.

If an error is made during the receiving process, adjustments can still be made afterwards. Check out the following article for more information on How to Adjust a Purchase Order.

How to Reject Units

Sometimes, a product is damaged in transit, but the products still need to be accounted for. In this section, learn how to receive damaged/rejected items.

  1. To mark an item as damaged, click the hyperlinked number under the Rejected column.
    Receiving page with the Rejected column showing clickable quantity numbers
  2. Enter the Quantity, Reason, and Note (optional) for the items that are being rejected.
    Reject units dialog with Quantity, Reason, and Note fields
  3. Hit Save.

Receiving Items Not on a Purchase Order

Receiving a PO and notice that a Product is not a part of the PO, the following options are available.

  1. Scan the product, and a pop-up will appear asking to transfer this product from another PO on which the product exists. If yes is selected, the product will be added to the current PO and removed from the previous PO.
     
  2. Closing out "X" of the pop-up, setting the product aside and adding it to the PO later, or creating a new PO for this unexpected item.

How to Print Barcodes on the Receiving Page

In this section, learn how to print a barcode from the receiving page.

  1. Once on the receiving page, select one or all the products.
  2. Click on the Print Barcode option.
    Print Barcode option on the receiving page
  3. A pop-up will appear to print one barcode for each line item, a product barcode per ordered product, or a product barcode per received product. Hit confirm once you have chosen the option.
    Print barcode options pop-up with choices for per line item, per ordered product, and per received product

More Resources

  • ShipHero Public API

    Connect your tools and AI agents directly to ShipHero with the Public API. Build powerful integrations, automate workflows, and tap into real-time data using the AI tools you prefer, with the option for secure, read-only access for AI-driven insights without added risk.

  • ShipHero Academy

    Explore ShipHero Academy for certifications, deep-dive training, and expert-led courses on WMS and fulfillment. Build your expertise and help your team operate at a higher level.

  • Change Log

    Stay up to date with the latest improvements across ShipHero. The Change Log gives you a clear view of new features, enhancements, and fixes as they roll out—so you always know what’s new and what’s better.