Delivery note template: format, example and how it matches the invoice

Updated 2 November 2026 · DELLI

A delivery note is the document that travels with the goods and lists what was sent: the products, the quantities, the customer's order reference and the delivery address, usually without prices. The person receiving the delivery checks the goods against it and signs it. It is not a request for payment; the invoice does that. This guide gives you a delivery note template to copy, the delivery note format line by line, the difference between a delivery note and an invoice, and how the delivery note matches the purchase order and the invoice.

1. What is a delivery note?

A delivery note is your list of what is in the boxes. You write it when you pack an order, it goes in or on the delivery, and the customer uses it to check what arrived. Some businesses call it a despatch note or a packing slip; the job is the same.

It does three things for a wholesale brand:

• It tells the shop what to expect. Staff unpacking a delivery can tick off each line without opening your invoice or emailing you.
• It records what you sent. If you were short of one product and sent the rest, the delivery note says so before the customer has to ask.
• It gives you a signed record. A delivery note signed by the customer, with any problems written on it, settles most disputes about what arrived.

A courier's tracking record shows that a parcel reached the address. It doesn't show what was inside. The delivery note covers the contents.

2. Delivery note format: what to include

Keep the delivery note format simple enough that someone who has never seen your products can check a delivery against it. Include:

• The words "Delivery note" at the top, with your delivery note number and the dispatch date.
• Your business name, address and phone number, so the shop can call you if something is wrong.
• The customer's business name and delivery address, plus any delivery instructions, such as goods-in hours.
• The customer's order reference: their purchase order number if they gave one, or the date of their order email.
• One line per product with your product code, product name and size, the quantity ordered and the quantity sent.
• Anything to follow, with the expected date.
• The number of boxes in the delivery, so the shop knows if one is missing.
• A signature block for the receiver: signature, printed name, date and a space for notes on condition.

Leave prices off. The person unpacking at a shop or a warehouse doesn't need them, and a document with no prices can't be mistaken for a bill or paid twice.

Food brands can add best before dates or batch codes to each line. Batch marking is already required on prepacked food labels, and having it on the delivery note helps a stockist find affected stock quickly if there is ever a problem. If you supply unwrapped food, such as whole cakes a café will slice, you must give the café allergen information so it can tell its customers. Attach it to the delivery note so it arrives with the cakes.

3. Delivery note template you can copy

This delivery note template works in a spreadsheet, a document or your order software. The example is Ember & Wick, a candle maker, delivering to a homeware shop that ordered three products and is getting two in full and one in part.

The "Ordered" and "Sent" columns do the most work. When they differ, the shop sees the shortage the moment it unpacks, and your invoice will match the "Sent" column.

4. Delivery note vs invoice: what is the difference?

Both documents list the same products, which is why they get confused. They do different jobs:

In a small shop, the same person may unpack the delivery and pay the invoice. In a larger business, they are often different people in different places, so each document has to make sense on its own.

5. How the delivery note matches the purchase order and invoice

Every wholesale order produces three documents, in this order:

1. Purchase order from the customer: what they want.
2. Delivery note from you: what you sent, checked and signed by the customer.
3. Invoice from you: what they owe for what you sent.

Larger buyers check all three against each other before they pay. Our guide to purchase orders and invoices explains this three-way match in full. The delivery note sits in the middle, so it has to agree with both sides. Quote the customer's PO number on it, use the same product codes and names as the PO, and invoice the quantities in the "Sent" column.

If the shop writes "1 Sea Salt candle cracked" on the delivery note when it signs, the invoice still reflects what you sent, and you issue a credit note for the cracked candle. Don't change the delivery note afterwards; the signed copy is the record of what arrived.

Retailers that trade by EDI may also want an electronic despatch advice, sometimes called an advance shipping notice, sent before the goods arrive. It does the same job as a delivery note in data form. Our guide to EDI for small business covers the documents involved.

6. Packing, signing and keeping delivery notes

A delivery note only helps if it reaches the right person and comes back signed. These habits make that happen:

• Print two copies. One stays with the customer. The other comes back to you signed, or the customer emails a photo of their signed copy.
• Pack from the delivery note. Print it before you pick, tick each line as it goes in the box, and correct the "Sent" column before you seal up.
• Put it where it will be found. For courier deliveries, place it inside the first box and mark that box "Delivery note enclosed". For your own deliveries, hand it over and wait while the customer counts.
• Ask for notes before the signature. Damage or shortages written on the delivery note at the time are far easier to sort out than ones reported a week later, and they make it simple to raise a credit note if one is due.
• Tell the customer about shortages before the goods arrive. A quick email saying what is to follow, and when, stops a query reaching your accounts inbox.
• File it with the order. Keep the signed delivery note with the PO and the invoice, for as long as your accountant tells you to keep your records.

Orders arriving through Faire and Ankorstore come with the marketplace's own order records, so check what each marketplace expects in the box. For direct orders, keeping every PO, delivery note and invoice in one place is covered in our guide to wholesale order management.

Questions about delivery notes

← All DELLI AI articles