A Receipt is the recording of a supplier delivery against a PECOS P2P purchase order under a GRN reference. These receipts are undertaken by an authorised user based on organisational Receipt Access Level permissions and may be done by the end user (e.g. requisitioner) or in a remote or central store (e.g. by warehouse personnel).

Receipts may be routed under a Receipt Approval Plan to provide a means to resolve qualitative or quantitative delivery discrepancies and better manage simple two stage receipting.

Note that receipt workflow is not a strict approval process that determines the status of the receipt, triggers document transmission upon completion or effects the invoicing process in any way. Once the receipt  is entered and saved in PECOS it is used for matching and settlement irrespective of whether it is routed by a receipt workflow plan. A receipt therefore does not need to be 'approved' before it can be used for invoice matching or included in receipt integration files.

Some of the usage scenarios adopted by your organisation are proved below in order to highlight some of the benefits of receipting workflow.

• Two stage receipting. When goods are received into a central warehouse or depot, it is possible to have the onward delivery to the end user confirmed and audited. A Receipt workflow plan can be created with a task, configured with appropriate eMail text and audit messages, to route any receipt for the attention of the buy-for user or requisitioner. The task owner is able to confirm receipt, add an appropriate comment and optionally be allowed to update the receipt details. 

• Delivery discrepancies for quality. When goods are received, by a third party or central depot, and those goods are damaged in some way, it is possible to quarantine and flag the delivery for review. A Receipt workflow plan can be created with a task, configured with appropriate eMail text and audit messages, to route the receipt for the attention of an appropriate, responsible person. The task owner is therefore prompted to undertake the necessary quality checks, optionally liaise with the supplier and process a return. The receipt is updated with confirmation that the quality check is complete and appropriate comments may be appended to the receipt.

• Delivery discrepancies for quantity. When goods are received, possibly by a third party or central depot, and there is a discrepancy between the quantity received and quantity ordered, it is possible to identify the discrepancy for notification and review. A Receipt workflow plan can be created with a task, configured with appropriate eMail text and audit messages, to route the receipt for the attention of the requisitioner. The requisitioner is prompted to undertake the necessary review, optionally liaise with the supplier or process a change order. The receipt is updated with confirmation that the quantity check is complete and appropriate comments may be appended to the receipt.

• Inspection process. When specialist electrical, computer or scientific equipment is received requiring an inspection or asset tagging process to be undertaken, Receipt workflow plan can be created with a task, configured with appropriate eMail text and audit messages, to route the receipt for the attention of the appropriately qualified or certified personnel.

• Substitutions and Additional Items. When a supplier delivers a substitute item which differs from what was requested on the purchase order, the user booking in the delivery is able to accept the item and accurately record the substitute as an Ad hoc item, rather than reject the delivery or have to undertake a manual recording process. Items added to the receipt, that were not on the original order, are able to be routed for appropriate resolution. Errors and substitutions, which could otherwise lead to invoice matching discrepancies, are able to be resolved in a timely manner through a return or change order process.

• Service performance confirmation. When services are receipted centrally by a commodity or finance manager, possibly upon receipt of a scheduled or stage confirmation notice, it is possible to request approval of service performance (e.g. annual alarm maintenance) by the local recipient of that service (e.g. branch or department managers) prior to receipt of invoice or payment. A Receipt workflow plan (or sub plan) can be created with a task, configured with appropriate eMail text and audit messages, to route the receipt of a contract order for the attention of the service recipients (e.g. branch managers). The service recipients are prompted to review the receipt and confirm service performance. The receipt is either approved or amended with comments as necessary and when the step is completed by all task owners, finance receives a notification email to confirm payment approval.

• 2-way match items. For items or commodities that are configured for two-way matching (e.g. high volume, low value goods) due to the time and expense of managing invoice disputes, the receipt workflow provides an efficient and economic alternative to the invoice settlement workflow for the resolution of material delivery discrepancies.