Partial receipt
A partial receipt happens when a supplier ships only part of your order quantity. You received something, but the loop isn't closed — there's still outstanding quantity that needs to arrive.
Part of the Procurement Glossary
How it works in practice
You ordered 100 units. The supplier ships 60. The remaining 40 are either on a separate shipment, still in production, or — worst case — not coming without further action from you.
Partial receipts create tracking complexity. Your ERP shows a receipt for 60. But the PO is still open for the remaining 40. If you're not tracking this carefully, the shortfall can get lost — especially when you have hundreds of open PO lines.
The most problematic partial receipts are the ones nobody told you about in advance. If the supplier communicated "we're splitting the shipment," you can plan. If 60 units just show up against an order for 100, you need to find out what happened to the rest.
Why it matters
Untracked partial receipts are one of the most common sources of delivery surprises. You think the PO is closed because parts arrived. But the remaining quantity is still outstanding — and nobody is tracking it.
Partial receipts also affect three-way matching. If the supplier invoices for the full quantity but you only received part of it, the match will fail. Accurate partial receipt tracking prevents these downstream issues.
Tips
Keep the loop open
Don't close a PO line when a partial receipt arrives. Track the remaining quantity separately and monitor it with the same urgency as a new order.
Follow up on unexpected splits
If a partial shipment arrives without prior communication about the split, follow up immediately. You need to know when the remaining quantity is coming and why the order was split.
How PO-Relay helps
PO-Relay detects partial receipts from your ERP data automatically. When the received quantity is less than the ordered quantity, the loop stays open for the remaining amount. The partial receipt is logged in the event timeline.
If the supplier didn't communicate about the split in advance, PO-Relay flags the partial receipt and drafts a follow-up asking about the remaining quantity. The loop continues to be monitored until the full order is received.