Discrepancies and damaged goods when receiving

Summary

A discrepancy is any difference between what was expected and what arrived: less, more, broken or a different product. It is recorded on the receipt line, with at least one evidence photo, and travels with the receipt all the way to the customer email and the quality KPIs. Damaged goods enter stock but are set aside: they cannot be picked.

Before you start

Permission: “Capture Receipts” to set discrepancies and upload photos; “Confirm Receipts” to review and confirm them.
A camera on the tablet or phone, or photos on the computer (images up to 5 MB).
For automatic short and over flags, the receipt needs expected quantities (usually from an advance ship notice).

The five discrepancy types

Type	Badge on the line	When	Set by the system?
None	—	What was expected arrived, in good condition.	Yes
Over-received	Over	More than expected arrived.	Yes, if there is an expected quantity
Short	Short	Less than expected arrived.	Yes, if there is an expected quantity
Damaged	Damaged	Some or all of the goods are broken, wet or open.	No, chosen by hand
Wrong SKU	Wrong SKU	A product different from the notified one arrived.	No, chosen by hand

How a discrepancy is set

Automatic — every time you change the received quantity, the system compares it with the expected one and sets Over-received, Short or None. A line with no expected quantity (added during capture) is never flagged as over.
Manual — on the line’s Discrepancy button, choose the type from the list. Damaged and Wrong SKU stay fixed even if you later move the quantity; Over-received, Short and None are recalculated if you change the quantity.
The Discrepancies counter at the top counts flagged lines, and each line is colored: amber if short, blue if over, red if there is a problem.

Recording damaged goods

Capture the total received quantity, damaged included. If 50 came off and 4 are broken, the received quantity is 50.
Open the Discrepancy panel and choose Damaged.
Enter the Damaged qty: 4.
Take the photo in the Evidence photos panel.
Explain in Notes what you saw (for example, “crushed case, product wet”).

On confirmation, 50 go into the line’s location, 4 of them set aside as damaged: the available quantity is 46.

Important: the damaged quantity is not converted between units or compared with the received quantity. If the line is in cases and you enter 1, 1 piece is set aside, not a case; and if you enter more damaged than received, the system accepts it. Capture lines with damage in the product’s base unit and check that the damaged quantity does not exceed the received one. Never leave the received quantity at 0 with damaged goods: that line does not ask for a location to be confirmed and can leave damaged stock with no location.

A different product arrived

On the notified product’s line, leave the quantity at what really arrived of that product (maybe 0).
Set it to Wrong SKU and photograph the label of the product that arrived.
Add the product that did arrive as a new line (scanning it or, if it does not exist, as a manual item).
Leave a note explaining what happened, so the supervisor and the customer understand it.

The evidence photo

Every line with a discrepancy other than None needs at least one photo. The photos button stays red while it is missing and “Lines with a discrepancy need at least one evidence photo to confirm.” appears.
You can save and send to review without a photo, but the supervisor cannot confirm. This rule applies even when the warehouse has no inventory module.
Photos are kept in private storage: only visible when signed in, in capture, review and the detail page.

What happens next, in other modules

Where	What happens
Inventory	Damaged goods are set aside at their location and do not count as available. The inbound movement stores the discrepancy type. Later you can change their status or write them off with an adjustment. See Changing inventory status.
Advance ship notice	The notice progress reflects what was received; a shortage leaves the notice below 100%.
Customer email	The table shows Expected and Received per line and, if there are discrepancies, a “Discrepancies noted” box. See Receipt confirmation email.
Billing	The receiving charge counts the received quantity, which includes damaged goods.
KPIs	Receiving accuracy, Damaged units and Discrepancies by type. See Reading the KPI panel.
Portal	The customer sees the receipt with its quantities. Note: on the portal’s inventory screen, the available quantity only subtracts what is reserved, so damaged goods show as available. Explain it to the customer if they ask. See What the customer sees and when.

Example

The Valley Distributors notice expected 100 pieces of SKU VD-JUG-1L and 20 of VD-JUG-2L. 96 pieces of the first arrive, 3 of them burst, and 20 of the second. Luis Pérez captures 96: the line is flagged Short. Since there is also damage, he switches the type to Damaged, enters 3 damaged, takes two photos and writes “4 short, 3 burst”. Ana López confirms: 96 go in (93 available) and the customer gets the email with Expected 100 / Received 96 and the discrepancy box.

Tip: a line has a single discrepancy type. When there is both a shortage and damage, choose Damaged (so the damaged quantity is set aside) and explain the shortage in the notes.

Limits and warnings

Line evidence photos do not travel in the email to the customer. The email carries the dock job photos the supervisor marked, and attachments marked for notifications.
There is no automatic “damage area”: damaged goods stay at the line’s location.
A discrepancy does not create a claim or a charge by itself; to bill extra handling, use accessorials. See Capturing an accessorial.

Best practices

Take the photo on the spot, with the label and the damage in the same picture.
Write specific notes: what, how many and why.
If the customer wants to see the damage photos, also upload them as an attachment marked for notifications, or take them as dock job photos.
Review Discrepancies by type weekly: a supplier that always ships short deserves a conversation.

Troubleshooting

“Attach the evidence photo for … — a discrepancy cannot be confirmed without it.”

Click Edit capture, upload the photo on that line and send to review again.

The line was flagged Short and it is not.

The notice’s expected quantity was wrong. Set the type to None by hand and explain in the notes, or upload a photo of the supplier’s paper.

Stock shows less available than expected.

Part of it is set aside as damaged. Check the receipt line and, if it was a mistake, fix it with Edit.

Frequently asked questions

Does the customer get the evidence photos?

Not in the email. They are visible to WMS users. To send photos to the customer, use dock job photos or an attachment marked “Send in notifications”. See Photos, documents and dock job.

Can damaged goods be shipped?

Not while they are set aside as damaged: they do not count as available. If the customer decides to sell or return them, change their status first.

Can I remove the short flag?

Yes, by choosing None in the Discrepancy panel. If you then change the quantity, the system recalculates it.