Receiving a Shipment¶
When a delivery arrives at your store, you confirm what physically arrived directly on the purchase order (PO) in Emersoft Books. Shopify inventory and product cost update automatically — no separate system, no manual entry elsewhere.
How receiving works¶
Once the publisher has shipped, the PO detail screen lists each shipment as its own card, with the ship notice's tracking number, carrier and ship date. Each shipment is received independently.
When a delivery arrives, find the matching shipment card, click Receive shipment, enter what you counted in the overlay, and click Confirm receipt. Shopify inventory at the PO's destination location increases by the sellable copies you confirmed, and product cost is updated from the supplier's price.
Every confirmation is kept on the PO as a receipt: what was expected, what you received, and how many copies were damaged, short or over. That record is what you use for credit claims with the publisher.
One copy is only ever received once
Receiving is tracked per title on the PO, not per EDI document. If the publisher's acknowledgment already said a title had shipped and you received it before the ship notice arrived, the later shipment card only asks you to confirm what is still outstanding. You cannot double-count the same copies.
Receiving a shipment¶
- Go to Apps > Emersoft Books > Purchase Orders and open the PO.
- Find the shipment card that matches the box in front of you (tracking number, ship date). The card shows Shipped, Received and To stock per title, and how many copies are still expected.
- Click Receive shipment. The receiving overlay opens with one row per title.
- For each title, enter:
- Received — every physical copy you counted, including damaged ones.
- Damaged — copies that are unsellable. They are recorded but not added to Shopify stock.
- To stock updates automatically (received minus damaged).
- To accept everything as listed, click Accept all — Received is filled with the expected quantity and Damaged is set to 0. Then change only the rows that differ.
- Click Confirm receipt.
A toast confirms the receipt was recorded. Shopify inventory is updated in the background within a few seconds; the page refreshes itself and the shipment card shows the new Received counts. If the update fails (for example a title was deleted from Shopify), the card shows the error and a Retry receiving button.
Damaged, short and over copies¶
Always record what you physically received. Never adjust the count to match the ship notice.
| Situation | What to enter | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer copies than expected (short) | Received = what you counted | The row is flagged N short. Only the received copies go to stock. The missing copies stay outstanding on the PO. |
| Nothing arrived for a title | Received = 0 | The shortfall is recorded; nothing is added to stock. |
| More copies than expected (over) | Received = what you counted | The row is flagged N over. The extra copies are added to stock and the overage is kept on the receipt. |
| Copies arrived damaged | Received = everything that arrived, Damaged = the unsellable copies | Damaged copies are recorded on the receipt and excluded from stock. |
Short, over and damaged quantities are shown in the Receiving summary on the PO and on each receipt in the receiving history, so you have the numbers ready when you contact the publisher for a credit or a replacement delivery.
Titles the publisher reported shipped but has not sent a ship notice for¶
Some publishers say "shipped" on their acknowledgment (855) and send the ship notice (856) later, or not at all. Those titles appear in a Shipped, awaiting ship notice section. You can receive them there the same way — Receive shipment, count, Confirm receipt. When the ship notice arrives later, the new shipment card only asks for what you have not yet received.
Multiple shipments per PO¶
A single PO often results in more than one delivery — for example, the publisher ships available stock immediately and sends a second box when a backordered title becomes available. Each delivery appears as a separate shipment card with its own Receive shipment button.
Receive each shipment as it arrives. When every title on the PO has been received (or was cancelled or rejected by the publisher), the PO moves to Completed.
Backorders¶
When a PO is accepted, titles the publisher could not fulfill immediately are listed in the Backordered section. These are titles the publisher intends to ship once stock is available.
When the publisher ships backordered copies, they appear as a normal shipment card — receive them like any other shipment. The Backordered section shows only what is still outstanding and disappears once everything has shipped.
Titles deleted from Shopify¶
If a title on the PO was deleted from Shopify after you submitted the order, the shipment card shows Reimport required and Receive shipment stays disabled for that shipment. Click Reimport on the card: the product is recreated using your Settings → Import defaults, then you can receive the shipment as usual. Other shipments on the PO are not affected.
Invoices¶
When the publisher sends an invoice (EDI 810), the PO shows an Invoices (810) summary and the header badge changes from Invoice pending to Invoiced. A PO is marked Invoiced only when the invoices cover every shipped copy; a partial invoice leaves it Invoice pending. This tracks documents received, not payment — settle invoices with the publisher through your usual channel.
After receiving¶
Once you confirm a receipt:
- Shopify inventory increases at the destination location by the sellable copies you confirmed (received minus damaged).
- Product cost is updated to the supplier's price from the acknowledgment or invoice.
- The receipt (expected, received, damaged, short, over) is added to the PO's Receiving summary and to Activity.
- When every title on the PO is received, the PO status moves to Completed; otherwise it stays Shipped or Partially shipped.
Receiving at the counter¶
The receiving overlay works on any device with access to Shopify Admin — phone, tablet, or desktop. Open the PO before the delivery arrives, count each box as you unpack it, and confirm when done.
When most quantities match
Click Accept all to fill in the expected quantities in one click, then change only the rows where your count differs or where copies were damaged.