Free Delivery Note Template with Filled-In Samples

Delivery note format and fields

Fill in the shipment details before dispatch, then complete the received quantities and condition notes at handover. Keep the delivery address separate from the billing address. The checklist below is practical guidance for these templates, not a universal list of legally required fields.

Sample 1: a complete signed-for delivery

Use the signed-for layout when the receiver needs a clear sign-off block. In this fictional office-furniture delivery, both item counts match the order. Complete the receipt details on the customer and sender copies; keep the quantities and any notes identical.

Sample 2: a short delivery and the follow-up note

The standard layout records the original order beside the quantity delivered. This fictional garden-supply drop preserves the shortfall on DN-0462 rather than making the receiver sign for the full order.

Ordered 25 / delivered 18 leaves seven bags outstanding. The trowels show a separate issue: all ten arrived, but one handle was cracked. A complete count does not mean every item arrived undamaged.

Record the remaining seven bags on DN-0470

Give the follow-up delivery its own number and keep the same order reference. In this sample, DN-0470 closes the potting-mix shortage: 18 bags on DN-0462 + 7 bags on DN-0470 = 25 ordered. It does not resolve the cracked trowel; leave that issue in the correspondence until a replacement, return or other outcome is agreed.

Sample 3: goods refused at the door

Use the returns layout to distinguish goods presented from goods kept. In this fictional food-wholesale delivery, two cartons have crushed outer packaging and go back with the driver. Recording 30 as delivered without the two refusals would hide what happened.

Short shipment: sign for what actually arrived

Sign against the count you made, not an unchecked figure on the paper. If the note says 25 bags and you count 18, correct the delivered column to 18 before signing and write “18 received, 7 short — A. Okafor”. Put the same correction on both copies. If the driver cannot wait for a full count, write “quantity not checked at delivery” rather than suggesting you checked it.

Record visible damage next to the affected item, keep a copy of the annotated note and contact the supplier about the next step. A shortage note records an observation; it does not itself decide liability, guarantee a replacement or settle a dispute.

If you're the one receiving the goods

Where practical, count and inspect the accessible goods while the driver is present. Write damage on the note, identify any sealed contents you did not examine, and retain photographs or other supporting records where appropriate. Notify the supplier promptly under your agreed process instead of assuming a signature annotation replaces a separate notice requirement.

Does signing mean you accepted the goods?

For contracts covered by UK Sale of Goods Act 1979, section 35, a buyer who has not previously examined the goods must have a reasonable opportunity to examine them before acceptance under subsection (1). Keeping goods beyond a reasonable time without notifying rejection can also amount to acceptance; the opportunity to inspect matters when assessing that time.

Section 35 excludes contracts covered by Chapter 2 of Part 1 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and points to section 21 of that Act. This is not a promise that a delivery-note signature has no legal effect: the wording, facts, contract and applicable law matter. UK source checked 25 September 2026; check your own terms and applicable rules.

Country-specific requirements before you use a template

The following notes explain specific differences found in official sources, checked 25 September 2026.

India: a delivery challan has additional fields

CGST Rule 55(1) permits a delivery challan in place of an invoice for transport in four listed situations: liquid gas whose quantity is unknown at removal, job work, movement for reasons other than supply, and other supplies notified by the Board. It is not a general replacement for every sales invoice.

Rule 55 lists nine entries. Keep their conditions: party GST identifiers apply if registered, the tax-rate/tax-amount entry applies where transport is for supply to the consignee, and place of supply applies to interstate movement. These requirements go beyond the unpriced handover files offered above.

India: copies and deliveries in batches

Rule 55(2) requires triplicate challans in the case of supply of goods, marked ORIGINAL FOR CONSIGNEE, DUPLICATE FOR TRANSPORTER and TRIPLICATE FOR CONSIGNER. The two-copy signed-for template is not a substitute for this requirement.

For semi-knocked-down or completely-knocked-down goods, or goods sent in batches or lots, Rule 55(5) calls for the complete invoice before the first consignment. Subsequent consignments get a delivery challan referring to that invoice; each consignment travels with its corresponding challan copies and a duly certified invoice copy, and the original invoice goes with the last consignment. Rule 55(3) also refers to declarations under Rule 138; those transport-document requirements are not covered by these downloads.

Philippines: delivery receipts are supplementary documents

BIR Revenue Regulations 7-2024, section 2(2), pages 1–2 expressly lists delivery receipts as supplementary documents. For VAT purposes, supplementary documents are not valid proof supporting the buyer’s input-tax claim. A delivery receipt does not replace the required invoice.

Section 6(B)(15), page 13, requires the following wording in bold, conspicuously printed on the face of supplementary documents, including delivery receipts: THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT VALID FOR CLAIM OF INPUT TAX. The same provision requires other applicable information; adding this sentence alone does not make a generic form compliant.

Section 7(1), pages 14–15, requires businesses using manual invoices to secure/apply for BIR Authority to Print for principal and supplementary documents before an accredited printer prints them. This download is an editable handover layout outside that authorization and printing process.

Kenya: a handover note is not an eTIMS invoice

KRA’s eTIMS explanation describes electronic-tax-invoice support for business expenses from 1 January 2024. The Electronic Tax Invoice Regulations 2024, sections 10–11 also contain exclusions and exemption provisions, so the requirement should not be described as applying to every expense without exception.

For these templates, the practical distinction is straightforward: recording a handover does not turn the file into an electronic tax invoice. Where an eTIMS invoice is required, obtain that invoice separately. This is our application of the source requirements to the downloads; KRA’s explainer does not itself discuss these delivery-note files.

United Kingdom: keeping delivery-note records

HMRC VAT Notice 700/21, sections 2.3–2.4 includes orders and delivery notes among business records and says VAT business records generally must be kept for at least six years. It also says you do not have to create a record just for VAT if it is not normally a record in your business.

Keep the annotated delivery record with the related order and invoice so you can retrieve them together. The six-year guidance is a UK VAT recordkeeping rule, not a worldwide retention period; other tax purposes can require longer retention, and HMRC describes limited shorter-retention arrangements.

Choose the document for the next task

From the delivery record to the invoice

When you are ready to bill, create an invoice for the quantities you intend to charge and enter the customer’s order reference in the PO Number field. Check it against the delivery notes, including any shortage or refused goods. The invoice generator has a PO field; these instructions do not imply a dedicated delivery-note-number field or automatic import from the downloaded files.