HOW-TO

How to handle a partial delivery against a purchase order in NetSuite

Short answer

Yes. Go to Transactions > Purchases > Receive Order, tick Receive on the items that arrived and enter the quantity. The PO shows Partially Received. Partial receiving does not work for expense lines.

Last checked

A partial delivery is when a supplier delivers and bills only part of a purchase order, so the PO stays open with a balance.

Before you start

  • Purchase Orders
  • Item receipts

The NetSuite way

Where to find it: Transactions > Purchases > Receive Order

  1. Go to Transactions > Purchases > Receive Order and click Receive beside the purchase order.
  2. On the item receipt tick Receive on the items that arrived and enter the Quantity received.
  3. Click Save, or Save & Bill to go straight to a bill for what you received. The PO shows Partially Received.
  4. Repeat when the rest arrives. Related Records > Receipts & Bills shows what is received and billed.

Limits in NetSuite

  • Partial receiving does not work for expense lines on a purchase order.
  • Oracle says the 3 Way Match Vendor Bill Approval Workflow does not support item receipts that are partially received.
  • With Advanced Receiving on, receiving and billing are separate steps.
  • Oracle says that once a bill is entered against PO items, another bill cannot be entered against the same PO items until the first is processed or cancelled.

Words NetSuite uses

  • Item receipt. The record of goods received against a purchase order. It is the second leg of a three-way match.

The Pulsify way

  1. Sync your open POs from NetSuite to Pulsify.
  2. Forward each vendor bill. Pulsify links it to the purchase order and matches lines on quantity and unit price.
  3. Pulsify shows how much of the purchase order is claimed, what this vendor bill adds and what is left.
  4. Pulsify flags a line that bills more than what is left on the purchase order.
  5. Approve. The vendor bill is created in NetSuite against the purchase order.

Pulsify connects to NetSuite. We set up the connection for you.

What Pulsify does not do here

  • Pulsify matches to within 1 cent and has no tolerance setting.
  • A lower quantity than the purchase order line is not flagged, because partial delivery is normal.

Example in NetSuite

Example Cement Co receives a PO for 200 bags at $14.00, which is $2,800.00 before GST. The bags arrive in two deliveries.

LineAmountTagged to
First delivery, 120 bags$1,680.00Receive Order: Quantity received 120, then Save & Bill
Second delivery, 80 bags$1,120.00Second Receive Order: Quantity received 80

After the first receipt the PO shows Partially Received. Related Records > Receipts & Bills shows 200 bags received and $2,800.00 in total. Process or cancel the first bill before you bill the second delivery.

Common mistakes

  • Expecting partial receiving to work on the expense lines of a PO.
  • Using partially received item receipts with the 3 Way Match Vendor Bill Approval Workflow, which Oracle says does not support them.

More help

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-19. Confidence: confirmed.

Common questions

How do I receive part of a purchase order?

Go to Transactions > Purchases > Receive Order and click Receive beside the PO. Tick Receive on the items that arrived and enter the Quantity received. Save, or Save & Bill. The PO shows Partially Received.

Can I part-receive an expense line on a PO?

No. Partial receiving does not work for expense lines on a purchase order.

Can I bill the second delivery straight away?

Oracle says that once a bill is entered against PO items, another bill cannot be entered against the same items until the first is processed or cancelled.

Does Pulsify handle partial deliveries?

Yes. It tracks the PO balance across invoices and flags a line that goes over what is left.

Pulsify setup guides

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