What is a three-way match?

Checking an invoice against the purchase order and the goods received note before paying it. If price, quantity or items differ, the invoice is held until the difference is resolved.

Who raises a goods received note?

The buyer's receiving team, when the delivery is checked in. It records what actually arrived, which may differ from what the supplier says it sent.

What is a receiving report in US government contracts?

The record that supplies were received and accepted, which federal payment must be supported by. The Defense Department's electronic version is the equivalent of the DD Form 250.

Term

Goods received note (GRN)

A goods received note (GRN) is the buyer's record that a delivery arrived: what came, how much, in what condition and when. It is the third document in the three-way match — order, receipt, invoice — that lets accounts pay. In US federal buying the equivalent is the receiving report, which payment must be supported by.

Also called GRN, goods receipt, goods receipt note, receiving report, DD Form 250Updated 13 October 2026

What it records

The order it relates to, the supplier and the delivery date.
Quantities received and accepted, line by line.
Shortages, overages and damage, with the carrier's delivery note or proof of delivery.
Who received it, and where the goods went.

FAR 32.905 requires US federal payments to be supported by a receiving report or other Government documentation authorizing payment, showing among other things the quantities received and accepted and the date delivered, sent to the paying office by the 5th working day after acceptance. The Defense Department's electronic receiving report is the equivalent of the DD Form 250. In the UK, NHS trusts match each invoice to the purchase order and a receipt automatically; an invoice that fails the three-way match goes back to the requester, and any price, quality or quantity difference delays payment.

Worked example: a short delivery

Advance shipping notice: 2 pallets, 8 + 7 = 15 cartons · counted at receipt: 14 → GRN records 1 carton short · invoice for 15 fails the three-way match → paid for 14, or held

The 2-pallet, 15-carton shipment is GS1's own despatch advice example; the count is illustrative. Under the CMR convention, a carrier's liability for a shortage is capped at 8.33 units of account per kilogram of gross weight short.

The mistake people make

Signing clean and counting later. Under the CMR convention, accepting goods without reservations is prima facie evidence they arrived as described, and reservations about hidden loss or damage must be made in writing within seven days of delivery, Sundays and public holidays excepted. Count before the driver leaves, and write any shortage on the delivery note as well as the GRN.

FAQ