Delivery note template: free in Word, Excel and PDF

What the template contains

• Header: the words “Delivery note”, its number, the delivery date and the customer’s order or PO number
• Supplier (shipper): name, address, tax ID or VAT number and company registration number
• Customer (consignee): name, address, and the delivery address if it is different
• Ten lines with description, item reference, quantity ordered, quantity delivered and remarks
• Shipment: carrier and vehicle or tracking number, number of packages and gross weight, invoice number if already issued
• Proof of delivery: one box for the person who delivers, one for the customer to sign “received in good condition” with the date and time

Delivery note, invoice, packing list: who does what

For an export, the invoice that travels with the goods is the commercial invoice; the delivery note is used at the final drop-off.

How to fill it in

1. Number delivery notes in their own series, for example DN-2026-001, and write the customer’s order or PO number so that the delivery can be matched.
2. Delivery date and address: the address where the goods are actually delivered, if it is not the customer’s main address.
3. Lines: the same descriptions and references as on the order, with the quantity ordered and the quantity delivered.
4. Remarks: a partial delivery (“balance to follow”), a substitution, or damage noticed at loading.
5. Shipment: carrier, vehicle or tracking number, number of packages and weight.
6. Two copies: one stays with the customer, the other comes back signed. The customer checks the goods before signing and writes any shortage or damage on both copies.

Delivery notes and three-way matching

Many buyers pay an invoice only after matching three documents: their purchase order, the delivery note or their goods received note, and your invoice. If the quantities, references or prices do not agree, the invoice waits.

So quote the PO number on the delivery note and on the invoice, use the same item descriptions on all three, and after a partial delivery invoice only what was delivered and accepted.

India: the delivery challan

In India, a delivery challan is a document defined by GST law. Rule 55 of the CGST Rules allows it instead of an invoice when goods are moved without a sale at that moment: for job work, for reasons other than supply, or for liquid gas whose quantity is not known when it leaves. It must show, among other details, its date and number, the GSTIN of both parties if they are registered, the HSN code and description, the quantity, the taxable value, the tax rate and amount when the goods are moved for supply to the consignee, the place of supply for an inter-State movement, and a signature.

It is made in three copies, marked Original for consignee, Duplicate for transporter and Triplicate for consigner. Goods moving on a delivery challan are also declared for the e-way bill under rule 138, which applies above ₹50,000 of consignment value, and to inter-State job work whatever the value.

The free template on this page is a commercial delivery note. For a GST delivery challan, add the HSN codes, taxable value and tax, and print three copies with those markings. More on GST documents in our India guide.

Faster online

In InvoiceProforma, a delivery note can be linked to the purchase order it fulfils, has its own delivery address, and goes out as a PDF with a box for your stamp and signature and one for the recipient’s. You follow its status, from draft to delivered or returned, and send it by email or WhatsApp. The app’s delivery note shows the line prices: if you need one without prices, use the free template on this page.