The quick answer
Open the shipped transfer order and click Receive. On the Item Receipt, change Quantity from the shipped amount to the amount that arrived and click Save. The order stays Pending Receipt, and its Received column shows what has landed. When the rest arrives, click Receive again. The Item Receipt starts at the remaining quantity. Save it, and the order moves to Received.
This example receives 10 of 15 HR-210 Hose Reel Carts on transfer order TO2087, which shipped from Reno Distribution Center to Boise Store, and then receives the last 5. The company, user, locations, item and order numbers in the screenshots are fictional example data.
Before you start
You need Multi-Location Inventory and transfer orders, an order that is fulfilled and waiting to be received, and a role that can receive transfer orders. In this example the item fulfillment is saved as Shipped. Your settings also have to allow a receipt for less than the fulfillment. When Use Item Cost As Transfer Cost is on, NetSuite generally ties the receipt to the item fulfillment, and a fulfillment of 15 cannot normally be received as 10 and 5. That setting was off in the account observed. If a line will not accept a lower Quantity, ask an administrator to check it.
This example has one item fulfillment, no bins and no lot or serial numbers. If an order has several open fulfillments, NetSuite may ask which one you are receiving, and goods from different fulfillments can need separate item receipts. A destination that uses bins can require bin assignments that add up to the receipt quantity. Lot and serial numbers come from the fulfillment and generally cannot be changed on the receipt.
This guide covers an order that shipped in full and is received in parts. A partial fulfillment means fewer units have shipped, and it can show a different status, such as Pending Receipt/Partially Fulfilled. A partial receipt means fewer of the shipped units have arrived.
01 · Open the shipped transfer order
Open transfer order TO2087. Its status is Pending Receipt. On the Items tab, the HR-210 Hose Reel Cart line shows Fulfilled 15 and Received 0, so all 15 carts have shipped and none has been received.
02 · Receive the part that arrived
Click Receive. The Item Receipt opens with Quantity 15 and Remaining 15, which is everything that shipped. Only 10 carts arrived, so change Quantity to 10 and click Save. NetSuite creates item receipt IR5521 for 10 carts. In the account observed Remaining stayed at 15 while Quantity was changed, because it shows the open quantity as the receipt began. A receipt generally cannot exceed the open quantity. On an order with several lines, untick Receive on the lines that did not arrive.
03 · Check the order
Click Transfer Order #TO2087 next to Created From to return to the order. In the account observed the status was still Pending Receipt. Fulfilled still reads 15, Received reads 10 against a Quantity of 15, and the Receive button is still there. NetSuite did not show a separate partially received status, so read the Received column. Destination on hand rises when an item receipt is saved. The 5 carts that have shipped but not arrived are not on hand at Boise Store, and they generally stay in transit until they are received.
04 · Receive the rest
When the last 5 carts arrive, click Receive again. This time Quantity starts at 5 and Remaining is 5, because 10 of the 15 are already received. Click Save to create item receipt IR5522. Each receipt is its own transaction, and the order's Related Records tab lists the item fulfillment and every item receipt.
05 · Confirm the order is complete
Click Transfer Order #TO2087 next to Created From again. The status is Received, Received reads 15 against a Quantity of 15, and Receive has given way to Close Order in the account observed. The buttons offered can depend on the form, permissions and any manually closed lines. While the order was Pending Receipt it offered Receive and no Close Order, so closing out a shortfall that never arrives is a question for your accounting team.
Check the result
- First receipt: IR5521 received 10 carts, and the order stayed Pending Receipt with Received 10.
- Second receipt: IR5522 started at the remaining 5 and brought Received to 15.
- Order: TO2087 is Received, and all 15 carts that shipped have been received into Boise Store.
Common questions
How do I receive only part of a transfer order in NetSuite?
Open the shipped transfer order, click Receive and change Quantity on the Item Receipt line to the amount that arrived, then save. The units you did not receive stay open on the order. When Use Item Cost As Transfer Cost is on, the receipt generally has to match the item fulfillment, so a fulfillment of 15 cannot normally be received as 10 and 5. If a line will not accept a lower quantity, ask an administrator to check that setting and the fulfillment setup.
What status does a transfer order show after a partial receipt?
A transfer order that shipped in full and has been partly received commonly stays Pending Receipt, and it did in the account observed, with the Received column showing how many units have landed. Pending Receipt/Partially Fulfilled generally describes an order that is only partly fulfilled. Status wording can differ by release and setup, so read Received against Quantity.
How do I receive the rest of a transfer order after a partial receipt?
Open the same order and click Receive again. The Item Receipt starts at the quantity still to receive. Save it to receive the remainder, and the order moves to Received when Received equals Quantity.
Why does my transfer order still say Pending Receipt after I received some items?
Pending Receipt means units have shipped that are not all received yet. Compare Received with Quantity on the Items tab. If they differ, the order is waiting for the rest, and the Receive button stays available.
Where do I see how many units of a transfer order have been received?
On the order's Items tab, the Received column shows the cumulative quantity received across every item receipt. The Related Records tab lists the item fulfillment and each item receipt, so you can see when each part arrived.
Does receiving part of an order change on hand at the destination?
Destination on hand rises when an item receipt is saved, by the quantity on that receipt. Units that have shipped but are not yet received have left the source location and are not on hand at the destination. They generally stay in transit, and the destination's on-order quantity drops as receipts post.