A supplier ships directly to the customer: match the invoice to delivery evidence

Link each customer order line to the supplier purchase line that fulfills it. Include product identifiers, quantities, delivery address and agreed service. A single customer order can contain both stocked and directly supplied goods, while a supplier invoice can cover many customer orders. A line-level mapping prevents either total from being mistaken for the whole transaction.

Microsoft's direct-delivery documentation explicitly links sales-order lines with purchase-order lines when a vendor ships to the customer. That relationship provides a useful control outside that software as well. Preserve the customer and supplier obligations separately even when the operating system updates them together.

Obtain the supplier's actual dispatch reference, tracking information and available delivery evidence. Distinguish an accepted purchase order from a shipment notice and from confirmed delivery. The business cannot rely on its own warehouse receiving record because no goods arrive there. Define which evidence allows staff to update the customer order under the approved process.

Review partial deliveries, substitutions and address changes against both orders. If the supplier ships only part of the quantity, the customer balance and remaining supplier commitment must still be visible. If support changes the customer's address, confirm the supplier received the revision before release. Keep any resulting return or reshipment linked to the original pair of orders.

Ask the accountant to determine revenue presentation, inventory involvement and timing from the actual contract and applicable reporting framework. Direct shipment alone does not establish whether the business acts as principal or agent.

Check product price, shipped quantity, agreed freight and extra handling against the purchase terms. Identify invoices raised before shipment or charges for canceled customer orders. Route those exceptions to the buyer with the specific missing evidence. A supplier invoice is not a substitute for confirmation that the promised goods were dispatched.

In a hypothetical order, the customer buys four items at $40 each, and the supplier charges $24 per item plus $10 delivery. If all four are supplied, the supplier amount is $106. If only three ship, confirm whether the fourth remains due and how delivery is charged before accepting the full invoice or closing the customer order.

Keep the supplier payment separate from the customer's collection. Different payment dates can create a cash exposure even when the eventual order margin is positive.

Agree whether returned goods go to the supplier, the merchant or another location, and who authorizes each customer remedy. A customer refund may precede the supplier credit. Track those events separately, with proof of returned quantity and the accepted credit amount. Avoid marking a supplier invoice fully resolved merely because support closed the customer ticket.

At month end, review directly supplied orders with unmatched shipment, customer settlement or supplier invoice records. The finished evidence chain should connect the buyer's order to the supplier's actual performance and the resulting financial entries. Use unresolved cases to improve supplier reporting requirements before expanding the volume of orders that bypass the business's warehouse.