[Blog](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog>)Operations 

# Partial deliveries: retain open quantities and prevent duplicate billing

Shipped quantities can differ from accepted quantities. Retain the open balance and link each receipt to its billing, even with rejections and retries.

**[Jair Chavez](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/company#jair-chavez>)**Co-founder · Infrastructure and security October 8, 2026 · 7 min read 

**Short answer**

A partial delivery must retain ordered, shipped, accepted, pending and canceled quantities for each product. Link each receipt to its billing documents and verify that repeating it does not add quantities or charges again. Commercial policy decides what gets invoiced and how a prepaid balance is resolved; receiving goods and returning money are separate processes.

## Partial delivery and open-balance tests

Ten synthetic dispatch, rejection, retry, cancellation and prepayment-difference tests with evidence and owners.

[Download CSV worksheet](<https://nightlysoftware.com/plantillas/entregas-parciales-pedidos-en.csv>)

In this guide

-   [Retain five quantities even when they share one order](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog/partial-order-deliveries#quantities>)
-   [Worked example: twenty units, a rejection and canceled balance](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog/partial-order-deliveries#example>)
-   [A pending balance needs a date and owner](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog/partial-order-deliveries#pending>)
-   [Test receipt, repetition and order changes](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog/partial-order-deliveries#tests>)
-   [Use an actual order to choose the first improvement](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog/partial-order-deliveries#preparation>)

## Retain five quantities even when they share one order

“Partial” says little when nobody knows what remains. For each product and packaging, record ordered, shipped, customer-accepted, pending and canceled quantities. Invoicing and payments carry separate amounts. Goods may leave the warehouse complete but arrive incomplete; the order needs to retain both pieces of evidence without treating a general signature as acceptance of every unit.

[Business Central documents](<https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/sales-how-send-partial-shipments>) partial shipments subject to the customer’s acceptance setting, and quantities to ship and invoice in related steps. This describes that product. Your company must decide whether it bills shipped, accepted or contractually agreed quantities and verify how its system represents the difference, rather than infer it from a “delivered” status.

| Record |Question answered |Does not prove |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Order |What quantity is still committed? |That it left the warehouse |
| Dispatch |What left, under which reference? |That the customer accepted it |
| Receipt |What did the customer receive or reject? |That payment was collected |
| Billing document |What quantity or amount was documented? |That money arrived |
| Allocated payment |Which document received the payment? |That the entire order is complete |

## Worked example: twenty units, a rejection and canceled balance

**Synthetic scenario, without customer claims**

Order PD-208: 20 units at 100 MXN, illustrative total 2,000 excluding tax and shipping. Proposed test policy: bill accepted quantities, retain rejections as pending and require buyer authorization for cancellations. Each dispatch and receipt has its own reference.

| Step |Fact |Accepted / pending / canceled |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 |Order confirmed for 20 |0 / 20 / 0 |
| 2 |DSP-1 ships 12; 8 remain unshipped |0 / 20 / 0; 12 are in transit |
| 3 |REC-1 accepts 10 and rejects 2 damaged |10 / 10 / 0; pending = 8 unshipped + 2 rejected |
| 4 |DSP-2 and REC-2 deliver and accept 6 |16 / 4 / 0 |
| 5 |Buyer authorizes canceling the remaining 4 |16 / 0 / 4; 20 = 16 + 0 + 4 |

The two rejected units return identified and under review; they do not automatically increase availability for another sale. The ten pending in step 3 are a commercial obligation, while the two returned units have a physical location and condition: do not add both records as though twelve units remained to deliver. The [inventory-between-warehouses guide](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog/inventory-between-warehouses>) explains transit and receipt conservation.

Under this example’s policy, the first billing document covers 10 × 100 = 1,000 and the second 6 × 100 = 600. The final total is 1,600. Repeating REC-1 must not generate another 1,000 charge. If the buyer prepaid 2,000, the 400 difference remains subject to review and a credit or refund decision; canceling four units does not prove that money has been returned.

## A pending balance needs a date and owner

Assign the pending quantity a next action: replace two rejected units, purchase shortages, confirm a new date or request cancellation. Show the buyer quantities and promised dates separately; avoid leaving them waiting under an order that merely says “partial.” When delivery and sales use different systems, identify who controls accepted quantities and how corrections reach billing.

When the customer requires complete delivery, stop the first partial dispatch or obtain specific authorization. An exception belongs to PD-208 rather than silently changing every order for that customer. Also decide how additional delivery charges work: do not add a second shipping fee without an approved visible policy.

## Test receipt, repetition and order changes

1.  Normal: a complete accepted delivery leaves zero pending and one receipt reference.
2.  Partial: accepting ten of twelve shipped retains eight unshipped and two rejected; identify what remains in transit or has returned.
3.  Retry: when REC-1’s response is lost, look up and repeat the same reference; quantities and billing change only once.
4.  Excess: attempts to accept more than shipped or deliver more than pending stop for review.
5.  Change: cancellation after physical receipt preserves that receipt, limits cancellation to the remaining quantity and displays any pending financial correction.
6.  Conflict: two people record different quantities for REC-1; retain evidence and require review before replacing the accepted value.

## Use an actual order to choose the first improvement

The downloadable worksheet includes ten synthetic tests. Run the sequence with anonymized operations and record dispatch, receipt and billing references. A correct total without related documents still allows mistakes on the next attempt. For rejection details in transit, review [delivery proof exceptions](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog/delivery-proof-exceptions>); for the earlier commercial decision, see [quote to order](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog/quote-to-order-b2b-portal>).

A [customer portal](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/solutions/customer-portal>) can provide a place for the buyer to check accepted and pending quantities when data and access permit. Before pricing that connection, identify where each quantity is recorded today, who authorizes discrepancies and which access the existing system allows. Bring a partial order that caused a billing question; it provides a more useful starting point than a general feature list.

## Reconstruct an order that stayed incomplete

In a free consultation we can review where the open quantity disappears and which records your process needs to link.

-   An anonymized order with two dispatches or a rejected receipt.
-   Billing documents and payments related to that order.
-   Complete/partial delivery policy and authority for canceling the balance.

[Book a free consultation](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/book>)[Ask on WhatsApp](<https://wa.me/524622212236?text=I%20want%20to%20review%20partial%20deliveries.%20I%20have%20an%20order%2C%20dispatch%20and%20receipt%20records%2C%20and%20the%20related%20billing.>)

Related

-   [Sales and customer portal](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/solutions/customer-portal>)
-   [Custom ERP and CRM](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/solutions/custom-erp>)

## Frequently asked questions

### Is shipped quantity the same as accepted quantity? 

Not always. Twelve units leave in the example and the customer accepts ten. Retain both quantities, the rejection and the remaining obligation.

### What happens to rejected units? 

Identify their location and condition. Returned goods remain under review until their resale condition is resolved; physical return does not automatically cancel the order obligation.

### Does canceling an open balance erase previous deliveries? 

No. Retain receipts and limit cancellation to what policy and authorization permit. Record any billing correction separately.

### How do I verify billing happens only once? 

Repeat the same receipt after simulating a lost response. Accepted quantity and related amount should remain unchanged under the same reference.

## Sources

1.  [Process partial shipments](<https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/sales-how-send-partial-shipments>)Microsoft Learn 

Last updated: October 8, 2026

## Keep reading

[TransportOct 8, 2026

### Delivery proof: shortages, rejection and partial receipt](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog/delivery-proof-exceptions>)[SalesOct 8, 2026

### Customer credit: order approval rules with visible exceptions](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog/customer-credit-order-controls>)[CommerceOct 8, 2026

### Returns and exchanges: received items, credit and authorization](<https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog/retail-returns-exchanges>)

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Canonical: https://nightlysoftware.com/en/blog/partial-order-deliveries

Updated: 2026-10-08

Description: Separate orders, dispatch, receipt and billing to retain partial deliveries. Includes rejection and cancellation examples plus ten downloadable tests.