Documents · 3 min read
By Murtaza Aziz
Delivery Note vs Packing Slip: What Goes on Each
A packing slip tells the warehouse what to put in the box. A delivery note is what the driver and the customer sign. Same shipment, two jobs, two PDFs.
People print one sheet, call it a delivery docket, and hope the picker and the customer both get what they need. Then the warehouse copies prices onto a slip that leaves the building, or the driver arrives with a list that has no signature line. The documents are related. They are not the same file.
A packing slip is internal (or at least warehouse-facing). A delivery note is the proof that goods left and arrived. If you sell on account, the invoice is a third PDF and should not travel in the box unless you want warehouse staff reading margins.
Packing slip: what goes in the box
The picker needs SKU or item code, description, quantity to pick, and sometimes bin location. They do not need unit prices. Including prices on a packing slip is how discounts leak onto the warehouse floor.
Useful extras: order number, ship-to address, carton count ("box 1 of 3"), and a notes field for "leave at dock 2". The PDF packing slip template starter is built around those fields. Bind the line-item table to the same items array you use on the invoice, then hide price columns on this template.
Delivery note: what the customer signs
The delivery note travels with the goods. It lists what should be in the shipment, the delivery address, the date, and a place for a printed name and signature (or a photo of the porch). Exceptions belong here: short shipped, damaged carton, refused line.
Prices are optional. Some firms omit them so the note cannot be confused with an invoice. The PDF delivery note template includes a signature block for that reason. If the driver uses a phone, you can still generate the PDF from the same order payload and skip the paper, but the fields stay the same.
One order payload, two templates
The JSON does not need to fork. customer, orderNumber, items[], shipTo, notes. The packing-slip template maps SKU and qty. The delivery-note template maps description, qty, address, signature. The invoice template maps prices and tax. Generate whichever file the step needs.
On a warehouse day with 40 orders, CSV batch (Starter) from a picks spreadsheet is often enough. When the WMS already fires a webhook per order, point that webhook at each template in turn, or call the API twice with the same data object.
If you dropship, the packing slip may go to a third-party warehouse with no prices, while you still email the customer a delivery note. That is two PDFs from one order, not a reason to keep a Word docket.
What to print, and what to keep
Print the packing slip in the warehouse. Give the customer the delivery note (or email it after the drop). File the signed note against the order. Send the invoice on your normal billing cycle.
If a line is missing, do not silently edit the original delivery note. Issue a corrected note or a credit against the invoice, depending on whether the goods or the money is wrong.
A typical warehouse morning: export today's orders to CSV, generate packing slips in one batch, pick, then generate delivery notes as each van loads. Same items array, two templates. Drivers who work from a phone can open the delivery-note PDF from a signed URL instead of paper; the signature block still belongs on that template even if they photograph the porch instead of signing.