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Receipt Registration

Overview​

Standard Business Central requires a purchase order to be posted directly via the Receive or Receive and Invoice action. For non-inventory purchases, this is often not practical mid-period—the purchase order may still be under review for invoicing, or the person who physically took delivery of the goods or services may not have the authority to post.

The Receipt Registration feature provides a lightweight, two-step process:

  1. Register — an authorised user records what has been physically received, specifying quantities against each non-inventory line. The registration is saved with a timestamp and user ID but does not yet create a purchase receipt in Business Central.
  2. Post — a finance team member reviews the queued registrations and posts them as formal purchase receipts (individually or in bulk). Posting creates the purchase receipt and triggers the corresponding accrual entries via the Purchase Accruals engine.

This separation of duties gives organisations a reliable, auditable trail of what was received in a period, independently of when it is invoiced.

note

Receipt Registration only supports non-inventory purchase lines (G/L Account, Resource, Fixed Asset, Service Items, and Non-Inventory Items). You cannot register inventory items using this feature.

Registering a Receipt​

From the Purchase Order​

  1. Open the relevant Purchase Order. The order must have a status of Released.
  2. In the action bar, under Posting, choose Register Receipt.
  3. The Register Purchase Receipt page opens, showing all non-inventory lines with an outstanding quantity. Review the lines.
  4. Enter the Qty. to Register for each line you wish to record as received.
  5. When you are ready, click Register. You will be asked to confirm before the registration is saved.

The registration is saved internally with:

  • A unique Registration No.
  • The Registering User (the logged-in user)
  • The Registering Date/Time (current date and time)

From the Purchase Order List​

You can also trigger a registration from the Purchase Order List page without opening the individual order. Select the relevant order and choose Register Receipt from the Posting menu.

Viewing Registrations​

To see all registrations for a purchase order, open the order and choose Documents > Receipt Registrations. This opens the Registered Purchase Receipt Lines page filtered to the current order, showing:

  • All registration lines (including posted and cancelled ones)
  • The Purchase Receipt No. once the registration has been posted
  • The Receipt Cancelled Status if the registration was cancelled
  • Any Batch Posting Error messages if a posting attempt failed

You can also navigate directly to the Registered Purchase Receipt Lines page from Tell Me to see registrations across all purchase orders.

Posting Registrations​

Registrations must be formally posted before they become purchase receipts and before accrual entries are generated.

Post a Single Registration​

From the Registered Purchase Receipt Lines page, select a line belonging to the registration you want to post and choose Post Receipt from the action bar. The system will post all lines with the same Registration No. as a single purchase receipt.

Batch Post​

To post all outstanding (unposted) registrations in the current filter, choose Batch Post from the action bar. The system processes each registration in turn, displaying a progress dialog. If a registration fails to post, the error is recorded in the Batch Posting Error field and processing continues with the next registration.

info

The posting date used for the purchase receipt is derived from the Registering Date/Time recorded when the registration was saved, ensuring the receipt is posted in the correct period.

Safeguards and Cancellation​

Blocking Standard Posting​

If a purchase order has outstanding (unposted) registrations, standard Business Central posting is blocked. You will see an error message when you try to post the order. You must either post the registrations first or reopen the purchase order (which cancels the pending registrations).

Reopening a Purchase Order​

If you reopen a purchase order that has pending (unposted) registrations, those registrations are automatically cancelled. The cancellation is stamped with the user and date/time. Cancelled registrations remain visible in the Registered Purchase Receipt Lines page for audit purposes with a Receipt Cancelled Status of Reopen Purchase Order.

Undoing a Purchase Receipt​

If a posted purchase receipt is undone using the standard Business Central Undo Receipt action, the corresponding registration line is automatically marked with a Receipt Cancelled Status of Undo Receipt.

Registered Purchase Receipt Lines Page​

The Registered Purchase Receipt Lines page (accessible from Tell Me as Registered Purchase Receipt Lines) provides a full history view across all purchase orders. Key columns include:

ColumnDescription
Registration No.A unique sequential number assigned to each registration event.
Purchase Receipt No.The purchase receipt document number, populated once the registration has been posted.
Posting DateThe date the purchase receipt was posted.
Document No.The source purchase order number.
Type / No. / DescriptionThe purchase line details.
Qty. to RegisterThe quantity that was registered.
Quantity ReceivedThe quantity that was posted to the purchase receipt.
Outstanding QuantityThe remaining quantity to be received on the order line at the time of registration.
Registering UserThe user who created the registration.
Registering Date/TimeThe date and time the registration was saved.
Receipt Cancelled StatusBlank if active; Undo Receipt or Reopen Purchase Order if cancelled.
Cancelled by User / Cancelled Date/TimePopulated when a registration is cancelled.
Batch Posting ErrorAny error recorded during a batch post attempt.

Actions​

From the Registered Purchase Receipt Lines page you can:

  • Source Document — Open the originating purchase order.
  • Find entries — Navigate to the G/L entries and other entries related to the posted receipt.
  • Post Receipt — Post the registration for the selected line's registration number.
  • Batch Post — Post all unposted registrations in the current filter.
  • Delete — Remove an individual registration line (only available for unposted, non-cancelled lines).

See Also​