Receiving Serials on Purchase Orders

When Serial Capture Triggers

During the purchase order receiving process, if a line item's product has serial tracking enabled, a serial capture dialog opens automatically after you enter the received quantity for that line item. You do not need to click anything extra — the dialog appears as part of the standard receiving workflow.

Key Difference from POS and Invoice Serial Capture

During POS sales and invoice creation, you are selecting from existing serial numbers that are already in the system. During purchase order receiving, you are entering new serial numbers that do not exist in the system yet. The dialog reflects this difference — instead of showing a selection grid of existing serials, it shows text fields where you type in the serial numbers printed on the products you are receiving.

Entering Serial Numbers

For each unit received, enter the serial number printed on the product or its packaging. Each serial number must be unique across the entire system for that inventory item. If you enter a serial number that already exists, AccuArk will display an error and ask you to enter a different number.

The number of serial entry fields matches the received quantity. If you entered a received quantity of 5, you will see 5 serial number fields to fill in.

Condition Notes

Each serial entry includes an optional condition notes field. Use this to record the physical condition of the unit at the time of receiving. Common examples include:

• "Sealed in original packaging"
• "Minor box damage, unit inspected and OK"
• "Open box, all accessories present"
• "Manufacturer refurbished"

Condition notes are stored on the serial record and visible in the serial detail view.

Warranty Dates

Each serial entry also includes optional warranty start and end date fields. If the manufacturer provides warranty information with the product, enter it here:

• Warranty Start Date — The date the manufacturer warranty begins (often the date of manufacture or the date of purchase)
• Warranty End Date — The date the manufacturer warranty expires

If you set a warranty start date, the serial's warranty status is automatically set to active. If no warranty dates are entered, the warranty status remains none.

What Happens After Receiving

Once you confirm the serial entries and complete the receiving process, the following happens for each serial:

• A new serial record is created with a status of In Stock
• The serial is assigned to the purchase order's receiving location
• An event is logged linking the serial to the purchase order line item, recording the date, the PO number, and the user who performed the receiving
• The serial is immediately available for sale at that location

Receiving Multiple Units

If you receive a quantity greater than 1 for a serial-tracked line item, you enter a serial number for each unit individually. For example, if you ordered 10 units and received all 10, you will enter 10 separate serial numbers. There is no shortcut for bulk entry during PO receiving — each unit must have its own unique serial number entered. For bulk entry of many serials, consider using the Excel import feature on the inventory item's Serials tab instead.

Best Practice

Enter serial numbers exactly as printed by the manufacturer. Do not add prefixes, suffixes, or reformatting. Consistent serial number entry ensures accurate lookups later when customers call about a product, when processing returns, or when checking warranty status. If a serial number contains both letters and numbers, preserve the exact capitalization and formatting shown on the product.