Psalm/What is a delivery note
A guide for UK businesses · Updated 6 October 2026
A delivery note lists what you sent, how many, where to and when, and the person receiving the goods signs it. It carries no prices and cannot be used to reclaim VAT. If you are VAT registered, keep every one for at least six years, and its date can decide when the VAT is due.
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What it shows
A delivery note is the paper that goes with the goods. It is the sender's record of what left the building, and the receiver's chance to check it against what they ordered before they sign. VAT Notice 700 sets out what a VAT invoice must carry but says nothing about what a delivery note must, so what follows is what makes one useful at the door.
| What to show | Why it earns its place |
|---|---|
| Your name and your customer's | Whoever signs knows who sent the goods and who they are for |
| The delivery address, if it is not the customer's own | The driver and the receiver both see where the goods were meant to go |
| A delivery note number and the date | Each note is its own document, and the date is the one the tax point may rest on |
| Each item and how many, with what it is counted in | Pieces, boxes, metres and tins are different things, so say which |
| Their order number and your invoice number, if there are any | One reference ties the order, the delivery and the bill together |
| Room for their name, signature and the date | The signature is your proof the goods arrived |
Sources: gov.uk, VAT guide (VAT Notice 700), read on 6 October 2026, which does not mention a delivery note. The list is the free delivery note generator’s own.
Here is one for the oak worktop job, from Whitmore Interiors, a VAT registered firm in London, to Charlotte Hayes, who has asked for the goods to go to her site. The firm, the customer and every number are invented.
| Delivery note DN-0058 | Detail |
|---|---|
| From | Whitmore Interiors, London |
| To | Charlotte Hayes, 14 Alder Road, London. Phone 07700 900142 |
| Date sent | Monday 28 September 2026 |
| Their order number | CH-1042 |
| Item 1 | Solid oak worktop, 3000 x 650 x 40 mm: 2 pieces |
| Item 2 | Oak upstand, 3000 x 100 x 20 mm: 2 pieces |
| Item 3 | Hardwax oil, clear: 1 tin |
| Item 4 | Brass end caps: 1 pack |
| Received by | Name, signature and date, in ink, at the foot |
Invented firm, customer and goods. It has no prices, no VAT and no total. The invoice carries those.
The free delivery note generator makes this as a PDF on your own letterhead, with the room to sign, and nothing you type leaves your device. If the invoice already exists in the free tools it can start the note, bringing the customer and every line with its quantity and never the prices.
Delivery note and invoice
No. A delivery note says what was sent. An invoice says what is owed. Because it carries no prices and no VAT, a delivery note cannot do an invoice’s job, and gov.uk says so in as many words: you cannot reclaim VAT using an invalid invoice, a pro-forma invoice, a statement or a delivery note.
| Delivery note | VAT invoice | |
|---|---|---|
| Travels with | The goods | Given or sent to the customer |
| Shows prices and VAT | No | Yes, with the details HMRC lists |
| Can the customer reclaim VAT with it | No | Yes, if it is a valid VAT invoice |
| Signed by the receiver | Yes, that is its point | No |
| Normally issued | When the goods go | Within 30 days of the supply, if you are VAT registered |
Sources: gov.uk, Charge, reclaim and record VAT (keeping VAT records), and HMRC, Record keeping (VAT Notice 700/21), paragraph 3.1. Both read on 6 October 2026.
Send the invoice as well, and make it from the same lines. The free invoice generator does that, and quote, proforma, invoice or receipt shows where each document sits on one job. A document that corrects an invoice after the fact is a different one again, the credit note, which has its own free generator.
The tax point
It can. For goods, the basic tax point, the date VAT becomes due, is usually the date you send them to your customer or the customer takes them away. An invoice you issue within 14 days after that date becomes the tax point instead, and an invoice issued later leaves the tax point at the delivery date. The delivery note is the dated record of the day the goods went.
Take a firm whose VAT quarter ends on 30 September, and three deliveries in 2026. The dates are invented.
| Job | Goods sent | Invoice issued | Tax point |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 28 September | 2 October, 4 days later | 2 October, the invoice date: next quarter |
| B | 14 September | 2 October, 18 days later | 14 September, the delivery date: this quarter |
| C | 28 September | 21 September, 7 days before | 21 September, the invoice date: this quarter |
Invented dates. Day counts: 2 October is 4 days after 28 September and 18 days after 14 September; 21 September is 7 days before 28 September.
Job C follows the rule that an invoice or payment before the basic tax point creates the tax point on the day you issue it or receive it, whichever comes first. A tax point is not created simply by preparing an invoice: you have to send or give it to the customer. You do not have to use the 14 day rule, but if you decide not to you must tell HMRC in writing, and you can apply to HMRC to extend it if you invoice monthly.
Source: HMRC, VAT guide (VAT Notice 700), paragraphs 14.2.1 and 14.2.2, read on 6 October 2026. This is general information, not tax advice: for your own return, check the notice or ask your accountant.
For a delivery by courier, the date to record is usually the day the goods leave you, since that is when you send them. Write it on the note.
Keeping them
If you are VAT registered, yes. VAT Notice 700/21 says VAT law requires you to keep all your business records, and its list of what HMRC counts as a business record includes orders and delivery notes. Generally you must keep them for at least 6 years, and records you use for other taxes may need keeping longer.
Source: HMRC, Record keeping (VAT Notice 700/21), paragraphs 2.3 and 2.4, read on 6 October 2026. The notice adds that what counts as a record depends on your business, and that you need not keep a record only for VAT if it is not a normal record in your business.
Keep the signed copy, not just the one you printed, and file it with the job so its number matches the invoice that followed. When a delivery goes wrong, a signed note with a quantity and a date is the first thing both sides reach for.
Questions people ask
A delivery note travels with the goods. It lists what was sent and how many, where it went and when, and whoever receives the goods signs it, which gives you proof that they arrived.
No. A delivery note carries no prices and asks for no money. An invoice asks to be paid, and a VAT invoice carries the details HMRC lists. gov.uk says you cannot reclaim VAT using a delivery note.
No, and it usually should not. It lists the goods and the quantities so it can be checked at the door. The prices belong on the invoice.
If you are VAT registered, yes. HMRC counts orders and delivery notes among the business records VAT law asks you to keep, generally for at least 6 years.
It can. The basic tax point for goods is usually the date you send them or the customer takes them away. An invoice issued within 14 days after that date becomes the tax point instead, and one issued later leaves it at the delivery date.
A delivery note is the sender's record of what went out. A goods received note is the buyer's own record of what arrived. Checking one against the other, and both against the invoice, shows what is missing or damaged.
Make one now
The delivery note generator is free, needs no account, and nothing you type leaves your device. Each PDF carries one small line saying it was made with Psalm. To keep every order, delivery and invoice for a job in one place, Psalm starts at £39 a month for three people, and the price page compares ten UK tools.
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