Handling Partial Receipts and Backorders in Odoo Purchase

Partial Receipts and Backorders in Odoo Purchase#

Suppliers often ship in multiple installments - partial delivery today, the rest next week. Odoo handles this with the backorder workflow, which preserves the original PO while tracking what's been received and what remains outstanding.

Processing a Partial Receipt#

When goods arrive:

1. Open the purchase receipt (Purchase → [PO] → Receipts → [Receipt])
2. Enter the Done quantity for each product (less than the demand quantity)
3. Click Validate
4. Odoo prompts: "Some products were not received. What do you want to do?"

Options:

• Create Backorder: creates a new receipt for the remaining quantity
• No Backorder: marks the PO as fully received (waives the rest)

Choose Create Backorder for partial shipments where the remainder will arrive later.

Backorder Behaviour#

The backorder:

• Has the same PO reference as the original receipt
• Shows only the outstanding quantities
• Appears in the Receipts list as a separate record
• Is linked to the original PO (visible in the PO → Receipts count)

When the second shipment arrives, process the backorder receipt the same way.

Tracking Outstanding Quantities#

Purchase → [PO] → the Billing Status and Receipt Status fields show:

• Fully Received: all quantities confirmed
• Partial Receipt: some quantities still pending
• Nothing Received: no receipts validated yet

The PO line quantities show: Ordered | Received | Remaining.

Automated Reminders for Overdue Receipts#

Set up an automated action:

• Trigger: Scheduled Date on the receipt has passed
• Filter: Receipt Status = Partial Receipt OR Nothing Received
• Action: Email the purchasing manager - "Overdue delivery from Vendor X on PO-YYYY"

Partial Receipt and Billing#

You can bill for received quantities before the full PO is complete:

1. PO → Create Bill → bill only for received quantities
2. Full PO balance remains open for the backorder
3. When backorder is received → create second bill

This accelerates cash flow for the supplier while maintaining accurate PO tracking for the buyer.

Closing Backorders#

If you decide not to receive the remaining quantity (supplier can't fulfill):

1. Open the backorder receipt
2. Validate with 0 quantities OR create no backorder
3. Or cancel the remaining PO lines

Document the reason in the PO chatter for audit trail.