Delivery Challans
For: Anyone recording that goods have left the warehouse, before the customer is billed
A Delivery Challan is the dispatch document — items, quantities, and where they shipped from. It can start from scratch, or carry remaining quantity from an Open or Partially Recorded Sales Order. Once it is Sent, convert it to an Invoice to bill what went out. The challan itself does not post to the ledger. When Settings → Inventory Config → Stock Deduct Source is Delivery Challan, saving the challan takes stock from the warehouse.
What this module does
1. Creating a delivery challan
Pick Division, then Branch, then Warehouse — the rest of the form stays locked until those three are set. A scratch challan can pre-fill those three from Settings → Organization defaults. A few checks run automatically the moment you save.
Customer and Shipping Address: The address has to be one of that customer's own addresses. You can't pick an address that belongs to someone else.
Challan Number: Auto-generated unless you turn that off under Delivery Challan Configuration on the form (prefix and next number). That same drawer stores Terms & Conditions, which pre-fill every new challan. Locked after save.
Challan Type: Required. Choose Supply of Liquid Gas, Job Work, Supply on Approval, or Others.
Price List: Optional on a scratch challan. When this challan comes from a Sales Order, rates are already on the lines and the item list is locked.
Currency and exchange rate: Currency comes from the customer, or from the Sales Order if this challan was converted from one. If it differs from the company base (set under Settings → Currencies), an Exchange Rate field appears.
Items, discounts, charges, and tax: Line items with quantity and rate. Document discount follows Settings → Discounts — Enable Discount, then Discount Applies On Item Level or Transaction Level. Extra lines such as freight come from Settings → Additional charges assigned to Delivery Challan. GST (CGST / SGST / IGST) is calculated from customer state vs company state. Round-off is available on the totals.
Credit limit: If the customer has a credit limit that covers delivery challans (Restriction Document includes Delivery Challan), the total can't push them over it. Defaults live under Settings → Credit limits until the customer overrides them. You'll be told the limit, current usage, and how much room is left if it would.
Overdue invoices: If Restriction Payment Terms Document includes Delivery Challan (on the customer, or the company default under Settings → Credit limits), you can't create a challan while that customer has an Overdue invoice. Pay it, or remove Delivery Challan from that list.
Stock check and stock deduct: Not a toggle on this form. They come from Settings → Inventory Config (next section). If Stock Deduct Source is Delivery Challan, quantity is taken from the warehouse on save — even for a Draft.
Save vs Save & Sent: Save creates a Draft. Save & Sent is only on create — saves and marks it Sent in one step, so it can be converted to an Invoice straight away.
Warning: You can't create a delivery challan at all until your company has a primary bank account set up. Mark one under Banking → Banks with Make this primary. Those bank details print on the challan PDF, even if this particular challan never becomes an invoice.
Note: A delivery challan does not post to the ledger. Nothing hits Accounts Receivable or Sales until you convert it and save the Invoice. Stock movement is separate — that follows Inventory Config on this module.
2. Stock check and stock deduct — Inventory Config
Stock for a Delivery Challan is not switched on the challan form. It is a company setting under Settings → Inventory Config (the screen title is Stock Source Configuration). Delivery Challan is a real option on that screen — it is added to the dropdowns when the Delivery Challan add-on is on your plan.
Two sales fields do different jobs. Check asks if quantity is there. Deduct is what actually takes it out of the warehouse.
Stock Check Source
Asks: is there enough?
Can sit on Quote, Sales Order, or Delivery Challan. Blocks save if the warehouse is short. Does not take stock.
Stock Deduct Source
Takes stock out
Set to Delivery Challan. The orange step below is where warehouse quantity actually leaves.
Where stock leaves on a Delivery Challan
Save takes warehouse quantity — including a Draft.
Quote
No stock move
Sales Order
No stock move
Delivery Challan
Stock leaves here
| Setting | What you pick | What it does on a Delivery Challan |
|---|---|---|
| Stock Check Source | Quote, Sales Order, or Delivery Challan | If Delivery Challan is selected, save is blocked when the warehouse does not have enough. Nothing is taken yet — this is availability only. Service items are skipped |
| Stock Deduct Source | Delivery Challan | Save takes quantity from the warehouse (including a Draft) and stores batch/lot on the lines |
| Stock Add Source | GRPO or Bill | Purchase side only. It does not apply to Delivery Challans |
Default: New companies start with Stock Deduct Source = Delivery Challan, so a challan often deducts stock from the first save.
How it is used on save: At create, Books copies the current config onto the challan. If check or deduct is on for Delivery Challan, availability is validated. If deduct is Delivery Challan, warehouse stock is reduced and the Stock Movement tab shows those batches. Editing a Draft reverses the old deduction and takes the new quantities.
How it is used on cancel / delete: If this challan deducted stock, cancel or delete (when it is not already Cancelled) puts the quantity back. After that, Mark As cannot bring a Cancelled challan back to Draft or Sent — stock was already released.
Inventory Impact on the detail page: The side panel shows Stock Check and Stock Deduct as Enabled or Disabled for this challan — the snapshot from when it was created, not whatever the setting is today.
Changing the setting later: You cannot switch Stock Deduct Source to Delivery Challan while a Draft challan exists. Changing Stock Check Source alone is allowed. Already-saved challans keep the snapshot they were created with.
Warning: When Stock Deduct Source is Delivery Challan, stock leaves at dispatch — even if you only Save as Draft.
3. Viewing, searching, and exporting
The list and the detail page cover different needs.
Finding a challan: Status tabs across the top (Draft, Sent, Cancelled, Delivered), plus filters for date range, status, customer, added by, division, and branch. Search by challan number, reference, challan type, or customer name.
Export: Export Delivery Challans from the list toolbar, using the columns you currently have showing.
Detail page: Header shows the challan number and status. Tabs cover the document, attachments, Document Flow (linked Sales Orders and Invoices), Stock Movement, and History. Converted From names the Sales Order(s) if there are any. Converted To names the Invoice(s). Inventory Impact sits in the side column.
4. Editing a delivery challan
Only a Draft can be edited. Sent, Delivered, and Cancelled lock the form.
What stays locked even on a Draft: Customer, Division, Branch, Warehouse, and the challan number. Change items, quantities, rates, dates, challan type, notes, and attachments. If the challan came from a Sales Order, the item list stays locked to those lines.
Stock on edit: If stock deduct is on, the previous deduction is reversed and then taken again for the updated quantities. If stock check is on, availability is re-checked.
5. Printing and downloading
Use Download (PDF) or Print on the detail header, next to View Customer. There is no email-send action on a delivery challan — Sent is how it becomes convertible, not a mail status.
6. Changing a delivery challan's status
Mark Delivery Challan As only offers the moves below.
| From | Mark As offers |
|---|---|
| Draft | Sent, Cancelled |
| Sent | Draft, Cancelled — converting to Invoice is only allowed from Sent |
| Cancelled | Draft, Sent — except when stock was deducted on this challan; then Cancelled cannot be reverted |
| Delivered | Nothing you pick. Delivered is a stored status and shows on the tabs, but Mark As never offers it. The menu only shows Cancelled |
Note: You cannot Mark As Delivered. A Cancelled challan can come back to Draft or Sent only when this document did not deduct stock. If it did, revert is blocked.
Cancelling: Blocked while a non-cancelled Invoice exists from this challan. You'll see which one. If stock deduct was on, quantities go back to the warehouse. If the challan came from a Sales Order, that order's remaining quantity and status are recalculated.
7. Converted from — what can become a Delivery Challan
Conversion is started on the Sales Order (or Duplicate / Add). Saving this challan is what updates the order — clicking Convert only opens the form.
| From | When / where | What happens to the source |
|---|---|---|
| Sales Order | Open or Partially Recorded. Convert to Delivery Challan on the order row, the order detail, or the Sales Order list CONVERT menu | Customer, location, items, and remaining quantity come across. Location and customer lock on the new form. Saving this challan moves the Sales Order to Partially Recorded, or Completed if remaining quantity hits zero |
| Scratch | Add Delivery Challan with nothing pre-filled | A new challan. Save makes Draft; Save & Sent makes Sent so it can be invoiced straight away |
| Duplicate | Duplicate Document on the list or the detail page | Opens Add with the same customer, items, and amounts. New challan number, today's dates, Draft, no attachments, and no Sales Order link — it is a fresh challan, not another dispatch of the same order |
Tip: A Quote does not convert into a Delivery Challan. Convert the quote to a Sales Order (or Invoice) first. You also cannot create a challan from a Customer Order.
Remaining quantity: You cannot dispatch more than the Sales Order still has pending after other non-cancelled challans and invoices. On a Partially Recorded order, convert only offers lines that still have quantity left.
Several orders, one challan: The Sales Order list CONVERT menu lets you pick a customer, then more than one Open / Partially Recorded order, then remaining lines — so one dispatch can cover several orders.
8. Converted to — what a Delivery Challan can become
Only a Sent challan converts, and only into an Invoice.
| To | When | Where you start | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice | Sent only. You need invoice create permission | Convert To Invoice on the row or detail, or the list CONVERT menu (pick customer, then Sent challans, then remaining lines) | Opens a new Invoice with this challan linked. The challan stays Sent until that invoice is saved. You can raise more than one invoice if quantity remains |
| Invoice with Split | Sent, Split by Qty/Price is on for the company, and a split session is active | Convert To Invoice With Split on the row or detail — not on the list CONVERT menu | Opens the invoice form in split mode so lines can be billed by quantity or price split |
List CONVERT menu: Convert to Invoice opens a picker: customer first, then which Sent challans, then which remaining lines. Use this when several challans for the same customer go on one invoice.
What you cannot convert to from here: Not a Quote, not a Sales Order, not a Credit Note, not another Delivery Challan, not Production. Those are separate documents.
9. Duplicating a delivery challan
From the list or the detail page, Duplicate Document opens Add Delivery Challan with the same customer, items, and amounts.
What is left off: A new challan number, today's dates, Draft status, no attachments, and no Sales Order link. You save it as a fresh challan.
10. Deleting a delivery challan
Delete is stricter than cancel.
Blocked when: Any Invoice exists from this challan — including cancelled ones. You'll be shown which invoice is holding it.
Stock and Sales Orders: If stock deduct was on and the challan is not already Cancelled, quantities go back to the warehouse. Linked Sales Orders drop this challan from Converted To and remaining quantity is recalculated.
Business rules
| Topic | Rule |
|---|---|
| No ledger posting | A Delivery Challan never posts to the general ledger. Accounts Receivable and Sales hit when you save the Invoice created from it |
| Plan add-on | Delivery Challans are a plan feature. Creating a challan is gated by that add-on; converting a Sales Order to a challan is hidden if Delivery Challans are not on the plan. Editing, status, converting to Invoice, duplicating, and deleting are not separately gated |
| A primary bank account is required to create | If your company hasn't set up a primary bank account yet, you can't create a Delivery Challan at all — mark one under Banking → Banks with Make this primary. The bank details print on the PDF |
| Challan number | Auto-generated with a DC prefix unless you turn that off under Delivery Challan Configuration on the form. That same drawer also stores Terms & Conditions, which pre-fill every new challan. Locked after save |
| Division, Branch, Warehouse, Customer | All four are required to create. After save they are locked. Converted-from a Sales Order also locks those fields on the new form before save |
| Challan Type | Required. One of Supply of Liquid Gas, Job Work, Supply on Approval, or Others |
| Currency | Taken from the customer at creation, or from the Sales Order if this challan came from one. An exchange rate field appears when that currency differs from the company base |
| Stock Deduct Source is a company setting | Settings → Inventory Config → Stock Deduct Source. Set it to Delivery Challan for this module to take warehouse quantity. Delivery Challan appears on that list only when the add-on is on your plan. New companies default to Delivery Challan. The choice is stored on each challan at create time; later setting changes do not rewrite old challans |
| Stock check vs stock deduct on this challan | Stock Check Source can be Delivery Challan (availability only). Stock Deduct Source = Delivery Challan takes warehouse quantity on save, including a Draft. Cancel or delete (if not already Cancelled) puts deducted quantity back. Inventory Impact on detail shows the snapshot from create time |
| Cancelled with stock deduct cannot be reverted | Mark As still offers Draft and Sent on a Cancelled challan, but the save is rejected if this challan had deducted stock. Stock was released on cancel, so it cannot come back that way |
| Editing skips the overdue-invoice check | That check only runs when you first create a challan. Editing a Draft re-checks the shipping address, the credit limit, and stock, but not overdue invoices |
| You can only edit a Draft | Sent, Delivered, and Cancelled cannot be edited. Customer and location stay locked even on a Draft |
| Convert to Invoice only from Sent | Draft, Cancelled, and Delivered cannot convert |
| Sent can go back to Draft | Mark As on a Sent challan offers Draft and Cancelled. Cancelled is not always a dead end — it can return to Draft or Sent unless stock deduct had run |
| Cancelling vs deleting | Cancel is blocked while a non-cancelled Invoice exists from this challan. Delete is stricter — blocked if any Invoice exists from it, including cancelled ones |
| Sales Order after cancel / delete | If this challan came from a Sales Order, cancel or delete recalculates remaining quantity and moves that order back to Open or Partially Recorded. The conversion link is removed on delete |
| Credit limit and overdue restrictions aren't Delivery Challan-specific | Settings → Credit limits holds the company defaults. Restriction Document is the amount check. Restriction Payment Terms Document is the overdue check — if Delivery Challan is listed, you cannot create a challan while that customer has an Overdue invoice. A customer can override those defaults on their Branches tab |
| Attachments | Up to 3 files, 5 MB each. Editing a Draft adds new files to the existing ones; nothing is replaced unless you remove it |