Packing list

The bill of lading says the carrier received 20 pallets weighing 38,000 pounds. The packing list says what is on each pallet: SKUs, cartons per pallet, units per carton, net and gross weight, dimensions, and often the purchase order the shipment fills. The commercial invoice, on international freight, adds the prices.

The receiver uses the packing list to check the shipment in: count the cartons, compare to the list, note anything over, short or damaged on the delivery receipt. Customs uses it to reconcile the quantities on the commercial invoice against what is declared on the entry. A packing list that disagrees with the invoice by a carton is enough to hold a container.

For document processing, packing lists are the hardest of the standard documents because they are tables that run to pages, in every layout a supplier’s ERP can print, with line items that repeat and totals that must add up. They are also the most valuable to read automatically, because they are the ones AP and receiving staff otherwise retype line by line.