An Advance Shipping Notice (ASN), also advice note or avis, is a piece of preliminary information on the delivery of goods or the delivery of payment. In the following, this article will use the abbreviation ASN.

ASN in the movement of goods

Due to the close interaction between warehouse management and a superimposed business level, there is usually a notification about the incoming goods. Before the receipt of the goods takes place, a so-called ASN is delivered in the form of preliminary information, such as:

  • Article quantity
  • item number
  • Article weight or volume
  • Time of goods receipt

An ASN is not to be equated with delivery documents. Delivery documents arrive at the same time as the goods, an ASN already before. An ASN creates a bridge to the ERP system.

An ASN is also used to be able to implement shipment tracking in cooperation with the forwarding agent or parcel service. The consignment or package data must then be notified to the forwarding agents concerned by remote data transmission if necessary. If goods arrive late in the warehouse, the warehouse resources should be able to avoid equipment or personnel bottlenecks. That way, direct processing of the goods delivered late is possible. The ASN enables precise planning. When the goods leave the goods issue department, a shipping notification is enclosed.

ASN in payment transactions

In payment transactions, there are payment ASN as well as invoice ASN.

With the payment ASN, the recipient receives the information that payment is about to arrive. It contains a list of all details relating to the payment. It usually informs about:

  • Date of invoice
  • invoice number
  • payment amount
  • Possible discount deduction
  • Possible credit memo

The invoice ASN notifies the recipient of an invoice. The contents are usually the same as in the payment ASN.

You can find more information on the receipt of goods under Goods Receipt.

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