Delivery note

An accompanying document for an electrical appliance from 1960

A delivery ( English delivery note ) is a document accompanying the goods , in which the supplier information about the delivery of goods are.

General

The delivery note is attached to a delivery as a mere accompanying document; it fulfills a control and information function for the buyer. As an accompanying document, it is a document to identify the delivery with regard to the goods , their sender and their addressee and is usually transported with the goods. If the delivery note is also used as a receipt , the seller can check that the delivery has been properly received by the buyer. In addition, this mere delivery note also occurs in civil law and commercial law and has legal significance there.

There are no legal requirements for issuing delivery notes. There is an obligation to promptly issue an invoice, but not to give the recipient of the goods a delivery note. When a delivery note is created, it must meet the minimum requirements for business letters in Germany . These differ in detail depending on the legal form . For example, a GmbH has to provide the following information: full company name in accordance with the wording entered in the commercial register; Legal form of the company; Registered office of the company; Register court of the registered office of the company and the number under which the company is entered in the commercial register; all managing directors and - if the company has a supervisory board and this has a chairman - the chairman of the supervisory board with surname and at least one full first name.

The delivery note in paper form generally accompanies the goods in contrast to the invoice, which can also be sent as a letter separately from the goods .

civil right

The civil law version is a commercial document in accordance with Section 17a (2) No. 2 UStDV , which includes the supplier, the type and quantity of the goods delivered, the transport company and the recipient. The delivery note is an instruction in accordance with Section 783 of the German Civil Code (BGB) if the receipt of the goods is made dependent on a consideration (e.g. payment of the purchase price ). The delivery note cannot unilaterally change the delivery and payment conditions agreed in the previously concluded contract ( e.g. sales contract ) . However, a subsequent's retention of title on the invoice or delivery permitted if their access time before the transfer is the goods. According to this judgment, it is possible to declare a retention of title in the delivery note upon transfer of ownership, if the retention of title reaches the buyer and the buyer can reasonably be expected to take notice of a retention of title declared in this form and under these circumstances . However, the retention of title on the delivery note must make it unmistakably clear to the buyer that he only becomes the owner after payment.

In many industries, the electronic delivery note is becoming the norm for shipping between companies . The automotive industry is a pioneer of this type of document and has been doing this for years. In the case of the electronic delivery note, the data is transmitted directly to the recipient via electronic data exchange immediately after the goods have been dispatched according to a precisely agreed process pattern , so that the recipient is informed in advance of exactly which goods will be delivered.

Commercial law

In commercial law, the delivery note is a commercial instruction issued by the seller as the depositor to the warehouse keeper , according to which the latter should deliver the stored goods to a third recipient. The seller is the owner of the goods and the warehouse keeper is the immediate owner . Ownership is transferred to the buyer or third party upon delivery, who must present the delivery note. Securities Legally the commercial delivery for is gekorenen Order Paper of § 363 para. 1 HGB when the instructed storekeeper Kaufmann , it is fungibles is the obligation of a return is independent and the delivery note the positive order clause contains. The legitimate owner of the delivery note has a right to surrender against the warehouse keeper to receive the goods. However, the delivery note is not a traditional paper like the warehouse receipt , so it does not replace handover.

The delivery note is the most important document in incoming goods inspection .

In Germany, the delivery note must be kept for six years by traders in accordance with Section 147 AO . In the case of a mixture between the invoice and the delivery note on one document, the longer retention period of ten years for the invoice applies .

literature

Literature on delivery note in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

^ Gregor Nöcker, Die vereglose Spedition , 2002, p. 91

↑ Michael ten Hompel / Volker Heidenblut, Taschenlexikon Logistik , 2008, p. 26

↑ Karina Sopp, VAT on sales in the EU , 2010, p. 205

↑ Verlag Dr. Th. Gabler, Gabler Wirtschafts Lexikon , Volume 4, 1984, Sp. 109

↑ Carl Creifelds , Creifelds Rechtswörtbuch , 2000, p. 842

↑ BGH NJW 1982, 1749 , 1751

↑ BGHZ 64, 395

^ Peter Bülow, Law of Credit Securities , 2007, p. 226

↑ Hermann Staub (ed.) / Claus Wilhelm Canaris, Commercial Code: Großkommentar , 2004, § 363 Rn. 37-42