Articles

Packing slip vs invoice in wholesale

A packing slip lists what is in a delivery. An invoice asks for the money. The slip travels with the goods and carries no prices; the invoice arrives afterwards and carries little else. Both are generated from the same order, so nothing is typed twice.
Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Title card reading "Packing slip vs invoice in wholesale" over crates of fresh produce
Answers
Packing slip
What is in this delivery
Invoice
What the customer owes
Travels
Packing slip
In the box, with the goods
Invoice
By email, afterwards
Shows prices
Packing slip
No
Invoice
Yes
Covers
Packing slip
One order
Invoice
Every processed order not yet billed
Issued
Packing slip
At dispatch
Invoice
Once the order is processed

A packing slip carries no prices on purpose

The slip is read by whoever takes the delivery - a driver, a kitchen porter, someone at a back door. None of them need your prices, and a trade price printed on a sheet left in a crate is how one customer learns what another pays.

Wholesale Handler prints the customer, the delivery date, and each line's product name, SKU, pack unit and quantity. No money at all.

One slip per order, one invoice per customer

A packing slip belongs to a single delivery. An invoice collates every processed order a customer has that has not been billed yet, so a customer taking three deliveries in a week gets three slips and one invoice.

Invoicing a second batch for the same customer joins their open draft rather than raising a second invoice.

Producing both from the order

Print packing slips from your orders list, for one order or a whole selection. Mark those orders processed, then raise the invoice from the same list - it picks up the processed, uninvoiced orders and emails the PDF when you finalise it.

A finalised invoice cannot be updated, so corrections are made while it is still a draft.

Wholesale Handler pricing

$109/month

  • Up to 50 customers
  • Up to 500 products
  • Unlimited orders and invoices

30-day free trial. No credit card required. No contract. Cancel anytime.

Try Wholesale Handler now

No sign-up. No demo booking. Just try the demo and use it immediately with sample data.