A supplier lead-time estimate is useful only when its boundaries are clear. Which order did it describe, which event started the clock, and did the first delivery contain everything ordered? A split delivery or a held case can change the answer.
This guide follows a single order line through its documented events and records three elapsed intervals, each backed by its own evidence. The example, LT-027, is original fiction. It measures what happened on one line; deadline performance, receiving checks and revision control have their own guides.
Pin down the line and the start before timing anything
Choose one issued line that stayed unchanged: the same item, unit, specification, quantity and requested date from sending to the review cutoff. Fix the unit before you count anything. LT-027 uses cases of 6 units throughout, so 20 cases is never compared with a count of single units.
The clock starts at the documented time the identified order was sent, not when it was approved and not when someone at the supplier opened it. Approval can happen hours earlier, and supplier reading may be unevidenced. If the line was revised, resolve the revision trail first; the purchase order changes guide covers that. A revision needs a separate reconciled scope and documented timing basis; do not silently substitute either the original or a new sending time.
Three endpoints, three pieces of evidence
Supplier confirmation is the first endpoint, and it counts only when it matches the identified revision. The second is the first accepted receipt and the third is the full ordered quantity accepted. For both receipt endpoints, the time used is the documented physical receipt of units that were later accepted under your existing, unchanged acceptance criteria.
Record acceptance evidence separately. The time someone entered the acceptance does not by itself establish when the judgement was made. Leave an unevidenced judgement time unknown. This timing record does not authorise use at the physical receipt time or replace your existing receiving and food-safety release decisions.
Worked example: LT-027 at 6 November 2026, 12:00 IST
In this fictional case PO027 Rev0 line L1 ordered 20 cases of CUP027 from supplier SUP027, with a requested delivery of 6 November at 09:00 IST. Nothing about the quantity, unit, specification or date changed. At the 12:00 review the receipt and event register was confirmed complete through the cutoff, with no holds, rejections, returns or substitutions.
| Event (fictional) | Time (IST) | Evidence | Cases | Elapsed from sending |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order sent, PO027 Rev0 L1 | 2 Nov 09:00 | SEND027 | 20 ordered | Start |
| Supplier confirmation | 2 Nov 13:00 | CONF027, matches Rev0 | 20 confirmed | 4 hours to confirmation |
| R1 physical receipt | 5 Nov 09:00 | Receipt R1; acceptance recorded 5 Nov 10:00 (ACC1) under CR027 | 12 received, 12 accepted | 72 hours to first accepted receipt |
| R2 physical receipt | 6 Nov 09:00 | Receipt R2; acceptance recorded 6 Nov 10:00 (ACC2) under CR027 | 8 received, 8 accepted; 20 of 20 accepted | 96 hours to full accepted quantity |
Reading the three intervals
Sending to confirmation took 4 elapsed hours. Sending to the first accepted receipt took 72, and sending to the full accepted quantity took 96. Each receipt interval ends at a physical receipt time, not at 10:00 when the acceptance was recorded.
These are calendar hours, with nights and closed days included. They are not working hours, and they do not show that the supplier caused every hour of waiting. The requested date sits in the record as context only; whether delivery met an agreed window is a separate question for the supplier performance review. One line also gives no average, no standard lead time and no forecast.
Keep earlier snapshots and blank endpoints
A snapshot taken on 5 November at 12:00 showed 12 cases accepted and 8 outstanding. Its full-quantity interval is blank, not estimated, and that snapshot stays on file beside the later one instead of being overwritten.
For a review at 09:30 that morning, the example supplies physical receipt evidence but no acceptance evidence available by that cutoff. The first-accepted-receipt interval would therefore remain unresolved in that review. A later acceptance entry does not prove when the judgement occurred.
When the line stops being clean
Real lines are messier. Held or rejected units, returns, substitutions, over-delivery, a revision or a cancellation all change what the endpoints mean. Do not reset the start to a later sending, and do not shrink the ordered quantity so the line appears finished.
Record the evidence, log the exception and reconcile it through your existing receiving and revision controls. Until that reconciliation is done, leave the affected interval unresolved. A held case is not accepted, extra cases do not complete a shortfall of a different item, and a substitute is not the ordered item.
Where the distinction comes from
Microsoft Learn's Business Central article on calculating purchase dates separates order dates from planned and expected receipt dates and adds handling allowances, which supports keeping planned dates apart from observed events. Its Supply Chain Management purchase order overview treats a partly received order as not yet fully received. Only these general distinctions are used. Product statuses, date formulas and workflow rules are not adopted, and no Keystonne feature is implied.
Put it into practice
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From reading to doing
Order Line Timing
Open Order Line Timing for one issued line and record the source documents, the review cutoff and a manual confirmation that the line, unit, specification, quantity and requested date are unchanged. The worksheet is fully manual. Its evidence register holds up to 8 receipt events, each with a physical receipt time, separate received, accepted, held and rejected quantities, and a separate field for acceptance-entry evidence and its recorded time. The three elapsed-hour calculations are entered by hand, each naming the endpoint evidence it relies on; nothing selects an endpoint for you. There is room for 6 exceptions and 6 dated reviews with the reviewer and the completeness of history. Observed totals sit apart from named endpoints, and a missing endpoint stays blank. Revisions, cancellations, returns, substitutions and over-delivery are noted as exceptions for your existing controls, not fixed in the sheet. Copy the sheet for another line. For more events on the same line, extend the register and recheck the complete history, quantities and endpoints; do not truncate or combine partial-sheet summaries. Summary values do not update after edits and must be reviewed independently.
Open the Order Line Timing tab in the launch workbook. Keep a copy for your own business.
Download the free workbook See what’s inside the toolkit →Sources & further reading
- Calculate dates for purchases (Microsoft Learn, Dynamics 365 Business Central) ↗
Retrieved 8 November 2026. Page last updated 22 October 2025. Used only for the distinction between order dates, planned receipt dates and expected receipt dates that include handling allowances. Its date formulas, default lead-time settings and recalculation behaviour are not adopted. LT-027, its references, times and figures are original fiction.
- Purchase order overview (Microsoft Learn, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management) ↗
Retrieved 8 November 2026. Page last updated 8 September 2026. Used only for the general point that a partly received order is not shown as fully received. Its product statuses, workspaces and workflow are not adopted for a manual record. LT-027 is original fiction.
Published by Keystonne Grow. Product links connect to the Keystonne ecosystem; check the linked product or service for its current scope.