Vendor Shorted Your Order? What to Do About Shorts, Subs, and Partial Fills

When a vendor shorts or substitutes something on your order, work through four questions in this order. Will we run out before the next truck? If so, cover the gap today from a backup vendor, a store run, or a menu change. Is the substitute acceptable? Check the spec, the pack size, the price per usable unit, and the allergens on the label before you take it. Is it written down? Mark the short or the sub on the invoice before you sign, and request the credit the same day. Does the next order need to change? Recalculate from a fresh count instead of just adding the missing cases back on.

Most shorts are just a missing case. The trouble usually comes from what happens next: a cook finds out at 5:30 PM, the credit never gets requested, or the next order doubles up on something that was already covered.

This guide is about handling a short or a sub once it happens. For the full receiving routine at the back door, see the receiving section of our restaurant purchasing and inventory guide. For closing out the order afterward, see how to track restaurant purchase orders.

In this guide:

1. Shorts, outs, partial fills, and subs: what each one means
2. How to find out before service, not during it
3. Deciding whether to accept a substitution
4. Covering the gap before the next delivery
5. Documenting shorts and getting the credit
6. Adjusting the next order, your pars, and your order guide
7. Worked example: one Friday delivery with three problems
8. What line cooks and chefs should do when they spot a sub
9. Common mistakes and FAQ

Shorts, outs, partial fills, and subs: what each one means

Distributors and reps don't all use the same words, so it helps to agree on them inside your own kitchen.

The difference that matters most is whether you were billed. An out you weren't charged for is a supply problem. A short at the door you were charged for is a supply problem and money you need to get back.

How to find out before service, not during it

The best time to learn about a short is before the truck leaves the warehouse. The second best is at the back door. The worst is when a cook reaches for the case during service.

Check the order after the cutoff

Many distributor portals show stock problems before the truck goes out. US Foods' MOXē help center, for example, says you can still order an item that's out of stock in case it comes back before picking, add the suggested substitute instead, or search the catalog for another option. It also says that if items are still unavailable after the order is submitted, you get another chance to choose a substitute or join a waitlist (US Foods, Ordering on MOXē). Other vendors' portals and apps work differently, so look at how yours handles it.

Whatever your vendor uses, build a habit: look at the order again a few hours after you send it, or first thing the next morning. If something is flagged, you still have time to pick a substitute or order from someone else before their cutoff. Our vendor ordering schedule guide helps you see which backup vendors you can still reach on a given day.

Ask your rep for an out of stock heads up

For vendors you order from by text, email, or phone, there's no portal flag. Ask the rep to text you about outs and subs when the order is picked, before the truck is loaded. Not every rep can, but it costs nothing to ask. Write down which ones agreed.

Tell the vendor your substitution rules ahead of time

Decide which items can be subbed and which can't, then tell your rep and write it on your order guide. A short list works:

• Sub OK, any brand: commodity items like kosher salt, granulated sugar, foil, and most paper goods.
• Sub OK, same spec only: items where the brand doesn't matter but the size or grade does, like 6 oz chicken breasts, 115 count lemons, or 35 lb fryer oil.
• No subs, call me: signature items, anything with an allergen claim on your menu, and anything a recipe depends on, like a specific flour or cheese.

Check the truck against the order

At the back door, compare each line to your purchase order, not just to the invoice. The invoice tells you what the vendor thinks it sent. Only the PO tells you what you asked for, so a sub can look perfectly normal on the invoice. The receiving checklist in our purchasing and inventory guide covers what else to check before signing.

Deciding whether to accept a substitution

A sub isn't automatically good or bad. Ask these questions, ideally while the driver is still there:

Check allergens on every substitute

This one isn't optional. In the U.S., the major food allergens are milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. Sesame was added as the ninth effective January 1, 2023, under the FASTER Act. The FDA also says the 2022 Food Code, in places that have adopted it, calls for written notice to customers about major food allergens used as ingredients in unpackaged food (FDA, sesame added as a major food allergen in the 2022 Food Code).

If your menu, allergen chart, or servers tell guests that a dish is free of an allergen, a substituted ingredient can make that untrue without anyone noticing. Read the ingredient statement on the sub before it goes on the shelf. If it adds an allergen, either refuse it or update your allergen information and tell FOH before service. Your state or local health department decides which version of the Food Code applies to you, so check with them on the exact requirements.

Check the condition, too

A substitute still has to pass the same receiving checks as the original: temperature, dates, and intact packaging. Model Food Code language that many states adopt says food packages have to be in good condition and protect the food inside from contamination (section 3-202.15, adopted for example in Minnesota Rules 4626.0190). A rushed sub that arrives on a warm truck is still a refusal.

Covering the gap before the next delivery

Once you know something is short, work out whether you'll run out before the next truck. You need three numbers:

1. What you'll have after this delivery
2. What you'll use until the next delivery arrives
3. How much cushion you want for a busy night or a late truck

If what you'll have is less than what you'll use plus the cushion, you need a plan. Here are the usual options, roughly from least to most disruptive:

• Wait. If your safety stock covers it, note it and reorder on the normal schedule. Your par levels exist partly for this.
• Add it to another vendor's order. If your produce vendor delivers tomorrow and also carries lemons, add lemons before their cutoff.
• Order from a backup vendor. A specialty meat or dairy vendor may be able to cover a protein or dairy item, often at a higher price.
• Make a store run. A cash and carry store or a grocery store can cover small gaps. Expect retail pack sizes and prices.
• Borrow from a sister location if you have one, and write down the transfer so both restaurants' counts make sense later.
• Change the menu. Run a different special, swap a component, or 86 the dish when you run out. That's a better outcome than a cook improvising a sub nobody checked.

Backup sources still have to be approved sources

The FDA Food Code says food has to come from sources that comply with law (section 3-201.11). In practice, that generally means licensed or permitted suppliers, such as commercial distributors, wholesalers, and licensed retail stores, and not food prepared in a private home (National Park Service guidance on approved food sources; Virginia Department of Health, approved source guidance). A friend's backyard eggs or a neighbor's homemade sauce isn't a backup vendor. Check with your local health department if you're unsure about a source, such as a farm.

Documenting shorts and getting the credit

Most credits get lost between the back door and the office. Make it hard to forget:

1. Mark the invoice before you sign. Write the item, the quantity missing or refused, and the reason, like "1 cs lemons not on truck" or "sub refused, contains milk." Ask the driver to initial it if that's how your vendor works.
2. Photograph the invoice and any damaged product before the driver leaves. A phone photo with a timestamp settles a lot of arguments.
3. Request the credit the same day. Some vendors want a call or text to the rep, some take credit requests in their app, and some adjust the next invoice. Write each vendor's process on your order guide or vendor list so whoever receives knows it.
4. Log it. Add a line to a short log, or to the Open issues field on your PO log if you keep one.
5. Close it when the credit memo arrives. Write the credit memo number next to the line.

What a short log looks like

A short log can be one tab in your purchasing spreadsheet or one page in the receiving binder:

Record quantities in the vendor's order unit, the same unit that's on the invoice. If you count in a different unit, our guide to restaurant inventory units covers the conversion.

Adjusting the next order, your pars, and your order guide

The next order: count, don't just add the short back on

The tempting move is to take whatever was shorted and tack it onto the next order. That's often wrong. If you already covered the gap from a backup vendor, or the item simply had a slow weekend, adding the missing cases on top of your normal order leaves you overstocked.

Instead, count before the next order and calculate it the normal way: what you need on hand after the delivery, minus what you'll have when the truck arrives, rounded to whole order units. The worked example below shows the difference.

Your pars: raise safety stock only for repeat offenders

One short isn't a reason to change a par. A pattern is. Once a month, look at your short log and ask:

• Which items get shorted more than once? Those may need a little more safety stock, a backup vendor written into the order guide, or a conversation with the rep about supply.
• Which vendor shorts most often? If one vendor shorted 3 of its last 8 deliveries, that's worth bringing up with the rep, with your log in hand. A quarterly restaurant vendor scorecard puts shorts next to on time delivery, invoice accuracy, and price changes for each vendor.
• Are the credits coming in? Count requested credits against credit memos received.

Our par level guide covers how vendor reliability affects safety stock. Be careful not to pad pars forever to hide a vendor problem. Fix the vendor problem too.

Your order guide: update it when a sub becomes permanent

Sometimes a sub is really a change: the product is discontinued, or the vendor switched suppliers. When that happens:

• Update the item description, item number, pack size, and price on the order guide.
• Update the count unit and conversion if the pack size changed.
• Add a note about the backup vendor and whether subs are allowed.
• If the new product changes a recipe or allergen, tell the chef and FOH.

Worked example: one Friday delivery with three problems

This is an illustrative example. The restaurant, vendors, items, usage, and prices are made up to show the method, not to suggest typical prices or how often a given distributor shorts orders.

A restaurant gets a broadline delivery Friday morning, PO 2214. The next broadline truck is Tuesday morning, and the cutoff for it is Monday at 10:00 AM. The restaurant also has a produce vendor that delivers Saturday morning (cutoff Friday 2:00 PM) and a meat purveyor that delivers Saturday morning (cutoff Friday 2:00 PM).

The kitchen counts chicken thighs in 10 lb bags. The vendor sells them in 40 lb cases of 4 bags.

At 8:30 AM the truck arrives. The prep cook checking it in has the PO open on a phone and finds three problems.

Problem 1: chicken thighs, partial fill

Only 2 cases came. The invoice shows the third case as out, with no charge. The chicken is the biggest risk, so the cook tells the kitchen manager right away.

The kitchen had 2 bags on hand before the delivery. Expected use until Tuesday's truck:

Expected use:          Fri 3 + Sat 4 + Sun 3 + Mon 2 = 12 bags
Cushion wanted:        2 bags

Planned on hand:       2 + (3 cases × 4 bags) = 14 bags → 14 − 12 = 2 bags cushion
Actual on hand:        2 + (2 cases × 4 bags) = 10 bags → 10 − 12 = 2 bags short

Ten bags gets through Saturday and Sunday with nothing left, and leaves Monday with none. A busy Sunday means running out during service.

Decision: order 1 case (4 bags) from the meat purveyor before its 2:00 PM cutoff, for Saturday morning delivery. It costs $132.00, or $8.00 more than the broadline case. With it, the kitchen is back to the original plan:

Friday end:            10 − 3 = 7 bags
Saturday delivery:     7 + 4 = 11 bags
Tuesday morning:       11 − 4 (Sat) − 3 (Sun) − 2 (Mon) = 2 bags

Problem 2: panko, substitution

In place of the panko, the truck has a seasoned breadcrumb in a 6 × 3 lb case at $51.00. The cook compares it by the pound:

Usual panko:   $46.00 ÷ 20 lb = $2.30 per lb
Substitute:    $51.00 ÷ 18 lb = $2.83 per lb, about 23% more per lb

Then the cook reads the label. The seasoned breadcrumb lists milk as an ingredient. The restaurant's allergen chart says the fried chicken has no milk, and the order guide says "No subs, call chef" for panko.

The cook refuses the sub, sends it back with the driver, and writes on the invoice: "Sub refused, seasoned crumb, contains milk."

Is there enough panko to wait? The kitchen has 9 lb on hand and uses about 2 lb a day.

Use until Tuesday:     4 days × 2 lb = 8 lb
Left Tuesday morning:  9 − 8 = 1 lb

That's tight but workable. The chef decides to wait, adds 1 case of the right panko to Tuesday's order, and puts a note on the board for the weekend: if it runs low, pick up panko at the store, and check the label for milk first.

Problem 3: lemons, short at the door

The invoice shows 1 case of lemons, billed at $52.00, but there are no lemons on the truck. The cook writes "1 cs lemons not on truck" on the invoice before signing and takes a photo.

The kitchen and bar have about 50 lemons and use about 40 on a Friday, so Friday is covered. The kitchen manager adds 1 case to Saturday's produce order and texts the broadline rep for a credit.

The invoice and the credits

Invoice:
  Chicken thighs:   2 × $124.00            = $248.00   (3rd case shown as out, $0.00)
  Seasoned crumb:   1 × $51.00             =  $51.00   (refused)
  Lemons:           1 × $52.00             =  $52.00   (not delivered)
  Everything else:                           $611.00
  Invoice total:                             $962.00

Credits requested:  $51.00 + $52.00        = $103.00
Net owed:           $962.00 − $103.00      = $859.00

Check against the PO:
  PO total:                                 $1,081.00
  Not received:     $124.00 + $46.00 + $52.00 = $222.00
  $1,081.00 − $222.00                       = $859.00

The two totals agree, so nothing else is off. The order stays open until both credits show up.

Monday: the next broadline order

On Monday morning the kitchen counts 4 bags of chicken thighs. With about 2 bags used Monday, it expects 2 bags on hand when Tuesday's truck arrives.

The Tuesday delivery has to last until Friday's truck:

Need until Friday:     Tue 2 + Wed 2 + Thu 3 = 7 bags
Plus cushion:          7 + 2 = 9 bags
Order:                 9 − 2 = 7 bags → 7 ÷ 4 = 1.75 → 2 cases (8 bags)
After delivery:        2 + 8 = 10 bags

If someone had added Friday's missing case on top, they'd order 3 cases:

2 + (3 × 4) = 14 bags against a target of 9 → 5 bags (50 lb) more raw chicken than planned

The short was already covered by the meat purveyor. Adding it back would have doubled up.

What line cooks and chefs should do when they spot a sub

Cooks are often the first to notice a sub, usually when a bag looks different or a recipe doesn't come out right. A few kitchen rules help:

• Don't open it and use it without asking. Tell whoever is in charge of ordering, or the chef, first.
• Read the label for allergens and anything that changes the recipe, like added salt, sugar, or seasoning.
• Check the pack and portion size. A different size can mean different yields, cook times, or portions.
• Keep the original product separate if you still have some, so the old and new don't get mixed on the shelf.
• Tell FOH if the sub changes how a dish tastes, looks, or what's in it.
• Write it down where the next shift will see it, like the prep list or the whiteboard by the walk in.

Common mistakes with shorts and substitutions

• Signing for what the invoice says arrived. Count first, then sign.
• Accepting a sub without reading the label. Allergens and ingredients can change between brands.
• Comparing subs by case price. Compare per pound, per each, or per usable unit.
• Letting the cook who finds the short handle it alone. Make it someone's job to decide on a backup plan.
• Requesting credits "later." Ask the same day, and log it.
• Adding shorts back onto the next order without counting. Recalculate instead.
• Raising pars after one bad delivery. Look for a pattern first.

FAQ

Should I refuse a substitution or accept it and ask for a credit?

If the sub doesn't meet your spec, adds an allergen, or you don't need it to get to the next truck, refuse it while the driver is there, and write it on the invoice. Once you sign for it and put it away, it is much harder to argue that you didn't accept it. If you need it to get through service and it's safe to use, accept it, note it on the invoice, and talk to the rep about the price.

Do distributors charge for out of stock items?

They shouldn't, and often the invoice lists an out as zero shipped. Mistakes do happen, especially with shorts at the door, where the invoice says something shipped and it didn't. Check every short line against the bill.

How do I get a credit for a shorted delivery?

Mark the shortage on the invoice before signing, take a photo, and request the credit through whatever process the vendor uses, such as a call, a text to the rep, or a request in their app. Write down who you asked and when, and keep the order open until the credit memo arrives.

What if my main vendor shorts the same item every week?

Bring your short log to the rep and ask what's going on: a supply problem, a discontinued item, or an allocation issue. Meanwhile, set up a backup vendor for that item and consider a little more safety stock. If it doesn't get better, it may be time to move the item.

Can I buy from a grocery store when my vendor shorts me?

Generally, licensed retail stores count as approved sources, but rules vary by jurisdiction. Food prepared in a private home doesn't count. Check with your local health department if you're unsure, and keep the receipt with your invoices so your purchase records and food cost stay complete.

Keeping backup vendors and sub rules in Proteus Kitchen

A paper order guide or spreadsheet works for all of this. If you'd rather keep it in one place, Proteus Kitchen stores your inventory items and vendors together, and each item and vendor has a notes field where you can write substitution rules, backup vendors, and how each vendor handles credits. When something is shorted, you can build an order for a backup vendor from the items you need. Proteus generates the order as text to copy into the vendor's portal, a text, or an email, and you mark it submitted once it's sent. Proteus doesn't place orders with vendors for you, and it doesn't connect to distributor systems to see stock or substitutions, so shorts and credits still get marked on the invoice and in your short log.

If your order guide or vendor list is already in a spreadsheet, Free Restaurant Setup covers getting it into Proteus.

Sources

• US Foods, Ordering on MOXē (out of stock items and substitutes in the US Foods app)
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Addition to the 2022 Food Code: Sesame Added as a Major Food Allergen
• Minnesota Rules 4626.0190, Package Integrity (Food Code 3-202.15)
• National Park Service, Using Non-Approved Foods and Produce Sources for Concessions Operations
• Virginia Department of Health, Approved Source Challenges Guidance

Next step: set up your short plan this week

1. Add a "subs OK / same spec only / no subs" note to the items on your order guide that matter most.
2. Write down a backup vendor for your top five items, with their cutoff and delivery days.
3. Ask each rep how they handle outs, subs, and credits, and write the answers down.
4. Start a short log, even if it's one page in the receiving binder.
5. After a month, look at it and decide which items or vendors need attention.