A packing slip helps the sender, warehouse, carrier, and recipient confirm what is included in a shipment. These two free Excel-compatible templates provide a customer-facing packing slip and a warehouse-oriented version with picking, packing, carrier, tracking, package-count, and item-condition fields.
The templates are useful for small businesses, ecommerce sellers, warehouses, distributors, repair operations, and organizations that ship physical goods. They can be edited to match your order numbers, item codes, shipping process, and branding.
What Is a Packing Slip Template?
A packing slip is a shipment document that lists the goods packed into an order. It commonly identifies the customer, shipping destination, order or shipment number, item descriptions, quantities, and notes. It is usually placed inside or associated with the package.
A useful packing slip template should make information easier to capture, review, and act on. It should not force the user to interpret vague headings or rebuild the document every time it is needed. The templates on this page are editable so headings, fields, instructions, and sections can be adapted to the real process.
Why Use a Ready-Made Packing Slip Template?
A consistent packing slip can help reduce shipping errors and makes it easier for recipients to compare what they received with what was expected. In a warehouse, it can also support picking and packing checks before the parcel leaves the facility.
Using a consistent structure also helps different people record the same type of information in a comparable way. That improves handovers, reduces omissions, and makes completed forms easier to review later.
What These Templates Include
- packing slip or shipment number
- order number and ship date
- customer and shipping address
- SKU and item description
- ordered and shipped quantities
- backorder information
- carrier and tracking number
- picker and packer details
- package count and condition notes
Add barcode references, lot or serial numbers, warehouse location, weight, dimensions, or return instructions if they are part of your shipping process.
Download the Free Packing Slip Templates
Both files are hosted on this website and are editable. The preview shown for each template corresponds to the download button directly beneath it.
1. Packing Slip Template
Use this straightforward spreadsheet for customer, order, shipping, SKU, quantity, backorder, and note information.
2. Warehouse Packing Slip Template
Use this version when warehouse operations also need picker, packer, carrier, tracking, package-count, and condition fields.
How to Use the Templates Effectively
Create the packing slip from confirmed order information rather than from memory. Check SKU, description, and quantity as items are picked. If an item is backordered or substituted, record that clearly. Before sealing the shipment, compare the packed contents against the document and confirm the destination details.
Save a clean master copy before entering real information. Create a working copy for each meeting, patient, member, shipment, tenant, or other use case so previous records are not accidentally overwritten. Complete the most important identification and date fields first, then work through the remaining sections in order. Where a field does not apply, remove it or mark it clearly rather than leaving an unexplained blank.
If several people will complete or review the document, establish who is responsible for each stage. Consistent review is especially important when dates, approvals, contact information, amounts, or signatures are involved. Before sharing or printing, check that sample text has been removed and that names, dates, totals, and contact details are accurate.
Best Practices for Clear Documentation
Use unique order or shipment references that can be matched to your sales or inventory system. Keep pricing off the packing slip if your process uses a separate invoice and the recipient does not need price information. If products require traceability, add serial, lot, batch, or expiry information where appropriate.
Use short, precise wording and consistent date formats. Avoid unnecessary personal information. Where a document contains sensitive customer, health, employee, financial, or identity information, collect only what is needed and restrict access appropriately. If the completed document is part of an official business or regulated process, follow the record-retention and privacy requirements that apply to your organization.
Keep the layout readable. Important approval fields, totals, dates, and signatures should be easy to locate. If a document is printed, test the page layout so fields do not disappear beyond the printable area or split in a confusing way.
How to Customize the Files
Add your business name, return address, customer-service contact, branding, return instructions, warehouse location, or barcode data. You can also add calculated total quantities after saving the CSV as an Excel workbook.
Word-compatible RTF files can be opened in Microsoft Word and edited with your own branding, instructions, tables, and additional sections. Spreadsheet files can be opened in Excel and expanded with columns, filters, formulas, or status fields. Keep a master version after customization so future copies remain consistent.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Avoid confusing a packing slip with an invoice. Do not list an item as shipped if it remains on backorder. Check quantities carefully and avoid reusing a shipment number that could make later tracking ambiguous.
Do not assume a generic downloadable form automatically satisfies every legal, medical, employment, shipping, tax, tenancy, or regulatory requirement. Templates provide a practical starting structure; the final document should be checked against the requirements that apply to the actual situation and jurisdiction.
Who Can Use These Templates?
Ecommerce businesses, wholesalers, warehouses, small manufacturers, repair centers, parts suppliers, and any organization shipping goods can adapt these files.
Businesses may use a packing slip alongside an invoice, purchase order, shipping label, and bill of lading depending on the transaction and transport method.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a packing slip need prices?
Not necessarily. Many packing slips focus on shipment contents while pricing appears on the invoice.
What is the difference between ordered and shipped quantity?
Ordered quantity is what the customer requested; shipped quantity is what was actually included in the package.
Can I add tracking numbers?
Yes. The warehouse version already includes carrier and tracking fields.
Can these files be used for partial shipments?
Yes. Record shipped and backordered quantities clearly and use a shipment reference for each dispatch.
Can I add a return section?
Yes. Add return instructions, authorization information, or customer-service contact details if useful.
