Receive Goods. Most firms encounter a time lag (sometimes a significant one) between placing the order and receiving the inventory. During this time, the copies of the PO reside in temporary files in various departments. Note that no economic event has yet occurred. At this point, the firm has received no inventories and incurred no financial obligation. Hence, there is no basis for making a formal entry into any accounting record. However, firms often make memo entries of pending inventory receipts and associated obligations.