How supplies are reserved and used on an order

Supplies show as Needed as soon as an order is saved, are reserved (Allocated) the first time the order reaches Verified or In Progress, come out of stock (Used) when they are checked out, and anything still reserved is released at Shipped. Moving an order back a status never puts supplies back. This page explains each column on the order's Resource Allocation tab, what each status does to your stock, and how to correct the numbers by hand.

Applies to: catalog and itemized orders on every shop that tracks supplies. Seeing the tab needs the Resource Allocation permission, plus View/Edit All Orders for orders you didn't enter. Project orders don't work out Needed; their supplies are listed by hand on the Purchasing tab: Track supplies on a project.

In this article

• The Resource Allocation tab
• Bid and Ordered: Needed is worked out
• Verified or In Progress: supplies are reserved, once
• In Progress: checking out, by hand or automatically
• Shipped: leftovers are released
• Moving an order back
• Change the numbers by hand
• Worked example
• Things to know

The Resource Allocation tab

The tab inside an order lists the totals for each supply set up on the products and needed for the order, one row per location and supply. If you've set up Hinges as a part and connected it to your inventory, the tab tells you how many hinges are required for this order. Each row shows:

• On hand: what that location holds right now.
• Needed: what the products call for, from the part formulas and the options the customer picked, times the line quantities (Link supplies to products).
• Available: on hand minus everything reserved on every order that isn't void. It can go negative, which means jobs have spoken for more than is on the shelf.
• Allocated: what is reserved for this job.
• Used: what has been checked out of stock for this job.

Bid and Ordered: Needed is worked out

When a bid is saved, the inventory it calls for is calculated and shown in the Needed column. Compare it with Available to see whether you can cover the job from stock. Needed is rebuilt on every save of a catalog or itemized order (unless the order is locked by a customer payment).

Converting the bid to Ordered changes nothing in stock: at Ordered only Needed exists. Nothing is reserved yet.

Verified or In Progress: supplies are reserved, once

The first time the order reaches Verified or In Progress, the Needed amounts are copied into Allocated, meaning that amount of that supply is reserved for this job. Available drops on every other order, while on hand doesn't change: nothing has left the shelf.

Allocation happens once. If the order changes after that, Needed is rebuilt but Allocated is not, so the two drift apart. Fix it by typing the right number in Allocated (see below). Moving the order back and forward again does not reserve again.

In Progress: checking out, by hand or automatically

Supplies move from Allocated to Used when they are checked out of stock, which is what lowers on hand. Whether that happens on its own at In Progress depends on Auto-Checkout Supplies (Settings > E-commerce > Order Settings):

• Disabled: supplies stay Allocated until someone checks them out, from the order's tab or the Check-In / Check-Out form (Check supplies in and out).
• Global: every reserved supply is checked out when the order enters In Progress.
• Per Supply: only supplies with their own Auto Checkout box ticked are checked out.

If the location holds less than needed, auto-checkout takes what is there and shows a message. Moving an order into production with auto-checkout on also skips hand edits made to the tab in the same save, so edit and save first, then change the status.

Shipped: leftovers are released

At Shipped, anything still Allocated and not Used is let go. It isn't added back to stock, because it was never taken out; it just stops being reserved, so Available on other orders goes up. Used stays as it is.

Moving an order back

Moving an order back a status does not automatically restore the supply to inventory, and nothing is undone: used stays used, released stays released, and reaching Verified again does not reserve again. To give stock back, lower the Used number on the order's tab or check the supply in from the order.

Change the numbers by hand

If you did not use the full amount, or used more than the stated amount, open the order's Resource Allocation tab and type the actual figures:

• Allocated: typing a new number sets the reservation. No stock moves.
• Used: raising it checks the difference out of stock; lowering it checks the difference back in and returns it to Allocated, so it is reserved for this order again.
• Add Row adds a supply the products didn't call for. Shipped orders can't add rows, and void orders are read-only.

Deleting a row that had a Used amount removes the record without returning anything to stock; lower Used first if the material went back on the shelf.

Worked example

A catalog order has one line, quantity 5, of a product whose part uses 2 hinges per item. The hinge location holds 20, and Auto-Checkout Supplies is Global.

With Auto-Checkout Supplies Disabled, In Progress keeps Allocated at 10 and on hand at 20 until someone checks the hinges out. If the quantity changes to 6 after Verified, Needed becomes 12 but Allocated stays 10 until you type 12.

Things to know

• Lines with a manual price edit are skipped when supplies are worked out, so a hand-priced line adds nothing to Needed or Allocated.
• Allocated is set once and doesn't follow later order changes; compare it with Needed before production.
• The Resource Allocation report (Reports > Production) shows what orders need, not what was used; hand edits on an order's tab don't show there.
• Itemized orders use the supply rows typed on the order (Itemized orders).
• Numbers look wrong? See My supply counts look wrong.

Related articles

• How to move an order's status
• Order status and pricing
• Check supplies in and out, move them, and count stock
• My supply counts or Need to Purchase look wrong
• Itemized orders