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Inventory · Reservations & backorders
On the shelf is not the same as free to sell.
Confirm a sales order and its stock is promised at that warehouse; whatever is not there yet is backordered and filled, oldest order first, as stock arrives. Until then the till, a transfer or anyone else’s check-out is told plainly that those units are taken.
Reserved on confirmation · Backorders filled oldest first · One rule at every exit · Manual holds with expiry · Web and mobile API
Roofing sheet, 3 mNairobi warehouse
On hand120
Reserved120
Backordered30
Free0
Till · walk-in sale5 × Roofing sheet, 3 m
Only 0 of Roofing sheet, 3 m here is free: 120 is reserved for customer orders.
Refused1 checkat the point stock leaves, shared by every path that releases it
Oldest firstarriving stock fills the backorder that has waited longest
Per warehousea promise of five from Nairobi; rotation still picks which five
Hourlymanual holds past their date are released and the stock re-offered
The number that matters
Selling the same sheet twice is a stock problem that looks like a sales problem.
A contractor confirms an order for 150 sheets on Monday. On Tuesday the counter sells 20 of them to a walk-in, because the shelf said 120 and nobody told the till about Monday. On Thursday the contractor’s lorry arrives to a short load and a phone call nobody wants to make.
A reservation is how the workspace remembers Monday. It keeps two numbers apart: what is physically on the shelf, and what is free to promise once confirmed orders and manual holds are taken off. Every screen that sells or moves stock reads the second one.
Physical
On hand
What is on the shelf at the warehouse right now, as receipts, sales and transfers have left it.
−
Promised
Reserved
Held for confirmed sales order lines, for an invoice checkout waiting on approval, or by hand for a customer or a job.
=
Sellable
Free
What a quote can promise, the till can sell and a transfer can move. Shown beside the stock on quote and order lines.
The life of a promise
Four states, and the event that moves stock between them.
Nobody has to remember to reserve. Confirming the order does it, the order’s own invoice draws on it, and cancelling gives it back.
Backordered
Wanted, not yet on the shelf
The part of a confirmed line there was not enough free stock for. It waits in a queue ordered by when the order was confirmed.
- Stock arrives (a receipt, a transfer in, any check-in): filled oldest first, as far as the free stock goes.
- A hold is released nearby: the freed units are offered to the queue the same way.
Reserved
Promised to this order
Set aside at the order’s warehouse on confirmation. Nobody else’s sale, transfer or check-out can take it.
- Invoice checked out from the order: that much moves onto the checkout.
- Order cancelled or the line released: the stock is free again.
On a checkout
Leaving, pending approval
The invoice’s checkout carries the promise with it, so approving can draw on stock that is reserved, because it is reserved for exactly this.
- Approved: the stock leaves and the promise is fulfilled.
- Rejected: it goes back to the order line it came from.
Closed
Fulfilled or released
Fulfilled when the stock has shipped; released when an order is cancelled, a hold is let go or its date passes.
- Reserve again on a live order whose line was released: it takes what is free and backorders the rest.
One item, one week
Roofing sheets at the Nairobi warehouse, event by event.
Two contractors, one walk-in, one delivery. Watch which of the four numbers each event actually moves.
| What happened | On hand | Reserved | Backordered | Free |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start Stock on the shelf, nothing promised. | 120 | 0 | 0 | 120 |
| Confirmed Kisumu Hardware confirms 150 on SO-2026-000318. 120 are free, so 120 are reserved and 30 backordered. | 120 | 120 | 30 | 0 |
| Refused A walk-in at the till asks for 5. Nothing is free, so the sale is refused with the reason. | 120 | 120 | 30 | 0 |
| Confirmed Eldoret Builders confirms 40 on SO-2026-000321. Nothing is free, so all 40 are backordered behind Kisumu. | 120 | 120 | 70 | 0 |
| Received A delivery of 80 is checked in. Kisumu’s 30 are filled first, then Eldoret’s 40. Ten are left free. | 200 | 190 | 0 | 10 |
| Checked out An invoice for 100 is raised from Kisumu’s order and checked out. Those 100 move onto the checkout; they stay promised. | 200 | 190 | 0 | 10 |
| Approved The checkout is approved and the sheets leave. Kisumu still has 50 reserved; Eldoret has 40. | 100 | 90 | 0 | 10 |
| Cancelled Eldoret cancels. Its 40 are released and are free to sell again. | 100 | 50 | 0 | 50 |
Note what the approved checkout did: on hand and reserved fell by the same 100, and free did not move. The order shipped against its own promise, not against anyone else’s stock.
Where the rule is enforced
Every way stock can leave passes the same gate.
The check is not on the sales order screen, where it would only protect the people who use it. It sits where stock is actually taken off the shelf, so none of these paths can forget it.
The tillA point-of-sale sale cannot take units promised to an order.
Invoice checkoutsAnother order’s invoice cannot ship your customer’s stock; its own invoice can.
Stock transfersPromised units cannot be moved to another branch out from under the order.
Manual check-outsAn internal issue or write-off meets the same rule as a sale.
Supplier returnsStock going back to a supplier cannot include units sold forward.
Assembly buildsA build cannot consume components a customer is waiting for.
A refusal names the numbers: how many are free here, and how many are reserved for customer orders. A warehouse locked for a stock count refuses the movement first, for its own reason. A count that finds fewer units than are promised is written off through a check-out, which meets this same rule, so a shortfall on promised stock surfaces as a decision rather than vanishing.
Quote, or order
Sales sees what is free before it promises anything.
On quote and order lines, the stock lookup shows what is free at the warehouse and how much is already reserved, and a line asking for more says how much will be backordered. Then the document type decides what happens.
Quote, invoiced directlyRefused when short
Roofing sheet, 3 m60
Available: 10 (190 reserved)
50 short — backordered if ordered.
An invoice ships now, so a quote that cannot be filled from free stock is refused with each shortfall named, and the message points you to a sales order instead.
Sales order, confirmedReserves and backorders
Roofing sheet, 3 m60
Reserved 10 · Backordered 50
An order is a promise to deliver, so it takes what is free now, queues the rest, and shows both per line. Partial invoices ship against the reservation as stock comes in.
Holding by hand
“Put six aside, I’ll collect on Friday.”
Not every promise starts as a sales order. A customer collecting later, materials set aside for a site, a display unit for an event: hold the stock by hand, against a customer if you like, with a note and an optional date.
Only free stock can be held, so a hold can never take units already promised to an order. Release it from the register when plans change. Holds past their date are released automatically every hour, and in both cases the freed units are offered to the oldest backorder waiting for them before they become simply free.
Hold stock by hand
For a customer collecting later, or materials set aside for a job.
Roofing sheet, 3 m
Nairobi
6
Wanjiru Construction
Fri 17:00
Collecting Friday
Not collected by Friday 17:00? Released within the hour and re-offered.
What you get
Promises that hold, and a queue that clears itself.
Reserve on confirmation
Each stock line on a confirmed sales order holds what is free at the order’s warehouse, automatically. No separate step to forget.
Backorders that fill themselves
Any stock arriving at a warehouse fills the waiting backorders for that item there, oldest order first, as far as free stock goes.
Ships against its own promise
The order’s invoice checkout carries the reservation; approval fulfils it, rejection hands it back to the line. Partial invoices ship part of it.
Free beside the stock
Quote and order lines, item pages and the mobile availability lookup show reserved and free, not only what is on the shelf.
Two registers
A reserved register and a backorder register, each showing item, warehouse, quantity, the order or note, the customer and since when.
Manual holds
Hold free stock for a customer or a job, with a note and an optional expiry, released by hand or automatically within the hour.
Release and reserve again
Release an order line or a hold from the register; a live order whose line lost its hold can reserve again, backordering whatever is short.
Its own permission
Anyone who can see inventory can see the registers; holding and releasing stock needs a separate permission you grant deliberately.
Web and mobile API
List reservations and backorders, hold and release from the mobile app, through the same rules as the web.
What AWRA OpsHub does today
- One check at the point stock leaves, shared by the till, invoice checkouts, transfers, manual check-outs, supplier returns and assembly builds.
- Reservation on confirmation: each stock line of a confirmed sales order holds what is free at the order’s warehouse and backorders the rest.
- Backorders filled oldest first whenever stock arrives at that warehouse, and again whenever a hold is released.
- An order’s invoice draws on its own promise: the checkout carries the reservation, approval fulfils it and rejection hands it back to the line.
- Cancelling an order releases everything it still holds.
- Manual holds for a customer or a job, from free stock only, with a note and an optional expiry checked every hour.
- Free-to-promise on quote and order lines, with the shortfall shown as what will be backordered.
- A short quote refused at direct invoicing, with each shortfall named and a sales order suggested instead.
- Reserved and backorder registers on web and the mobile API, with holding and releasing behind their own permission.
More we can add to your workspace
- Holds on a named batch or bin, for a customer promised a specific lot rather than any units from the warehouse.
- Allocation by priority, putting a key account or an earlier promised date ahead of the oldest-first queue.
- Expiry on order reservations, so a confirmed order that has gone quiet hands its stock back after a period you set.
- A notice when a backorder fills, to the salesperson and, if you choose, the customer.
- Available-to-promise dates drawn from open purchase orders, so a backorder carries an expected arrival as well as a quantity.
- Component holds when an assembly order is raised, rather than at completion.
- Backorder status on the customer portal, line by line.
- Filling from a second warehouse, offering a backorder stock that has arrived at another branch.
Where we point you to a specialist
- We will not let a sale quietly override a promise. A cashier who needs reserved stock asks someone with the permission to release it, and the release records who did it and when.
Everything in the middle column is scoped work on a rule that already runs at every exit. Tell us which promise your customers most need kept.
Around the promise
Where reserved stock comes from, and where it goes.
Reservations, answered
Frequently asked questions
When is stock reserved?
When a sales order is confirmed. Each stock line holds as much as is free at the order’s warehouse, and anything beyond that is recorded as backordered on the same line. A draft order holds nothing, and a quote holds nothing: a promise starts when the order is confirmed. You can also hold free stock by hand, for a customer collecting later or for a job.
What is the difference between on hand, reserved and free?
On hand is what is physically on the shelf at the warehouse. Reserved is what is promised: to confirmed order lines, to an invoice checkout waiting on approval, or by a manual hold. Free is on hand less reserved, and it is the number the till, transfers, other check-outs and new quotes work against. Quote and order lines show free and reserved together as you type.
How are backorders filled?
Automatically, whenever stock arrives at the warehouse: a goods receipt, a transfer in, or any other check-in. The waiting backorders for that item are filled in the order they were confirmed, oldest first, as far as the free stock goes. Releasing a hold or a reservation from the register, or a hold reaching its date, does the same with the units it frees, so stock goes to whoever has waited longest before it becomes simply free.
What happens at the till when stock is reserved?
The sale is refused with the numbers: how many of the item are free at that warehouse and how many are reserved for customer orders. The same rule applies to stock transfers, manual check-outs, supplier returns and assembly builds, because it is enforced where stock leaves the shelf rather than on any one screen. Only the order’s own invoice can ship its reserved stock.
Can I invoice a quote straight away if stock is short?
No, and the refusal says why. Invoicing a quote directly ships the goods now, so if any line asks for more than is free, each shortfall is named and you are pointed to a sales order instead. A confirmed order reserves what is free and backorders the rest, then partial invoices ship against it as stock arrives.
Are reservations held per bin or per batch?
Per warehouse. The promise is a quantity of an item from a warehouse, and your rotation policy still decides which physical units ship when the invoice is checked out, first-expiry or first-in as the item is set. Holding a specific batch or bin for a customer is something we can add for your workspace when a contract calls for it.
Do manual holds expire?
If you give them a date. A hold with a date is released automatically within the hour after it passes, and one without stays until someone releases it. Either way the freed units are offered first to any backorder waiting for that item. Order reservations are released when the order is cancelled, or by hand from the register.
Who can hold and release stock?
Anyone who can view inventory can see the reserved and backorder registers. Creating a manual hold or releasing a reservation needs its own permission, granted to the roles you choose, and a release made by hand records who did it and when. The same rules apply through the mobile API.
Keep the promise
Sell only what is free. Deliver what you promised.
Confirm the order and the stock is set aside. When the delivery lands, the longest wait is filled first. Nobody has to remember a thing.