When you create a Shipment that doesn't include every product on a Sales Order, the Sales Order status changes to Backordered. The remaining quantity is set to backorder automatically, so you can create a Purchase Order or Assembly to fulfil the outstanding stock, then ship it to complete the order.
You can also use the Backorder Enquiry to track open Sales Orders, and add backordered quantities to your printed Sales Orders and Invoices.
🤓 Tip: Use the Backorder Enquiry to identify and manage open Sales Orders and keep your Stock on Hand accurate.
Dispatch and invoice available stock
You can ship and invoice the stock you have available now, then deal with the remaining quantity afterwards.
Create a Shipment for available stock
Create a Shipment for the stock that can be shipped now. This sets the Sales Order status to Backordered. For the full steps, see Manage Shipments.
Invoice the dispatched goods
You can create an Invoice for the goods you've dispatched directly from the shipment:
Open the Sales Order.
Go to the Shipments tab.
Click the action cog icon on the shipment line, then click Create Invoice.
You can also invoice the backordered stock by creating an Invoice from the Sales Order.
Fulfil the backordered stock
You can order or build the outstanding stock directly from the Sales Order, then ship it to complete the order.
To fulfil backordered stock, create a Purchase Order or Assembly from the Sales Order lines.
🤓 Tip: Make sure linked Assemblies have enough components before you continue. Only complete Assemblies when you're ready to ship, to avoid allocation conflicts.
To purchase or assemble stock for multiple Sales Orders at the same time, use the Reorder Report.
Manage Sales Orders in the Backorder Enquiry
The Backorder Enquiry report shows the progress of your Sales Orders. It compares the stock you have in your inventory, the stock allocated to open shipments, and the stock already shipped for each order.
Open the Backorder Enquiry
You can open the report from the main menu:
In the main menu, click Sales in the Reports section.
Click Backorder Enquiry.
By default, the report filters for all Sales Orders with a Backordered status. You can change the filter to show Sales Orders with any of these statuses:
Open.
Parked.
Placed.
Backordered.
A custom status.
Choose between the Sales Order and All tabs
The report has two tabs, which show the same stock position at different levels of detail:
Sales Order: Shows an overview for each order of the percentage of quantities that can be shipped, are on open shipments or have been dispatched.
All: Shows a breakdown for each product on each Sales Order of the quantities that can be shipped, are on open shipments and have already been shipped. It also shows the Next Delivery date if the product is on order with a Supplier.
Review quantities for each product
You can see what can be shipped, what is on a shipment and what has been shipped for each product on a Sales Order:
Open the Backorder Enquiry, then click the Sales Order tab.
Click the plus icon on the Sales Order's overview to see the quantity breakdown for each product.
If a product is on a Placed Purchase Order, the Next Delivery field shows the estimated delivery date from the Purchase Order.
Each order line has a progress bar for these details:
To Ship: How much of the ordered quantity is left to dispatch on the Sales Order.
Can Ship: How much of the ordered quantity is available in Stock on Hand (SOH).
On Shipment: How much of the ordered quantity has been added to a shipment but hasn't been dispatched.
Action multiple Sales Orders
You can complete orders or create shipments for several Sales Orders at once, if enough stock is available:
Select the checkboxes for the Sales Orders you want to action.
Hover over the action cog in the header, then click Complete Orders or Create Shipments.
Action a single Sales Order line
You can also action one Sales Order line at a time. Click the action cog on the Sales Order line, then select the action you need: create a Shipment, create a Purchase Order or complete the order.
Add backordered quantities to Sales Order and Invoice documents
You can show backordered quantities on your printed Sales Orders and Invoices by adding header columns to the line grid in your Doc Designer template.
Add these header columns to the SalesOrderLinesGrid for Sales Orders, or the InvoiceLinesGrid for Invoices:
Header column | Label on the document |
UnshippedQuantity | To Ship |
ShippedQty | Shipped |
UnCompleteInvoicedQuantity | To Invoice |
CompletedInvoiceQuantity | Invoiced |
To add the columns:
Click Settings, then click Doc Designer.
Open the Sales Order or Invoice template you want to change.
In the template layout, select the SalesOrderLinesGrid or InvoiceLinesGrid component.
On the right of the page, click the Component tab.
Select the Visible checkbox for each header you want to include.
The details now print on the Sales Order or Invoice.
Track shipping progress from the View Sales Orders page
You can see the shipping progress of open Sales Orders on the View Sales Orders page by adding the On Shipment and Shipped columns to the grid.
Open the View Sales Orders page.
In the Show Toolbar tab, click Hidden Columns.
Drag and drop the On Shipment and Shipped headers into the grid layout.
These columns show a percentage for each order: how much is on open shipments and how much has already been shipped.
To create new shipments or complete Sales Orders and progress them through the Sales process, use the action cogs in the header or on each Sales Order line.
Resolve stock allocation problems
If you can't ship or complete a Sales Order because of stock allocation, work through these checks:
Verify the Stock on Hand in the shipping warehouse and make sure there is enough free (unallocated) quantity for all order lines.
Check for other open or draft shipments, then complete or cancel them.
Review the stock allocations on other Sales Orders and adjust them as needed.
Complete any pending stock receipts or stock adjustments.
If stock is genuinely short, increase Stock on Hand by receiving stock or adjusting inventory. Once all order lines can be fulfilled, complete the Sales Order.