Documentation

Stock Reservations Guide

Reserve and allocate stock for orders, production, or quality control.

Watch: Stock Reservations Guide (6 min)

What are Stock Reservations?

Stock reservations (also called allocations or holds) temporarily set aside inventory for a specific purpose. Reserved stock is still physically in the warehouse but is "promised" to a particular order, production run, or quality check, preventing it from being sold or used elsewhere.

Stock reservations list showing all reservations
View and manage all stock reservations
Available vs On-Hand

On-Hand Quantity: Total physical stock in warehouse
Reserved/Allocated: Stock promised to specific purposes
Available Quantity: On-Hand minus Reserved (what can still be sold)

Reservation Types

Different types of stock reservations
Different reservation types for various purposes
Type Description Common Use Cases
Order Reserved for customer order fulfillment Sales orders, delivery orders, pre-orders
Production Reserved for manufacturing/production Recipe ingredients, assembly components
Quality Control Held for inspection or testing New batches pending QC, returns inspection
Transfer Reserved for inter-warehouse transfer Pending warehouse moves
Manual General purpose hold Customer pickup, special events

Reservation Lifecycle

Reservations go through the following states:

Reservation lifecycle flow
Reservation status progression
  1. Active
    Status: Active
    Stock is reserved and cannot be used for other purposes. Available quantity is reduced.
  2. Consumed (Success Path)
    Status: Consumed
    The reserved stock was used for its intended purpose (order shipped, production completed).
  3. Released (Cancel Path)
    Status: Released
    The reservation was manually released, making stock available again.
  4. Expired (Timeout Path)
    Status: Expired
    The reservation exceeded its expiry time and was automatically released.

Creating a Reservation

Animated demo of creating a stock reservation
Creating a new stock reservation
  1. Navigate to Stock Reservations
    Go to Inventory > Stock Reservations from the navigation menu.
  2. Click "Create Reservation"
    Open the new reservation form.
  3. Select Product
    Choose the product or product variant to reserve.
  4. Select Warehouse
    Choose the warehouse where stock will be reserved.
  5. Enter Quantity
    Specify the quantity to reserve. Cannot exceed available quantity.
  6. Select Reservation Type
    Choose the purpose: Order, Production, QC, Transfer, or Manual.
  7. Link to Order (Optional)
    For order reservations, enter the related order number.
  8. Set Expiry (Optional)
    Set when the reservation should auto-expire if not consumed. Default is 24 hours.
  9. Add Reason/Notes
    Document why the reservation is being made.
  10. Save
    The reservation is created and stock is immediately allocated.
Immediate Effect

Creating a reservation immediately reduces available quantity. Other orders or reservations will see the reduced availability.

Releasing a Reservation

Release a reservation to make the stock available again:

Animated demo of releasing a reservation
Releasing a reservation to free up stock
  1. Find the Reservation
    Locate the active reservation in the list or by searching.
  2. Click "Release"
    Open the release form.
  3. Enter Release Reason
    Document why the reservation is being released (e.g., "Order cancelled").
  4. Confirm Release
    Click confirm. Stock becomes available immediately.

Reservation Status Reference

Status Badge Description Actions
Active Active Stock is reserved and allocated Release, Consume
Partially Consumed Partial Some quantity consumed, remainder still reserved Release, Consume more
Consumed Consumed All reserved stock was used View only
Released Released Manually released, stock is available View only
Expired Expired Auto-released due to expiry View only
Cancelled Cancelled Reservation was cancelled View only

Troubleshooting

Cannot Reserve - Insufficient Stock

  • Check available quantity (not just on-hand)
  • Other reservations may be holding stock
  • Pending receipts haven't been processed yet
  • Check other warehouses for availability

Order Says No Stock But I See Inventory

  • Stock may be reserved for other orders
  • Check the "Available" quantity, not "On-Hand"
  • Review active reservations for that product
  • Release or consume other reservations if no longer needed

Next Steps

Stock Movements

See how consumed reservations create stock movements.

Settings

Configure default expiry hours and auto-release settings.