Stock Allocations
A Stock Allocation is the document you use to set aside, item by item, the physical stock you're going to use to fulfill a specific Sales Order. It doesn't move inventory (it doesn't deduct anything from your warehouse), but it does reduce the Availability that every other order sees, so two different customers never get counted against the same merchandise.
This transaction is the manual way of reserving stock. By default, AdmCloud reserves stock automatically as soon as you save each Sales Order, with nothing extra for you to do; it's only once your company enables the "Stock Allocation Transaction" mode in Preferences that the automatic reservation stops, and you must generate it from this screen before you can bill.
What is it and what is it for?
When you sell an item with limited stock, you need a way to say "this quantity already has an owner" before it's dispatched or invoiced. That's exactly what a Stock Allocation does: it takes pending lines from one or more Sales Orders, and for each one records how much quantity, from which location (and, if applicable, from which lot or customs declaration) is set aside for that order.
The allocation doesn't deduct physical stock or generate an accounting entry: its only effect is to subtract that quantity from the item's Availability, so the rest of your operation (other orders, quotes, the reorder level) knows that merchandise is already committed. The natural next step for an allocation is to turn into a Draft Invoice and, from there, into a final invoice.
The two ways to reserve stock
AdmCloud reserves stock in one of two ways, depending on the Stock Allocation Type option your company has selected under Preferences:
| Mode | How it works |
|---|---|
| Sales Order (default) | AdmCloud reserves stock automatically, globally per item, as soon as you save the Sales Order or the Production Order. No separate Stock Allocation documents exist; you don't need this screen at all. |
| Stock Allocation Transaction | The Sales Order no longer reserves anything on its own. You must manually create the Stock Allocation from this area, choosing how much to reserve from each pending line, from which location and, if applicable, from which lot or customs declaration. |
Switching to this manual mode also requires your company to be configured so that invoices always affect stock; if it isn't, the option can't be enabled.
Screens in this area
| Screen | What it does |
|---|---|
| List | Every allocation created, with filters by date, subsidiary, customer and location. From here you also reach the Detailed report, the Stock Availability report and the Stock Allocations to Bill button, which turns them into Draft Invoices. |
| New (Create) | Not a blank form — a selection screen. You filter by location, subsidiary, date, customer, sales order or item, check the pending lines you want to reserve and save; AdmCloud creates one allocation per Sales Order involved. |
| Edit | Lets you adjust the reserved quantity and, if applicable, the lot or customs declaration on each line, plus notes, attached files and custom fields. You can't edit an allocation that already generated a Draft Invoice. |
| Details | A read-only view with the item detail, linked transactions (the Draft Invoice and, once billed, the final Invoice) and attached files. |
| A printable or PDF format with the reserved items, their lot (with expiration date if applicable) and serial number when it applies. |
How to create an allocation, step by step
- Open New and pick the Location you're reserving from (required); optionally narrow the search by Subsidiary, date range, Customer, Sales Order or Item.
- Click Refresh: AdmCloud brings back, grouped by item, every Sales Order line that still has a quantity pending allocation (ordered minus already dispatched and minus already allocated on other allocations).
- For each line you'll see how much was ordered, how much is already allocated, how much is still pending, and the item's current stock and availability at that location. Check the boxes for the lines you want to reserve (or use "Select all").
- Enter the quantity to allocate. If the item tracks lots, add one or more lots with their quantity in the nested table; if it tracks a customs declaration, do the same with the matching declaration. If the item uses neither, just type the quantity.
- Click Save. AdmCloud validates every line and creates one Stock Allocation per Sales Order that had selected lines (if you checked lines from three different orders, three allocations are created).
From allocation to invoice
Once the merchandise is reserved, the natural next step is to bill it. From the Stock Allocations List, use the Stock Allocations to Bill button: that screen shows you the allocations ready to be billed and generates, from the ones you select, a Draft Invoice per customer and location. The Draft Invoice is later turned into the final invoice (a Credit or Cash Invoice) in the Sales module.
While an allocation is linked to a Draft Invoice it stays read-only: you can't edit it, because the Draft Invoice already depends on its quantities and lots.
Key fields
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Number | Automatic allocation numbering; can't be repeated or changed once created. |
| Date | The allocation's date; must fall within an open Inventory period. |
| Subsidiary | Only visible if your plan has subsidiaries enabled; inherited from the source Sales Order. |
| Location | The warehouse being reserved from; required, and read-only once created. |
| Sales Order (source document) | The order the allocation belongs to; required, must not be void, and must be a valid Sales Order. |
| Items (lines) | Item, attributes (if applicable), sales unit of measure and the reserved quantity, editable on the Edit screen. |
| Lot | Required on items that track lots; you can split the same line across several lots. Requires the Lots module. |
| Customs Declaration | Required on items that require it, to reserve merchandise from a specific import entry. Requires the Customs Declarations module. |
| Reference / Notes | Free text to identify or add context to the allocation. |
Validations when saving
- Must be linked to an existing Sales Order that is authorized and not void.
- You must reserve at least one item; a maximum of 500 lines per allocation.
- The location must belong to the same subsidiary as the allocation.
- The Inventory period matching the document's date must be open.
- The quantity to allocate cannot exceed what's pending on the Sales Order for that line (ordered minus dispatched and minus already allocated on other allocations).
- The quantity to allocate cannot exceed the item's availability at that location (stock minus what's already reserved globally).
- If the item tracks lots, the total reserved per lot can't exceed what's available in that lot as of the document date.
- If the item tracks a customs declaration, the total reserved per declaration can't exceed what's available in that declaration as of the document date.
- There's nothing to allocate if the Sales Order no longer has a pending quantity for that line.
- You cannot edit an allocation already linked to a Draft Invoice.
Availability, permissions and conditions
- This feature requires the Advanced Inventory module (Enterprise edition) and AdmCloud must have the "Stock Allocation Transaction" feature enabled for your company.
- In addition, under Preferences, your company must have the Stock Allocation Type set to "Stock Allocation Transaction" (instead of the automatic per-Sales-Order mode); that option, in turn, requires your company to be configured so invoices always affect stock.
- Access is controlled by the "Stock Allocations" permission for your user group, with separate levels for browsing, adding, editing, deleting and voiding.
- The Subsidiary column only appears if your plan has subsidiaries enabled.
- Attributes (such as color or size) only show up if your company has that Advanced Inventory feature active.
- Reserving by lot requires the Lots module; reserving by customs declaration requires the Customs Declarations module.
- Customizing the allocation form requires the additional Custom Forms permission and the matching feature enabled.
Tips and common mistakes
Don't see this screen in your menu? That's normal: most companies use the automatic mode (allocation by Sales Order) and never need this transaction. You only need it if your company switched to the manual mode in Preferences.
Can't save the quantity you're trying to allocate? Check two things: how much is actually still pending on the Sales Order (you can't reserve more than that), and how much real availability the item has at that location, lot or customs declaration — the total stock can be higher because other allocations already committed part of it.
Already billed an allocation and need to fix it? You won't be able to edit it while it's linked to a Draft Invoice; fix the Draft Invoice first, or if it's already become a final invoice, use that invoice's normal adjustment tools.