Sell consigned stock
Commitment explained
Why can't I sell this serial? How Bitta Consignment commits vendor stock to open sales lines, and what on hand, committed and available mean for each sale.
updated: applies-to: 1.0.0.0
Business Central cannot reserve a drop-shipment line, and a consignment sale is a drop shipment. So instead of reservations, Bitta Consignment keeps a commitment: every open consignment sales line takes its share of the vendor's stock, and the next line can only take what is left. This page explains the numbers you see and every rule that can stop a sale.
On hand, committed and available
| Figure | Meaning |
|---|---|
| On hand | The vendor's open stock in the Consignment Ledger for the item, variant, location (and bin, serial or lot where shown) |
| Committed | The outstanding quantity of open consignment sales order lines for that stock, plus quote lines when Quotes Commit Stock is on |
| Available | On hand minus committed: what you can still sell |
Commitment is calculated each time from the sales lines and their item tracking. There is no commitment table, so nothing can go out of date. Native reservations of your own stock are not changed in any way.
Consignment Stock FactBox
On sales quotes and orders, the Consignment Stock FactBox shows, for the selected line:
- Consignment Vendor: the vendor whose stock the line sells;
- Vendor On Hand, Committed to Other Lines and Vendor Available: the vendor's figures, where available is what this line can still take;
- All Vendors On Hand and All Vendors Available: the totals for every consignment vendor, to see whether another vendor could cover the line.
The rules
| Rule | When it is checked | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Quantity. The outstanding quantity of the vendor's open consignment lines for an item, variant and location cannot exceed the vendor's stock there | When you enter or change the quantity, unit of measure, location, variant, vendor or bin; on release; on posting | Depends on Availability Check, see below. Posting always stops. |
| Serial. A consignment serial number can be on one open sales line only | When the serial is assigned | An error |
| Lot. The quantity of a lot on open consignment lines cannot exceed what the vendor holds of that lot at the location | When the lot is assigned | An error |
| Existence. A serial or lot must be open in the vendor's consignment stock at the location | When it is assigned, also on quotes | An error that tells you to use Select Consignment Stock |
| Vendor. A consignment line must name its vendor | On release and posting | An error |
How strict the quantity check is
Availability Check in Consignment Setup decides what happens while a line is entered and released:
| Value | Effect |
|---|---|
| Error | The line cannot ask for more than the vendor's available stock. This is the default. |
| Warning | A notification tells you the line asks for more than is available. You can continue. |
| None | Nothing is checked while you enter the line. |
Whatever the setting, posting a shipment always stops when the vendor does not have the stock, or when an assigned serial or lot is not in stock.
NOTE
With Warning or None, two orders can promise the same stock. Posting then checks only the quantity being shipped, so the order that posts first gets the stock and the second one stops at posting.
Quotes
By default, consignment lines on quotes do not commit stock: a quote is not a promise. Switch on Quotes Commit Stock in Consignment Setup if your quotes should hold stock until they expire or become orders. With it off, quote lines are not checked for quantity, but a serial or lot you assign on a quote must still exist in the vendor's stock.
Why can't I sell this serial?
Work through these questions:
- Is the serial on another open line? A serial can be on one open consignment sales line only. Open the other order, or ask whoever owns it, and remove the serial there.
- Is it in this vendor's stock at this location? Check Consignment Vendor No. and Location Code on the line. Open Consignment Stock to see where the serial is.
- Is it still open? A serial that was sold, returned to the vendor, counted as missing or bought out is no longer open consignment stock. Check Consignment Ledger Entries of the item.
- Is a bin set? If the line has a Consignment Bin Code, only stock in that bin can be used. Clear the bin or choose the right one.
- Is the line already on a purchase order? Then only stock of that vendor can be chosen. Choose Remove Consignment Purchase Lines first to change the vendor.
Consignment Stock page
Search for Consignment Stock (the page, not the report), or choose Consignment Stock on the item card or the vendor card. It lists the vendors' stock with Vendor No., Item No., Variant Code, Serial No., Lot No. and Package No. first, then On Hand, Committed and Available, then the unit of measure, location, bin and expiration date. Description is hidden; show it with Personalize.
- Set the Vendor Filter, Item Filter and Location Filter in Options, then choose Refresh.
- Choose a value in On Hand to see the entries behind it, or choose Consignment Ledger Entries (Ctrl+F7).
- Show the Vendor Stock at Cost (LCY) column with Personalize to see the informational value of the stock.
The item card also shows Consignment Qty. (vendor stock on hand, not part of your inventory) and Consignment Qty. on Sales Orders (what consignment sales order lines still have to ship) in its Consignment group.
Limits
- For untracked items, committed stock per bin counts only lines that name that bin. Lines without a bin count against the vendor's total at the location.
- In the Item Tracking Lines lookup on a consignment line, availability is the native figure, so demand from your own sales lines for the same lot lowers what is shown.
What's next
Pay the vendor for what you sold: Settle with vendors.