Allocate stock to orders

How to

Allocate stock manually

Use this to allocate stock to sales orders. You can allocate stock to multiple sales orders and choose the criteria for selecting the orders to allocate, such as by order number, order priority, promised date, or stock item.

If you haven't chosen to Allocate stock on order entry in the SOP settings (in the Sage 200 desktop), then use Allocate Stock to make your allocations for orders.

If you have chosen to Allocate stock on order entry then stock will be allocated when you enter orders, but you might still use Allocate Stock to complete allocations for some orders that couldn't be fully allocated on order entry.

Open: Sales Order Processing > Order Processing > Allocate Stock

Select the criteria you want to use to make the stock allocations, then select Display Items.

Note: For most options, you can also use Ignore items due after this promised date to focus on orders with the oldest promised dates.
- Select Order number to allocate stock to orders by the lowest (earliest) order number first.
  
  You can select All orders or a Range of order numbers.
- Select Order priority to allocate stock to orders with the highest order priority first. The highest order priority is A and the lowest is Z. If two orders for the same item have the same order priority, the orders are allocated by order date.
  
  You can select All priorities or a Range of order priorities.
- Select Promised date to allocate stock to order items with the oldest promised date first.
  
  You can select All dates or a Range of promised dates.
- Select Single customer to allocate stock to orders for a specific customer.
- Select Single stock item to allocate a specific stock item, for all orders. The orders are allocated by order number.
  
  Tip: You can also select Find item to search for a stock item using search categories (if you have set these up). See Find stock items using search categories.
- Select Single product group to allocate all stock items in a specific product group, for all orders. The orders are allocated by order number.
Select the orders that you want to allocate stock to, then select Confirm Allocation.

This doesn't apply if only one order meets your criteria.

Note: Sales orders that are on hold are not displayed. You must take the sales order off hold before you can allocate stock.
A summary of the stock allocations are displayed, according to the allocation sequence that you selected.
- To view more details about an allocation, select the > arrow icon in the Details column.
- To view related details about an item, you can select the Order number, customer Code, or stock Item code.
- To amend any of these allocations, select the lines and select Amend Allocations.

Amend stock allocations

Use Amend Allocations to set or change the individual stock item quantities allocated to orders.

Note: You can only amend allocation quantities for items that are fulfilled from stock. You can't amend allocations for items fulfilled from supplier via stock (back-to-back orders) or items fulfilled from supplier direct to customer.

Open: Sales Order Processing > Order Processing > Amend Stock Allocations

Select the criteria you want to use to make the stock allocations, then select Display Items.

Note: For most options, you can also use Ignore items due after this promised date to focus on orders with the oldest promised dates.
- Select All orders to show all orders.
- Select Range of order numbers to show a group of orders by order number.
- Select Range of order dates to show a group of orders by their document date.
- Select Single customer to show orders for a specific customer.
- Select Single stock item to show orders containing a specific stock item.
  
  Tip: You can also select Find item to search for a stock item using search categories (if you have set these up). See Find stock items using search categories.
- Select Single product group to show orders for stock items in a specific product group.
Tip: After you select Display Items, you can come back to change the selected orders by selecting Change Selection.
Select the orders that you want to amend allocations for, then select OK.

This doesn't apply if only one order meets your criteria.

Note: Sales orders that are on hold are not displayed. You must take the sales order off hold before you can amend its allocations.
From the list of stock allocations, select an item and then select Amend Allocation.
- Change the Quantity allocated for the allocation lines.
  
  To remove an allocation completely, set the quantity to 0 (zero).
- Only part allocated order lines are displayed by default. If you want to amend order lines that are fully allocated, select Include fully allocated order lines to display these lines.
- Batch or serial numbered items only:
  
  If Sage 200 is set to assign batch and serial numbers on allocation (not despatch), you can amend the selected batch or serial numbers.
  1. Select Amend Batch Number or Amend Serial Number.
  2. To amend the allocation, select the box in the Batch no or Serial no column.
  3. Batch items only: Enter the Quantity to allocate in the item's stock unit.
    
    Note: You cannot amend a stock allocation here for batch numbered items that are set to A sale may only be from a single batch. To amend the allocation quantity for these items, you must first amend the item quantity in the sales order.
  4. When dealing with batch or serial numbered items:
    - Use Auto Select to select items automatically to fulfil the required quantity.
    - Select an item from the list, then select Show Details to view details about the item.
      
      View Receipts for details of the delivery receipt, such as the supplier name and GRN.
    - Use Refresh to update the allocation and availability of items.
  5. Select Save to continue with the allocation.
    
    Note: To save changes, the Quantity selected must be less than or equal the Quantity required.
- You can view more details about an allocation line:
  - To view order line details, Select the > arrow icon in the Details column.
  - To view related details about an item, you can select the Order number or customer Code.
Select Close when you have finished amending allocations.

Check which orders require allocation

Use the Sales Order List to see when stock can be allocated to an order, or has been allocated to an order.

Open: Sales Order Processing > Sales Order List

The Ready for allocation column shows Yes where some items in the order have not yet been allocated.
The Allocated column shows:
- Part: Only some of the items are allocated, but some items still need to be allocated. The items have not yet been despatched.
  
  If you have chosen Allocate stock on order entry in SOP settings (in the Sage 200 desktop), then it is useful to check for Part allocation to see when items were out of stock when the order was entered.
- Full: All items in the order have been allocated. The items have not yet been despatched.
Once an item is partly or fully allocated, it will also be set as Ready for despatch. The Allocated status returns to being blank once all the allocated items have been despatched.
If you can't see the Ready for Allocation and Allocated columns in the Sales Order List, you can display them:
1. Select the menu in the column header, then select the columns button.
2. Select Document > Ready for Allocation and Document > Allocated.

See Check the progress of sales orders.

Useful info

What is allocation?

Allocation is the process of reserving free stock items required for your sales orders. When stock is allocated to a sales order, the quantity of free stock is reduced, but the overall quantity of stock in the warehouses is not reduced until the order is despatched. This means that stock will continue to be reported on a stocktake or stock valuation report, even although the stock is allocated to a sales order.

If you need to free up stock that is already allocated, you can amend individual allocations to reduce or remove the quantity allocated, so you can then allocate the stock to other orders.

When stock is allocated, the quantities available at the warehouse locations are updated. All stock allocations are recorded in the stock item history, if Keep Movement History is selected for the stock item's product group settings.

How stock is allocated

You can choose to let Sage 200 make stock allocations automatically when you enter an order (for items fulfilled from stock).

You can manually make stock allocations based on criteria that you choose, and also amend allocations for individual orders.

The stock item's fulfilment method affects when it is allocated to an order.

Items fulfilled from stock (the default method in Sage 200) can be allocated on order entry, or you can manually allocate stock.
- Stock is automatically allocated when you enter the order, if you have selected Allocate stock on order entry in SOP settings.
  
  For orders that couldn't be fully allocated at the time they were entered, you can use Allocate Stock to manually complete the allocations.
- Use Allocate Stock to make stock allocations manually. You can allocate stock based on criteria that you choose, such as by order number, order priority, or the promised date.
- Use Amend Allocations to set or change the individual stock item quantities allocated to your orders. You might use this to reduce or remove allocations, so stock can be allocated to different orders.
Items fulfilled from supplier via stock are allocated when you confirm receipt of goods for the purchase order that's linked to the sales order.
Items fulfilled from supplier direct to customer are not allocated because the stock will be delivered directly to the customer.

Troubleshooting

Items could not be accessed as they are in use by another user

You cannot allocate items that are in use by another user, for example if someone else is currently editing the order for the items.

If you want to try again to process these items, the other user must first stop working with the items. Once they've finished working with the items, select Retry.
If only some of the items were in use by another user, then you can choose not to process those items, and only process the items that aren't in use. To do this, select Continue Without These Orders.
To stop without processing any items, select Cancel.

If the items are reported as being in use by another user, but that user isn't currently working with them, the user may have a disconnected login that is locking the items. To fix this, see Clear disconnected logins.