Warehouse exception settings control how products recorded on a task or service request are deducted when the balance is insufficient. Agree on the procedure with the person responsible for the warehouse before changing the settings.
When are the settings used?
The settings apply throughout the environment. An administrator configures them in the browser, and they also affect product usage recorded on Android and iOS. They do not provide general permission to deduct more than the available balance for all warehouse events.
The deduction starts in the background when a task or service request is saved with the status Completed. Simply adding a product to the work does not trigger a deduction. A task's In review status does not yet trigger this processing. The exception settings in effect at the time of background processing are used.
The product row must specify a product, a warehouse and a warehouse slot belonging to that warehouse. If any of these details are missing, the deduction is skipped. Deleted or disabled products are also skipped. The product addition forms on Android and iOS do not let you select a purchase batch, so rows added through these forms are processed without a batch selection.
Configure how deductions continue
- Open Settings from the browser menu, then open its Settings tab.
- Expand the Product and warehouse feature settings section and click the name of the Not enough balance of product in purchase batch setting.
- Configure both situations described below separately and select Save on the form.
No purchase batch has been selected for the product
The Action if no purchase batch has been selected for the product field has two options. Both select batches according to the warehouse's product usage principle.
- The warehouse and warehouse slot must be the same as specified. Products are deducted only from purchase batches in the slot specified on the product row. This is the default.
- The warehouse must be the same as specified, but the warehouse slot can be any if needed. The deduction starts from the specified slot. If its balance is insufficient, processing continues with batches of the same product in other slots in the same warehouse. Products are not deducted from another warehouse.
A purchase batch has been selected for the product
The Action if a batch is selected for the product, but there is not enough balance in the selected batch field offers the same two options, plus Do nothing. The product will not be removed from other batches or warehouse slots.
Do nothing means that the deduction does not continue with other batches or slots. The available quantity is still deducted from the selected batch. The same-slot option allows the deduction to continue with other batches in that slot; the option allowing other slots also allows it to continue in other slots in the same warehouse. The default is to use other batches in the same slot.
The selected batch is used first. Other batches are processed by receipt time: oldest first for FIFO and newest first for LIFO. Batches retrieved from other slots follow the same order; when receipt times are identical, the warehouse slot name affects the order. Product usage order is separate from the warehouse valuation principle.
What happens when the balance is insufficient?
The available quantity is deducted. The missing quantity is recorded on the warehouse event as Number of products left unremoved. The missing quantity is not deducted to create a negative balance, and an insufficient balance during this processing does not prevent the work from being completed. The usage quantity recorded on the work and the actual warehouse deduction may therefore differ.
For example, 8 units have been recorded on the work. The selected batch contains 3 units, another batch in the same slot contains 2 units, and another slot in the same warehouse contains 4 units:
| Selection | Actual deduction | Quantity still missing after all processing |
|---|---|---|
| Do nothing | 3 units from the selected batch | 5 units |
| Same warehouse and warehouse slot | 5 units from the specified slot | 3 units |
| Other slots in the same warehouse are also allowed | 5 units from the specified slot and 3 units from another slot | 0 units |
Deductions from other slots are saved as linked follow-up events. In the last option in the example, the original event still shows a missing quantity of 3 units, even though the follow-up event deducts that quantity. Do not add together the missing quantities in the chain: they describe the quantity still to be deducted at different stages.
Changing the setting does not correct events or balances already saved, or any previous shortfall in deductions.
Configure exception notification recipients
In the same Product and warehouse feature settings section, open Recipients of Warehouse Exception Event Notifications.
- Enter one valid email address in the Recipient field on the new row.
- In the Warehouses attached to this notice field, select the warehouses whose exceptions should be reported to this address. An empty selection does not mean all warehouses.
- Select Add another. The row is saved immediately and appears in the recipient table. Add other addresses as separate rows.
To edit the email address or warehouse selection on an existing row, double-click the relevant table cell. The change is saved when you finish editing the cell; wait for the success notification. The trash icon at the right end of the row deletes the recipient configuration. These actions do not use a separate Save button.
What does the notification tell you?
A balance exception notification is sent for a saved event with a positive quantity left unremoved. The recipients are determined by the event's source warehouse. A notification may also be sent when follow-up events eventually cover the shortfall. A single deduction chain may generate several notifications.
The same recipients may also receive product cost exception notifications for tasks or service requests. For example, the selected batch's details or quantity may be insufficient to use its batch price reliably. In cost calculations based on FIFO/LIFO batch prices and finalized on completion, any portion without a batch price from an actual deduction is priced using a fallback price, and a notification is sent about it. The message therefore does not necessarily mean that the entire cost is missing or zero.
The fallback price is retrieved from the product's batch details in the selected warehouse and, if a slot is selected, in that same slot. Batches that have not been depleted are checked first in FIFO/LIFO order. If all batches of the product have been depleted, batches are checked starting with the newest. If no suitable batch price is found, the product's sales price is used, or zero if it has no sales price. More detailed cost selection rules are described in Warehouse value and product cost price.
These recipient configurations are separate from balance alert thresholds and purchase batch expiry notifications.
Check the settings and actual deduction
Reopen the processing setting and verify both saved selections. Check the email address and monitored warehouses in the recipient table.
Once background processing after completion of the work has finished, open Manage warehouses → Warehouses in the browser and the Warehouse events tab. You need the warehouse feature and permission to view the warehouse you are investigating. Filter the events by product and an appropriate date range.
If the exception details are not visible, open the column icon at the right end of the table's header row and display Number of products left unremoved and Additional event. Use the Show original event and Show next event links in the latter column to follow the chain. Compare the actual deductions across the entire chain with the quantity recorded on the work and with the balances of the warehouse, slots and batches.
The notification helps identify an exception, but the recipient must investigate the event and balance separately. If no messages arrive, check both the address and the selected warehouses. If notifications arrive continually, review the procedures for recording receipts and usage before reducing notifications. Corrective actions are described in Investigating a warehouse balance discrepancy.