Reserved Stock
This guide explains what reserved stock means in ParcelPilot, how to read the Orders holding reservation view, and which buttons to use on Orders and Inventory Units when stock looks stuck or in the wrong location.
What reserved means
Reserved stock is stock that has been held for a specific order so it cannot be used by another order.
Reserved is not the same as physical location:
- You can move stock between locations, but the reservation stays linked to the order allocation until it is released or cleared.
If a client says "move the reserved stock from B102 to G005", they usually mean:
- release the reservation if it is stale, and/or
- move the physical stock after it is no longer reserved.
See which orders are holding stock
On an Inventory Unit, click:
- Show orders holding reservation
This shows:
- order number
- status
- whether there are shipments
- net reserved quantity
The system calculates net reserved from movements:
- allocated / backorder increases reserved
- released / shipment decreases reserved
If shipped-looking orders still hold stock, that is usually a stale reservation.
Inventory Unit actions
For the Inventory Unit-specific reservation tools, including Release shipped reservations, see:
Show orders holding reservation
Use this when:
- Reserved is non-zero and you want to see exactly which orders are holding it.
Record inventory adjustment
Use this when:
- you need to move physical stock between locations
- you are correcting where stock sits in the warehouse
Important:
- this does not move reservations between orders
- if an order is still holding stock reserved, moving physical stock will not free it
Pull Inventory from Store / Push Inventory to Store / Push ALL Stock to Store
These are eCommerce sync buttons.
Use them when:
- you need to refresh or force an inventory sync with the connected store platform
Do not use them to fix:
- stale reservations
- incorrect reserved quantities
- order allocation issues
Order actions
Reserved-stock problems are not all the same. Use the action that matches what really happened.
Create shipment
Use this when the order is still following the normal outbound workflow and the goods are physically leaving now.
What it does:
- creates shipment evidence
- inventory consequence depends on Shipment method
- warehouse dispatch methods deduct Parcel Pilot stock; External fulfilment releases reservations without deducting Parcel Pilot warehouse stock
For the full shipment-method rules, see Shipments — Create, Edit & Delete.
For the engineering current-state architecture, see Shipment Workflow Current State.
Release Reservation
Use this when:
- the order was fulfilled, merged, cancelled, or otherwise dealt with elsewhere
- the order is still holding reserved stock incorrectly
- you need to free the reserved stock without creating shipment evidence
What it does:
- releases the reservation holds for that order
- does not create a shipment
- does not deduct stock
- does not represent fulfilment by itself
Cancel Remaining
Use this when:
- part of the order has already been dealt with
- a specific remaining quantity will never ship
What it does:
- cancels the currently outstanding unshipped quantity on the selected order line
- releases the remaining reservation for that cancelled quantity
- does not create a shipment
- does not deduct stock for the cancelled quantity
Fulfilment Repair
Use this only when an admin is correcting a legacy or historical shipmentless fulfilment case.
What it does:
- deducts stock without creating shipment evidence
- keeps the order on the legacy shipmentless correction path by design
- is not the normal operator fulfilment workflow
Record Manual Fulfilment
Use this only when Parcel Pilot intentionally allows a shipmentless stock-only fulfilment for a current order.
What it does:
- deducts Parcel Pilot stock without creating Shipment evidence
- clears reservation through the shipmentless fulfilment path
- is only available when the order still has genuine outstanding fulfilment and the reconciliation checks are otherwise clean
If Parcel Pilot expects normal shipment evidence, use Create shipment instead.
Reverse Dispatch
Use this when a shipment already committed stock and that dispatch now needs to be unwound.
What it does:
- restores stock through compensating inventory adjustments
- recalculates fulfilment and reservation state
- preserves the original shipment record for audit
Which action should I use?
Order is complete or delivered but still holds reservation
Action:
- on the Order, use Release Reservation
Then:
- if stock needs relocating, use Record inventory adjustment on the Inventory Unit
Order is complete but stock never reduced
Action:
- if the order still needs shipment evidence, use Create shipment and choose the correct Shipment method
- if this is a legacy shipmentless correction case, ask an admin to use Fulfilment Repair
Order was fulfilled outside ParcelPilot, but you still want shipment evidence
Action:
- use Create shipment and choose External fulfilment
What that means:
- reservations are released
- Parcel Pilot warehouse stock is not deducted
Order used a client-supplied label, but the goods still left the Parcel Pilot warehouse
Action:
- use Create shipment and choose External courier or Customer collection, depending on how the goods actually left
What that means:
- shipment evidence is created and the normal warehouse stock or reservation effects are applied
Shipment already exists and committed stock needs unwinding
Action:
- use Reverse Dispatch on the shipment
Stock just needs moving to the correct location
Action:
- on the Inventory Unit, use Record inventory adjustment
Safe workflow
- Open the Inventory Unit and click Show orders holding reservation.
- Decide whether those orders should still be reserving stock.
- If reservations are stale, go to each order and choose between Release Reservation, Create shipment, Cancel Remaining, or admin-only Fulfilment Repair based on what really happened.
- Once the reservation is correct, move physical stock using Record inventory adjustment.
If the order appears in Dispatch Problems, investigate that evidence drift before trying to free stock by hand.