Stock Reservation
Introduced in Version 15
Stock Reservation, also known as inventory reservation, is a feature that allows you to set aside a specific quantity of stock for a particular Sales Order, Pick List, or customer requirement. Once reserved, that stock is blocked from being used in other transactions until it is unreserved.
This ensures better inventory control, prevents over-selling, and improves fulfillment accuracy in sales-driven operations.
1. Prerequisites
Before using stock reservation, you must enable the feature in ERPNext Stock Settings.
- Enable Stock Reservation from Stock Settings to activate reservation capabilities across sales and picking workflows.
Stock Reservation must be explicitly enabled. Without this setting, reservation options will not appear in Sales Orders or Pick Lists.
2. Stock Reservation against Sales Order
Stock can be reserved directly from a Sales Order, allowing businesses to block inventory as soon as a customer places an order.
- Create a Sales Order with required items and quantities.
- Enable the Reserve Stock option at the item level for the items you want to lock for fulfillment.
- Open the Stock Reservation action from the Sales Order and select Reserve.
- Choose the relevant Warehouse and specify the quantity to reserve.
- Click Reserve Stock to create reservation entries against the Sales Order items.
Once reserved, the stock quantity becomes locked and is not available for other Sales Orders or outbound transactions until it is released.
3. Stock Reservation from Pick List
Stock can also be reserved during the picking process, especially when warehouse operations are executed through Pick Lists.
- Create a Sales Order and generate a corresponding Pick List.
- Open the Pick List and access the Stock Reservation option.
- Click Reserve to allocate stock against the Pick List.
- The system creates Stock Reservation Entries linked to the Pick List for tracking and fulfillment control.
4. Auto Reserve Stock on Purchase
ERPNext supports automatic reservation of stock based on procurement flow, ensuring sales demand is fulfilled as soon as purchased stock is received.
- Enable Auto Reserve Stock for Sales Order on Purchase in Stock Settings.
- Create a Sales Order followed by a Material Request.
- Generate a Purchase Order from the Material Request.
- Complete the procurement cycle by submitting a Purchase Receipt.
- Upon submission, stock is automatically reserved against the original Sales Order.
This feature ensures end-to-end reservation alignment between demand (Sales Orders) and supply (Purchase Receipts) without manual intervention.
5. Stock Unreservation
Reserved stock can be released (unreserved) when orders are cancelled, modified, or no longer require fulfillment.
5.1 Unreserve from Sales Order or Pick List
- Open the Sales Order or Pick List containing reserved stock.
- Click on Stock Reservation and select Unreserve.
- The system cancels the associated Stock Reservation Entries automatically.
5.2 Unreserve from Stock Reservation Entry
- Open an individual Stock Reservation Entry and click Cancel.
- Alternatively, go to the Stock Reservation Entry list view.
- Select multiple entries and use Actions > Cancel for bulk unreservation.
Unreserving stock immediately releases it back into available inventory, making it eligible for allocation to other orders.
6. Key Benefits
- Prevents over-selling by locking stock against confirmed demand.
- Improves order fulfillment accuracy in warehouse operations.
- Provides visibility of committed vs available stock.
- Supports structured allocation across Sales Orders and Pick Lists.
7. Related Topics
- Sales Order
- Pick List
- Stock Ledger
- Warehouse Management
- Material Request
