> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://support.ordereazi.com/central/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://support.ordereazi.com/central/order-management/products/inventory/simple-inventory-management.md).

# Simple Inventory Management

Track how much of each product you hold, where you hold it, and what's already promised, without the Enterprise Inventory Module.

Selling stock that's already promised to another client means a missed delivery and an awkward phone call. Simple Inventory Management in OrderEazi tracks how much of each product you hold at each location, and how much of it is reserved. Stock can come from a connected system, or you can keep it up to date in OrderEazi, and your documents can move it for you as you sell and buy.

### Before you start

You'll need the **View Inventory** permission to see stock, and **Manage Inventory** to change stock, manage locations, and run imports. Both are in the **Inventory** permission group. Simple Inventory Management is for organisations without the Enterprise licence. With Enterprise, use Warehouse Management.

### The four quantities

Each product at each location has four quantities:

* **Actual:** What's physically at the location, including stock already promised.
* **Reserved:** What's held for sales orders, and shouldn't be sold to anyone else.
* **Available:** What you can sell. It's always Actual minus Reserved, and never less than zero.
* **Incoming:** What's on purchase orders that haven't arrived, as reported by your connected system.

You can't set Available yourself, so it always matches what's on hand and what's promised. Quantities are whole numbers and never go below zero.

**Example:** The Main Store holds 50 of CHAIR-01, and a sales order reserves 20. **Actual** is 50, **Reserved** is 20, and **Available** is 30. A rep quoting another client sees 30 available.

### Where you see stock

* [**Inventory**](/central/order-management/products/inventory.md)**:** Every stock level, filterable by product and location.
* **The product screen:** The **Locations** section shows the product's stock at each location.
* **Project lines:** Each line shows the available and actual stock, so you can check stock while you quote.

### Stock you manage and stock a system manages

The **Managed By** column shows who keeps each stock level up to date:

* **Manual:** You keep it up to date in OrderEazi, and your documents can move it.
* **Managed by:** and an app's name: A connected app sends the quantities.
* **Managed externally:** Your accounting system or another feed sends them.

Managed stock is changed in the system it comes from. An edit in OrderEazi would be overwritten on the next sync, and OrderEazi's documents never move it, not even to reserve it. Once a system starts managing a stock level, it stays managed.

Stock comes in from these systems:

* **Xero:** Quantities on hand arrive at a location named "Xero", and can't be edited in OrderEazi.
* **Sage Evolution:** Stock levels sync from Sage Evolution.
* **Apps that send stock through the API:** Such as Cin7 Core, an inventory system.

Stock from a connected system is applied in the background, so new quantities can take a few seconds to appear.

### How documents move stock

When **Automate Location Stock Movements** is turned on, documents update manual stock at each line's allocated location:

| Document                                            | Effect on stock                                                         |
| --------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Sales order                                         | Reserves stock at the line's location                                   |
| Voided sales order                                  | Releases the reservation, even if the setting has since been turned off |
| Tax invoice with a sales order                      | Releases the reservation and reduces actual stock                       |
| Tax invoice without a sales order                   | Reduces actual stock                                                    |
| Supplier invoice                                    | Increases actual stock                                                  |
| Credit note                                         | Returns stock, if **Increase Stock On Credit Note** is on               |
| Quote, proforma, purchase order, GRV, delivery note | No change                                                               |

Only lines allocated to a location move stock. Services, discounts, courier, and branding lines never do. If a location is short, the movement is reduced so stock doesn't go below zero, and a note is added to the project's history.

**Example:** You create a sales order for 20 of CHAIR-01, allocated to the Main Store. **Reserved** goes up by 20. When you invoice the 20 chairs, the reservation is released and **Actual** drops by 20.

### Your inventory settings

These are in **Settings** > **Organization Setup**, on the **Configuration** tab, under **System Settings** > **Inventory**. They're all off to start with, and the **Inventory** section only appears once your organisation holds stock at a location.

* **Auto-Apply Default Location:** New project lines are allocated to the product's default location. See [Locations](/central/order-management/products/inventory/locations.md).
* **Automate Location Stock Movements:** The main switch that lets documents reserve, reduce, and add stock.
* **Increase Stock On Credit Note:** Credited stock goes back to the location the invoice shipped from. It only works with **Automate Location Stock Movements** turned on.
* **Block SO And Invoice On Insufficient Stock:** Stops sales orders and tax invoices for stock you don't have.

### Blocking sales when stock is short

With **Block SO And Invoice On Insufficient Stock** turned on, a sales order or tax invoice is refused when available stock doesn't cover the lines. A line allocated to a location is checked against that location only. A line with no location is checked against every location in the warehouse. Stock already reserved by the project's own sales order counts as available to it, so invoicing that order is never blocked by its own reservation.

You see "Sales Order not created - insufficient available stock for:" or "Cannot create invoice - insufficient available stock for:", followed by the products that are short. The check covers manual and managed stock. Products with no stock level in the warehouse aren't checked.

### Related pages

* [Inventory](/central/order-management/products/inventory.md): check and correct stock levels
* [Locations](/central/order-management/products/inventory/locations.md): add locations, set defaults and allocate project lines
* [Documents](/central/order-management/documents.md): the documents that move stock