Why is my sales order line not reserved in D365?
There is stock, the order is confirmed, but the line will not reserve. In practice it is almost always one of six things, and each one leaves a trace you can find in a few clicks.
First: what does the line say?
Select the line and open Inventory › Transactions. The issue status tells you where you are:
| Issue status | Meaning |
|---|---|
On order | Not reserved. Read on. |
Reserved ordered | Reserved against stock that is still coming in (a purchase, production or transfer receipt), not against stock on the shelf. |
Reserved physical | Reserved against stock on hand. The reservation is not your problem. |
Then open Inventory › Reservation on the same line. It shows what is available at the line's site and warehouse, and what is already reserved, which narrows the six causes below to one or two.
1. Reservation is set to Manual
The Reservation field on the order header (and on each line) decides whether D365 reserves by itself. With Manual, nothing happens until someone reserves on the Reservation page. The default comes from Accounts receivable parameters, and lines keep the value they had when they were created.
2. The stock is somewhere else
Reservation only looks at the dimensions on the line. Stock in another warehouse, or another site, does not count. For items with warehouse management processes, the reservation hierarchy decides which dimensions are reserved on the order: dimensions above the location are fixed at order time, the location is chosen later when work is created. Check the On-hand list filtered on the item and the line's site and warehouse, and look at Available physical, not Physical inventory. Even quicker: with Inventory Hover, hold Alt over the item number on the order line to see the stock in each warehouse without leaving the order.
3. The stock is already reserved for other orders
Physical inventory can be 100 while available physical is 0, because other sales, transfer or production orders reserved it first. In the On-hand list, compare Physical inventory with Physical reserved, then open the transactions with status Reserved physical to see who holds it. Whether to move a reservation is a business decision, not a system one.
4. The stock is blocked
Blocked stock is on hand but not available. Look for:
- an inventory status that blocks inventory (for example a damaged or quarantine status set up with inventory blocking);
- a record in Inventory blocking, manual or created by a quality order;
- a batch disposition code that does not allow the batch to be reserved.
5. Batch rules exclude the batch
For batch-controlled items, there can be stock that simply does not qualify: the batch is expired, or it does not meet the customer's shelf-life requirement (sellable days). If a batch number is filled in on the line, only that batch can be reserved. If batch is above location in the reservation hierarchy, the batch is fixed at order time, so the specific batch needs to be available, not just the item.
6. There is only incoming stock
When nothing is on hand, a line can still be Reserved ordered against an incoming receipt. That is a reservation on paper: the line will not be picked until the receipt is posted and the stock becomes physical. Check the delivery date against the receipt date of the order it reserved.
After the reservation
Reserved is not shipped. With warehouse management, the line still has to be released to the warehouse, get work, and be picked. If the line is reserved but nothing happens in the warehouse, the next place to look is the release: Why won’t my sales order release to the warehouse? If the wave exists but has no work: Why is no work created for my wave in D365?
Menu names and behaviour can differ between D365 versions and your own setup. Check in your environment before you act.