Stock Reservations

Admin Manager

Stock reservations temporarily set aside inventory for orders that have been placed but not yet completed. This prevents selling the same stock to two different customers and ensures that held orders and online orders can be fulfilled when the customer arrives.

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How Reservations Work

When certain types of orders are created, Brother POS automatically reserves the required stock:

1. An order is created (e.g., a held order on the POS or an incoming online order).
2. Stock is reserved — The ordered quantities are subtracted from "available stock" but remain in "current stock."
3. The product is still physically in your store, but the reserved units are earmarked for the order.
4. When the order is completed (picked up, paid for, delivered), the reservation is released and stock is formally deducted.
5. If the order is cancelled, the reservation is released and the stock becomes available again.

Stock Terminology

Understanding the difference between stock figures:

Term	Definition
Current Stock	The total physical quantity in your store. This is what you would count on the shelf.
Reserved Stock	Units set aside for pending orders. These units are physically present but committed.
Available Stock	Current Stock minus Reserved Stock. This is what can be sold to walk-in customers.

Example:

	Units
Current Stock	50
Reserved Stock	8
Available Stock	42

In this example, 42 units are available for immediate sale on the POS. The other 8 are reserved for pending orders.

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What Creates Reservations

Reservations are created automatically by the following events:

Held Orders (POS)

When a cashier places an order on hold on the POS register:

1. The customer's cart is saved as a held order.
2. Stock is reserved for all items in the held order.
3. When the customer returns and completes the purchase, the reservation converts to a sale and stock is deducted.
4. If the held order is cancelled or expires, the reservation is released.

Online Orders (WooCommerce)

When an order comes in from your WooCommerce online store:

1. The order is synced to Brother POS.
2. Stock is reserved for all items in the online order.
3. When the order is fulfilled (picked up in-store or shipped), the reservation converts to a sale.
4. If the online order is cancelled or refunded, the reservation is released.

WooCommerce integration required

Online order reservations only apply if you have the WooCommerce integration enabled and configured. See the WooCommerce setup documentation for details.

Delivery Orders

When a delivery order is placed:

1. Stock is reserved when the order is created.
2. The reservation holds until the driver completes the delivery.
3. Upon delivery confirmation, the reservation converts to a sale.

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Viewing Reservations

On the Product Edit Page

When a product has active reservations (reserved stock greater than zero), the product edit page displays additional read-only fields and a reservation details table.

1. Navigate to Products and click a product to open its edit page.
2. In the stock section you will see:
   • Current Stock: Total physical quantity (editable as usual).
   • Reserved Stock (read-only): Units reserved by held orders and active carts.
   • Available Stock (read-only): Current stock minus reserved stock. This is the quantity available for immediate sale.

Fields only appear when reservations exist

The Reserved Stock and Available Stock fields only appear on the product edit page when the product has active reservations (reserved stock is greater than zero). Products with no reservations show only the standard Current Stock field.

Active Reservations Table

Below the stock fields, a collapsible Active Reservations section shows the details of each reservation:

Column	Description
Source Type	The type of reservation -- held order, online order, delivery order, or active cart.
Detail / ID	The order number, held order reference, or cart identifier.
Quantity	Number of units reserved.
Expiry Time	When the reservation expires (if applicable).
Time Remaining	Countdown to expiry, with color coding: green (more than 1 hour remaining), amber (more than 1 minute remaining), red (less than 1 minute remaining).

This table helps you quickly identify what is tying up your stock and whether any reservations are about to expire.

On the Low Stock Report

The low stock report considers available stock (current stock minus reservations), not current stock alone, when determining whether a product is below its threshold. This means a product with 20 units in stock but 15 reserved (only 5 available) may trigger a low stock alert even though it appears to have plenty of inventory. The report also includes Reserved and Available columns so you can see the full picture at a glance. See Low Stock Alerts for details.

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How Reservations Affect the POS

On the POS register, cashiers see the available stock, not the current stock. This means:

• If a product has 10 units in stock but 8 are reserved, the POS shows 2 available.
• If a cashier tries to add more units than available to the cart, the POS warns them.
• The product may appear as "Low Stock" or "Out of Stock" on the POS even though there is physical inventory — because that inventory is committed to other orders.

Communicate with your team

If cashiers notice products showing as out of stock when they can see items on the shelf, explain that those units are reserved for pending orders. This avoids confusion and prevents double-selling.

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Managing Reservations

Releasing a Reservation

Reservations are released automatically when:

• The associated order is completed (reservation converts to a sale deduction).
• The associated order is cancelled (reservation is released and stock becomes available).
• A held order expires (if your store has auto-expiration configured for held orders).

To manually release a reservation:

1. Navigate to the associated order (held order, online order, or delivery order).
2. Cancel the order.
3. The reservation is automatically released.

Do not adjust stock to work around reservations

If stock appears tied up in reservations, do not create stock adjustments to add more. Instead, resolve the underlying orders — complete or cancel them. Adding stock via adjustments while reservations exist will inflate your actual inventory count.

Expired Held Orders

If your store configures an expiration time for held orders:

1. Held orders older than the configured duration are automatically cancelled.
2. Their reservations are released.
3. Stock becomes available again.

This prevents stock from being indefinitely locked by forgotten held orders.

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Reservations and Stock Transfers

When planning a stock transfer to another store, consider reserved stock:

• You should only transfer available stock, not reserved stock.
• The system prevents you from transferring more than the available quantity.
• If you need to transfer stock that is currently reserved, first resolve the pending orders (complete or cancel them), then create the transfer.

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Reservations and Purchase Orders

Reserved stock does not affect purchase order receiving. When you receive inventory against a PO:

• The received quantity is added to current stock.
• Available stock increases by the same amount (assuming no new reservations are created simultaneously).
• This can resolve low stock situations caused by heavy reservation activity.

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Monitoring Reservation Health

Over time, stale reservations can tie up your inventory. Watch for these signs:

Warning Sign	Action
Old held orders (more than a few days)	Review and cancel if the customer is unlikely to return.
Unfulfilled online orders	Follow up on online orders that have been pending for too long. Contact the customer.
High reserved-to-available ratio	If a large percentage of your stock is reserved, you may need to reorder sooner or process pending orders faster.
Products showing out of stock on POS	Check if stock is reserved. Resolve the pending orders or reorder.

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Best Practices

1. Process held orders promptly. Encourage customers to pick up held orders within 24-48 hours. Configure auto-expiration for held orders.
2. Fulfill online orders quickly. The faster you process online orders, the faster reserved stock converts to completed sales and frees up inventory for walk-in customers.
3. Monitor the reservation list. Check for stale reservations weekly. Cancel orders that will never be fulfilled.
4. Communicate low availability. If a product's available stock is low but current stock looks healthy, explain to your team that units are reserved for pending orders.
5. Factor reservations into reordering. When deciding how much to reorder, look at available stock, not current stock. A product with high current stock but low available stock still needs replenishment.

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What's Next?

• Low Stock Alerts — Alerts are based on available stock, including reservation impact.
• Stock Adjustments — Correct physical stock counts (do not use to work around reservations).
• Purchase Orders — Replenish stock to cover both reservations and walk-in demand.
• Stock Transfers — Transfer available (unreserved) stock between stores.