What "on hand", "allocated", and "available" mean

Applies to: All tiers  ·  Last reviewed: 2026-10-11

What this is

CanShip tracks four inventory numbers for every SKU. Knowing what each one means is the key to reading your stock and understanding why an order did or did not allocate.

The four numbers

• On hand: the physical units sitting in your warehouse locations. Receiving inventory increases on hand.
• Allocated: units that are committed (reserved) to orders. They are still physically on hand, but they are spoken for.
• On hold: units set aside in a non-sellable state, for example in a quarantine bin.
• Available: what is left to commit to new orders. Available is on hand minus allocated minus on hold.

You can see On Hand, Allocated and Available for each SKU and bin under Inventory.

How allocation works on an order

When you create an order, CanShip allocates stock against available inventory right away and lands the order in one of three inventory states:

• Allocated: available stock covered the whole order. It is ready to move toward picking.
• Partial: some lines or quantities allocated, some did not. CanShip allocates what it can and the rest waits.
• Unallocated: nothing was available to allocate (for example a sold-out SKU). The order is effectively a backorder until you receive more stock.

Allocation consumes available stock in order of creation, so over-ordering a low-stock SKU allocates what is on hand (Partial) and drains it. A later order for that SKU then comes in Unallocated until more is received. The Orders page has Any Inv. / Unallocated / Partial / Allocated filters so you can pull just the backorders or just the ready-to-pick orders.

Which stock an order takes

When CanShip allocates by itself, it works in this order.

• Pickable bins only. Stock in a bin with Pickable turned off, such as an overstock bin, is not allocated automatically. See Setting up locations and bins.
• Soonest expiry first. For a lot tracked product, the lot with the earliest expiry date is taken first, whichever bin it is in and whenever it arrived. When that lot runs out, the order carries on into the next one. What happens to a lot that has already expired depends on your expiry policy. See Lot numbers, expiry dates and quarantine.
• Oldest stock first. Across bins, the stock received earliest is taken first. Received stock is dated by its receipt's Date Received, and units moved to another bin keep their date. When two bins hold stock received on the same day, the bin that comes first by name is used.
• Loose units before boxes. Within a bin, loose units are taken first, then an opened box, then a sealed one.

Each order line shows the bins its units were allocated from, with the quantity from each.

When the only stock is in a non-pickable bin

If the only stock of a product is in non-pickable bins, CanShip leaves that line unallocated and says why. The message after saving names the product, the number of units and the bins. On the order, the line carries an Overstock mark with the number of units.

You have two ways forward:

• Allocate from the bin by hand. On the order line click Manage Inventory, choose the bin, which is marked Overstock, set the quantity and click Allocate. The line then shows the bin with "(overstock)" beside it.
• Or move the stock to a pickable bin with Inventory > Move Inventory.