How to Handle Partial Shipments, Short Picks and Backorders on Intuit Enterprise Suite Sales Orders

Before you start

• Pick, Pack and Ship is available in Intuit Enterprise Suite in the US. Intuit updated its article on 29 October 2026.
• You have at least one open sales order with inventory items, and quantity on hand is tracked for those items.
• A user with sales order access acts as the fulfillment manager.
• Warehouse workers, if you use them, are invited with the Warehouse Worker role (Settings > Manage Users > Add User). Workers are optional: leave Assigned to set to Unassigned to work an order yourself.
• A note on terms: Intuit's sales order and Pick, Pack and Ship articles have no backorder section, backorder status or backorder report. This guide uses "backorder" for the quantity still open on a sales order after a short pick.

Step 1: Create a fulfillment order from the sales order

1. 1Open a sales order with inventory items, then select Fulfill items. Or go to Inventory > Fulfillment, select New fulfillment order, and pick a sales order.
2. 2While the fulfillment order is in Open status, check the Pick qty on each line. It defaults to the sales order quantity.
3. 3Adjust Pick qty if needed before you send the order for pick. It locks once you do.

• Inventory and assembly items carry over from the sales order. Bundle items split into their components, one pick line each.
• Non-inventory and service items are excluded, with a message explaining why.
• Intuit's article doesn't say what happens to quantity you leave off by lowering Pick qty. Check the sales order afterward.

Step 2: Send the order for pick

1. 1Select a fulfillment order.
2. 2In Assigned to, select the worker who'll pick the order, or leave it set to Unassigned to work it yourself.
3. 3Select Send to pick. This allocates the stock, so no other order can claim it, and locks the pick quantity.
4. 4To print a pick list, select Print picklist.

Step 3: Record what was actually picked

1. 1The worker opens the assigned order and selects Start pick.
2. 2For each line, they enter the actual quantity picked or scan the item barcode.
3. 3If an item is missing, or there isn't enough of it, they enter the quantity they found and can add a note.
4. 4When every line is done, they select Finish pick. The fulfillment order moves to Picked, or to Partial pick if any line is short.

If the planned lot isn't at the bin, you can change the serial/lot or sub-location on a line while the order is Ready to pick or In pick. If a worker is already picking, saving your changes overwrites their entries. Both fields lock at Ready to pack.

Step 4: Resolve the short pick

1. 1Open the fulfillment order in Partial pick status.
2. 2Select Send to pack to continue with the quantity that was picked, or Send to repick to assign the remaining quantity for picking.

Step 5: Ship all or part of the order

1. 1In Assigned to, select the worker who'll pack the order, then select Send to pack.
2. 2The worker selects Start pack, puts items into packages and selects Finish pack. The order moves to Packed.
3. 3Select Send to ship. The order moves to Ready to ship.
4. 4Enter the shipping carrier for each package. The tracking ID is optional and can be added later.
5. 5Select Mark all shipped. If only some packages are going out, select the Mark as shipped checkbox for each one instead. The order shows Partial ship until the rest ship.

Where the remaining quantity sits

Step 6: Invoice what shipped

1. 1Create the invoice from the sales order when you're ready to bill. Pick, Pack and Ship doesn't create invoices for you.
2. 2Quantity on hand decreases when you create the invoice. It doesn't change at shipment.

Intuit's sales order article says a single sales order can be linked to more than one invoice. Neither article explains how to put only the shipped quantity on an invoice. For the invoice steps, see how to create a sales order and turn it into an invoice.

Step 7: Ship the balance when stock arrives

1. 1Open the sales order. The balance from the short pick is still on it.
2. 2Create a new fulfillment order for it: select Fulfill items, or go to Inventory > Fulfillment and select New fulfillment order.
3. 3Send it for pick, pack and ship as in Steps 2 to 5, then invoice it from the sales order.

The fulfillment dashboard (Inventory > Fulfillment) lists fulfillment orders, and you can filter it by status, location, ship date, warehouse staff or customer. Neither Intuit article describes a list or report of sales orders with an open balance.

If something doesn't look right

• You can't change Pick qty: it locks when you send the order for pick. To change it after that, cancel the fulfillment order.
• Quantity on hand didn't drop after shipping: it decreases when you create the invoice, not when you ship.
• You invoiced before picking, then changed a serial/lot number: a warning reminds you to update it on the invoice yourself. The edit still goes through.
• A worker was reassigned mid-pick: anything the first worker saved stays on the order, but entries they hadn't saved are lost.
• Non-inventory or service lines are missing from the fulfillment order: they're excluded, with a message explaining why.

Where Intuit Enterprise Suite leaves the work to you

• Tracking backorders. Intuit's articles describe no backorder status, list or report. The open balance just stays on the sales order.
• Noticing when stock arrives and creating the next fulfillment order for the balance.
• Telling the customer what's short and when the rest will ship. Neither article covers customer notices.
• Invoicing each shipment. Pick, Pack and Ship never invoices for you.
• Getting the missing stock from the supplier.

How Logistify helps

Logistify's Sales Order Service enters customer orders that arrive by email, PDF, Excel, EDI, WhatsApp, SMS, voicemail or paper into Intuit Enterprise Suite as sales orders, and a person reviews exceptions. When stock is short because a supplier delivery hasn't arrived, the Procurement Service follows up with suppliers on open IES purchase orders. Picking, packing, shipping and invoicing stay with your team. For the full warehouse workflow, see how to pick, pack and ship orders.