# How Stock Allocation Works on Sales Orders in Unleashed

> Allocating stock to an Unleashed sales order reserves it without changing stock on hand. Here's how to allocate, deallocate and find where stock is held.

- URL: https://logistify.ai/guides/unleashed/stock-allocation-sales-orders/
- Section: Unleashed Guides, Sales orders & quotes
- Applies to: Unleashed Lite, Core, Pro
- Steps checked against: Unleashed Help Centre articles, checked 23 October 2026
- Updated: 2026-10-23

**Short answer:** Stock allocation in Unleashed reserves available stock for a sales order. It lowers the product's available quantity but doesn't change stock on hand; only a dispatched shipment does. Open the sales order and click Allocate or Deallocate in the top right corner, or turn on Auto-Allocation so new orders allocate on creation. Deallocating frees the quantity, removes batch or serial assignments, and deletes Parked assemblies created from the order.

## Before you start

- Allocated stock isn't the same as stock you physically have. Allocation changes the available quantity; stock on hand (SOH) only falls when a shipment is dispatched.
- Assemblies and warehouse transfers allocate their products by default. You can't deallocate them the way you can a sales order.
- To allocate every new sales order automatically, turn on Auto-Allocation in Settings > Company, on the Settings tab.

| What happens | Available quantity | Stock on hand |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Allocate a sales order | Goes down by the ordered quantity | No change |
| Deallocate a sales order | Goes up by the ordered quantity | No change |
| Dispatch a shipment |  | Goes down by the Ship Quantity |
| Receipt a purchase order | Can go up | Goes up |

*From Unleashed's articles on stock allocation and Sales Orders.*

## Step 1: Allocate or deallocate a sales order

1. Open the sales order.
2. In the top right corner, click Allocate or Deallocate. The button shows Deallocate when stock is allocated, and Allocate when it isn't.

- When you allocate, any product set to auto-assemble gets a Parked assembly, and the product's availability in the order's warehouse goes down.
- When you deallocate, availability goes back up, batch and serial assignments are removed, and Parked assemblies created from the order are deleted.
- Deallocating doesn't change any purchase order linked to the sales order. Receipting it still adds stock, which you can then reallocate.

## Step 2: Find which orders hold a product's stock

1. Open the product record and click Allocated Qty in the Details tab.
2. The Product Allocations report opens, filtered for that product, listing each open sales order, assembly or warehouse transfer and its allocated quantity.
3. To see every product, go to Reports > Inventory > Product Allocations. Use the Allocated To filter to show only sales orders, and click Run.
4. Add the Customer Name and Required Date columns from Show Toolbar > Hidden Columns to see who is waiting and by when.

## Step 3: Reserve stock for specific shipments (optional)

1. Go to Settings > Company and, on the Configuration tab, confirm Order Management is turned on.
2. On the Settings tab, turn on Limit Ship Quantity to Stock not on open Shipments, and click Save.
3. New shipments now fill their Ship quantity only from stock that isn't already on another open shipment in the same warehouse.
4. With this on, you can assign batch or serial numbers to a shipment before dispatch. That also allocates them to the sales order.

The setting only affects shipments created after you change it. It doesn't recalculate existing shipments.

## If something doesn't look right

- A sales order is missing from a product's Product Allocations: it was probably deallocated. Open it and click Allocate.
- Newly assembled stock went to an older order: Unleashed gives older reservations priority. Complete the assembly when you're ready to ship, or create the shipment straight after.
- The On Ship value shows in red: with Limit Ship Quantity turned off, stock is over-committed across open shipments.
- You see "Cannot update shipment quantity to be higher than the on hand quantity not already on open shipments": reduce the Ship quantity, or receive, transfer or assemble more stock, or reduce or delete other open shipments.
- You can complete an invoice even when stock is over-allocated. Stock only has to be there when you dispatch the shipment.

## Where Unleashed leaves the work to you

- Deciding which customer gets scarce stock when several orders want it.
- Spotting over-allocation before it holds up a shipment.
- Telling customers what can ship now and what can't.

## How Logistify helps

Logistify's [Sales Order Service](https://logistify.ai/agents/sales-order/) enters customer orders into Unleashed as sales orders and replies to the buyer with the quantity available per line and a date for any shortfall. It doesn't change your allocation settings, pick a warehouse or assign batch or serial numbers. Whether a new order allocates stock depends on your Auto-Allocation setting in Unleashed. For what to do when an order can't ship in full, see [How to manage backorders](https://logistify.ai/guides/unleashed/manage-backorders/).

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Does allocating stock reduce stock on hand in Unleashed?

No. Allocation only reduces the available quantity. Stock on hand falls when a shipment is dispatched.

### How do I make Unleashed allocate stock automatically?

Turn on Auto-Allocation in Settings > Company, on the Settings tab. New sales orders then allocate on creation.

### Does deallocating a sales order cancel its purchase order?

No. The purchase order stays as it is, and receipting it still adds stock.

### Can I deallocate stock from an assembly or warehouse transfer?

Not the way you can on a sales order. Those transactions allocate their products by default.

### How do I see which orders have stock allocated?

Use Reports > Inventory > Product Allocations, or click Allocated Qty on the product's Details tab.

## Sources

- [Unleashed: Understand how stock allocation and deallocation affect orders](https://help-unleashed.theaccessgroup.com/en/articles/15601062-understand-how-stock-allocation-and-deallocation-affect-orders)
- [Unleashed: Sales Orders](https://help-unleashed.theaccessgroup.com/en/articles/11582055-sales-orders)
- [Unleashed: Product Allocations](https://help-unleashed.theaccessgroup.com/en/articles/11582313-product-allocations)
- [Unleashed: Limit Ship Quantity to Stock not on open Shipments](https://help-unleashed.theaccessgroup.com/en/articles/11582496-limit-ship-quantity-to-stock-not-on-open-shipments)