Introduction
This guide explains how inventory is structured in TRAEDE. You will learn the difference between current inventory and incoming inventory, how values like in stock, in order, reserved, and available work together, and how total available is calculated. This guide is essential for anyone managing inventory, orders, or forecasting supply.
Use it as an introduction if you're new to TRAEDE, or a refresher to understand how inventory flows through the system.
Current inventory
TRADE breaks down inventory into two main sections:
Current inventory: Products physically in stock.
Incoming inventory: Products in production or in transit.
We'll focus on current inventory first, which includes the following values:
In stock
This is the physical quantity available in your warehouse — the number of units you would get if you manually counted items on the shelf.
Example: 765 units in stock = 765 physically present products.
In order
This value shows how many units are tied to open orders that haven’t been invoiced yet. Even if you’ve already shipped them, they’re still “in order” until the invoice is created.
Reserved
The number of units that have been allocated to specific orders. These units are subtracted from your in stock to calculate what remains for sale.
Available
This is what you can sell in new orders. It is calculated as:
In stock – Reserved = Available
Customers and agents see this number in the B2B portal, Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.
Inventory timeline example
Let’s go through a simplified timeline to illustrate how these values change.
Step 1: You receive a PO with 10 units
In stock: 10
In order: 0
Reserved: 0
Available: 10
Step 2: A customer places an order for 5 units
In stock: 10
In order: 5
Reserved: 5
Available: 5
Even though the product hasn’t shipped, the 5 units are already allocated.
Step 3: You ship the products (but do not invoice)
No changes in values
Shipping does not update "in stock". Only invoicing does.
Step 4: You invoice the order
In stock: 5
In order: 0
Reserved: 0
Available: 5
Once invoiced, "in order" and "reserved" values go to zero. The items are officially out of stock.
Step 5: Customer returns 2 items (via credit note)
In stock: 7
Available: 7
A credit note returns items back to inventory.
How each value is updated
| Value | Increases when... | Decreases when... |
|---|---|---|
| In stock | - PO received - Credit note - Manual add | - Invoice - Manual subtract |
| In order | - Sales order created | - Invoice created |
| Reserved | - Items allocated on orders | - Invoice created - Order is cancelled |
| Available | - Stock increases - Reservation decreases | - Reservation increases - Stock decreases |
📌 Available = In stock - Reserved
Incoming inventory
Incoming inventory includes everything on the way to your warehouse or still in production:
Underway: Units on production delivery notes that are marked as sent.
In delivery: Units on delivery notes not yet marked as sent.
In production: Units that are still being produced.
Example:
Total production order: 35 units
20 still in production
15 on delivery notes
0 marked as sent yet
Total available
TRADE calculates Total Available as:
In stock - In order + Underway + In delivery + In production
This number helps you forecast what will be available soon.
If it’s negative, it means you need to produce more stock.