What each status means

A status is a claim about where something has got to, not a label someone chose.

Every pill on every list page comes from a fixed set. Nothing is free text, so the same word means the same thing on every screen. This page lists all of them.

This page covers:

Purchase orders
Receivings
Stock transfers
Orders that are stuck
Movements in the ledger
Inventory type and stock mode

Purchase orders

Six statuses, in the order an order usually walks through them.

Status	What it means	What usually comes next
Draft	Being written. Nothing has been committed to the supplier.	Someone with approval rights authorises it.
Authorised	Approved and sent. The supplier owes you these goods.	The goods ship, or you record a delivery against it.
Incoming	Goods are on their way and expected.	The first delivery arrives and is recorded.
Partial	Some lines arrived, some are still outstanding.	The balance arrives, or you close the order short.
Received	Every line has been delivered in full.	Costing, then the order rests.
Closed	Deliberately finished, whether or not everything arrived.	Nothing. It can be reopened if the balance turns up.

Closing is a decision, not an accident. Use it when a supplier will never send the rest and you want the order off the open list. See Close or reopen an order.

Receivings

A receiving is one delivery. It carries four statuses, and the wording matters because stock and money move at different moments.

Status	What it means	What usually comes next
Awaiting post	Submitted and being written to stock. A brief in-between state.	It becomes Received on its own, within seconds.
Received	The units are on the books at the location you chose.	Costing, once the supplier invoice arrives.
Costed	Someone has decided what these units cost, and unit costs are updated.	Nothing. The delivery is complete.
Rejected	The delivery record was refused and did not post to stock.	It is corrected and recorded again.

Received and Costed are two separate milestones on purpose. Stock counts as arrived the moment it is submitted, so a missing invoice never holds up the warehouse. See Cost a receiving.

Stock transfers

A transfer moves units between two of your own locations.

Status	What it means	What usually comes next
Draft	Being planned. Nothing has left anywhere.	It is packed.
Packed	The box is made up and ready to go.	It is dispatched and goes in transit.
In transit	Units have left the source and have not arrived yet.	The receiving location confirms them in.
Received	The destination has confirmed the units.	The transfer settles as completed.
Completed	Done, with the same quantities out and in.	Nothing.
With discrepancies	Confirmed, but fewer or more units arrived than were sent.	Someone investigates the gap and adjusts.
Cancelled	Called off. No stock moved.	Nothing.

With discrepancies is not an error state. It is an honest record that the box did not match the note, and it is a better outcome than a quiet correction. See Confirm a transfer in.

Orders that are stuck

A sales order is stuck when something blocks it from being fulfilled cleanly. The reason pill names the blockage.

Reason	What it means	What usually comes next
Missing SKU	The order contains a product code this app does not know.	Create the product, or map the code to an existing one.
Out of stock	The order needs more units than are available.	Receive, assemble or transfer stock in, or refund the line.
Split shipment	The order shipped in parts, and the parts do not reconcile.	Match each shipment to its lines, then close it out.
Sync error	A message to or from the store failed.	Fix the cause the error names, then retry it.
Awaiting Shopify	The store has not confirmed fulfilment back yet.	It clears itself once the store responds.

Awaiting Shopify usually needs nothing from you. The other four do. See An order is stuck.

Movements in the ledger

Every change to a stock number is one ledger entry with a type. These are the types you will see in a product's movement history, and whether each one adds or removes units.

Movement	Shown as	Effect
`receive`	Stock received	Adds — a delivery was recorded
`receive_reversal`	Receiving reversed	Removes — a delivery was undone
`sale`	Order fulfilled	Removes — goods left for a customer
`sale` with a refund source	Order refunded	Adds — a fulfilment was reversed
`adjust`	Stock count applied, or Manual adjustment	Either — a count or a correction
`manual_count`	Opening count set	Adds — the first count of a product
`transfer_out`	Transfer out	Removes — units left one of your locations
`transfer_in`	Transfer in	Adds — units arrived at another
`assemble_out`	Assembly consumed	Removes — components went into a build
`assemble_in`	Assembly completed	Adds — finished units came out of a build
`production_out`	Components consumed	Removes — material used in a production run
`production_in`	Produced	Adds — a production batch was recorded
`consign_out`	Consignment sent	Removes — material sent to an outside supplier
`consign_in`	Consignment returned	Adds — worked material came back
`write_off`	Stock written off	Removes — damaged, expired or lost
`manual_close`	Stuck order closed	Removes — a stuck order was settled by hand

No entry is ever edited or deleted. A mistake is corrected by adding an opposing entry, so the history keeps both. See The stock ledger.

Inventory type and stock mode

These two sit on the product itself. They are independent: any type can pair with any mode.

Inventory type decides whether the product has a recipe and holds stock.

Type	What it means	What usually comes next
Physical	A raw material or a standalone finished good. Holds its own stock, has no recipe.	Buy it, receive it, sell it.
Assembled	Has a bill of materials. Components are consumed when it is built.	Build the recipe, then assemble to order or in batches.
Service	Intangible work from a supplier. Never enters stock.	Order it on a purchase order and mark it delivered.

Stock mode decides what happens when stock reaches zero.

Mode	What it means	What usually comes next
Ready stock	Stock must exist before it can be sold. Zero means unsellable.	Reorder before it runs out.
On demand	No stock is held. It is made, assembled or printed once an order arrives.	Production or assembly is triggered per order.
Hybrid	Sell from stock first, then keep selling by making to order at zero.	Both, depending on the day.

See Product types and stock modes for how to choose between them.

Explore

Glossary. Every term in one alphabetical list, with links to the article that explains each one. Learn more →

Words we use. Why some obvious-looking words are deliberately absent from these screens. Learn more →

An order is stuck. What to actually do about each of the five stuck reasons. Learn more →

Short answer