Inventory not balanced after Shipping — troubleshooting and fix – Corwin AAA demos

Overview

If inventory appears incorrect after a shipment (e.g., on-hand not relieved, negative balances, or GL not matching inventory valuation), use the checks below to diagnose and correct.

Symptoms:

On-hand did not reduce after shipment
Negative on-hand after fulfilling an order
GL COGS or Inventory accounts don’t reflect the shipment
Lot/serial balances inconsistent with shipped quantities

Quick checks (2–5 minutes)

Shipment status: Confirm the shipment/posting is Completed/Posted (not just Picked or Packed)
Warehouse/bin: Ensure the shipped items were relieved from the correct location
Issue/backflush: If you rely on backflush at ship or operation, confirm the flag is set
UOM: Verify sales UOM and stocking UOM conversions
Lot/serial: Confirm lots/serials were assigned and posted

Common causes

Shipment not posted to GL (document stuck in intermediate status)
Wrong warehouse/bin default on the item or sales line
Open pick/pack document never finalized
Backflush disabled for the item/routing causing no relief
UOM conversion mismatch (e.g., selling 1 CS = 24 EA but system relieves 1 EA)
Lot/serial requirement not fulfilled (system won’t relieve without assignment)
Posting/COGS mapping misconfigured (inventory relieves, GL doesn’t)

Step-by-step diagnosis

Confirm document lifecycle

Open the shipment and verify it is Posted/Final
If not posted, post it now; note any errors returned

Trace item movement

Review item transaction history (issue/ship/backflush records)
Confirm the transaction date/time aligns with the shipment

Validate location and UOM

Check the sales line and item defaults for the warehouse/bin used
Verify the UOM conversion used at shipment

Review lot/serial assignments

Ensure each shipped quantity has an assigned lot/serial and that it posted

Check GL posting

Open the posting/COGS mapping for this item/product line
Verify the GL batch/journal completed successfully
Compare Inventory Valuation to GL Inventory for the ship date

Fixes

Not posted? Post the shipment. Resolve any blocking errors returned by posting
Wrong warehouse/bin? Reverse or adjust the transaction, then re-ship from the correct bin
Missing lot/serials? Assign and re-post
UOM mismatch? Correct the conversion, reverse/adjust the incorrect relief, then re-ship
Backflush off but expected? Enable backflush on item/routing; reprocess via an inventory adjustment for the impacted shipment if re-posting isn’t available
GL didn’t update? Re-run the posting process for the batch; if needed, create a correcting journal entry and attach audit notes

Prevent it next time

Lock UOM conversions for sellable items
Set correct default warehouse/bin at item and customer/ship-to levels
Enforce lot/serial assignment at pick/pack
Monitor a daily “Unposted Transactions” dashboard
Schedule a weekly Inventory-to-GL reconciliation

When to escalate

You cannot re-post due to period close
Lot/serial chain is corrupted or partially posted
Inventory valuation and GL differ by material amounts and you can’t identify the source