# How stock moves

> What on hand means in FloorLine, every way stock changes (counts, receipts, shipments, the floor), and how the forecast looks ahead.

Source: https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/how-stock-moves/ (updated 2026-10-14)

*(Basic plan and up)*

In FloorLine you rarely type stock numbers. Stock changes as work happens: materials leave the shelf when a step starts, finished goods arrive when an order completes, receipts and shipments move what's on a purchase or delivery order. This page explains the ideas behind it, so the numbers on an item make sense. To change stock yourself, see [Items](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/items/).

## Tracked and untracked items

Each item has **Track how many are on hand** (under **Inventory** on the item page), on by default.

- A **tracked** item has an on-hand quantity, can have a min and max, and every change to its stock is recorded.
- An **untracked** item has no stock at all: nothing is counted, nothing moves, and it never shows on Replenishment. Use it for things not worth counting, like shop rags or bar-end caps, or for parts you make to order and ship right away.

Untracked items still go on bills of materials, work orders, and purchase and delivery orders. They just don't move stock.

## On hand

**On hand** is how much of a tracked item the shop has right now, in the item's unit (each, ft, lb, and so on). It shows at the top right of the item page and in the Items list.

On hand changes only through **stock movements**. Each movement records how much changed, what on hand was after it, who did it, when, and why: a count, an order, a step on the floor. The item's history lists them, newest first, with links to the orders behind them.

Movements are permanent. Nobody can edit or delete one, so the history is a true record. To fix a mistake, record a count or an adjustment, which adds a new movement.

## Every way stock changes

| In the history | What happened | When |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Counted** | Someone counted it and set on hand. | By hand, from the item's on-hand button. |
| **Adjusted** | Someone added or removed an amount (a few found, two bent ones thrown out). | By hand. |
| **Received on** PO-1001 | Items arrived on a purchase order. | When a receipt is saved. See [Shipping and receiving](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/shipping-receiving/). |
| **Shipped on** DO-1001 | Items left on a delivery order. | When a shipment is saved. |
| **Used by** WO-1042 | A work order took its materials. | When the step that consumes them **first starts**. |
| **Made on** WO-1042 | Finished goods went into stock. | When the order completes, or when finished units are reported early. |
| **Reopened** WO-1042 | A done order was reopened, so its finished goods came back out. | When someone reopens it. |
| **Wasted on** WO-1042 | Material lost beyond the plan (a mis-cut). | When waste is reported. |
| **Scrapped on** / **Back from** WO-1042 | Units of an order were scrapped: material lost with them, or material coming back. | When scrap is reported. |
| **Sent on** / **Arrived on** TO-1001 | Stock moved between locations. | High plan, on transfer orders. |

### Counts and adjustments

Click the on-hand figure on a tracked item to open its stock dialog. Choose **A count (set on hand)** to set the number you counted, or **An adjustment (add or remove)** to add or take away an amount (a negative number removes). Add a **Note** if it helps, then **Save count** or **Save adjustment**. Below the form, **Recent changes** shows the latest movements.

An adjustment can't take on hand below zero.

### Work orders take materials as steps start

Each line on a bill of materials has a **Consumed at** station: the step where that material is used. When that step **first starts** on the floor, the material for the whole order leaves stock (quantity per unit × the order's quantity, plus any scrap percentage). It happens once per line, so stopping and restarting the step doesn't take it again. A line with no station set is taken at the first step.

When the order completes (its last step is completed on the tablet, or someone chooses **Mark complete** on the work order page), anything not taken yet is taken then, and the order's quantity goes into the finished item's stock.

Reopening a done order takes its finished goods back out. The materials stay used, since they went into the product.

### Partial completions

*(Mid plan and up)*

Once an order's last step has started, the operator (or a manager with **Report finished** on the work order page) can put some finished units into stock before the whole order is done, for example to ship a first batch. Those units are in stock right away. When the order completes, only the rest goes in. Reopening the order takes back only what completion added; units finished early stay.

### Waste and scrap

*(Mid plan and up)*

- **Waste** is material lost beyond what the order planned, like a mis-cut sheet. That much leaves stock now, and the order still makes its full quantity.
- **Scrap** is units of the order lost. The order's quantity drops by that much. For each material, FloorLine takes into account whether the order already took it:
  - Material already taken for those units comes **back** to stock, less whatever was lost with them.
  - Material not taken yet is simply never taken for those units; anything lost with them leaves stock as scrap.

Both are reported from the work order page's **More** menu (**Report waste**, **Scrap units**) or from the tablet. See [Work orders](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/floor/work-orders/).

## The floor never stops for stock

Stock taken by the floor may go **below zero**. If a step starts and the shelf says there's only 3 of a part the order needs 5 of, the 5 are still taken and on hand shows −2. The operator is working with real parts in their hands; the number is what's wrong, and a count fixes it later. FloorLine warns ahead of time instead: a work order short on materials shows a **Short** flag, and the tablet warns on the step before it starts.

Shipping is different. A shipment can't take stock below zero, because you can't ship what isn't there. Counts and adjustments can't go below zero either.

## The forecast: what stock will be

On hand is now. The **forecast** is what on hand will be once the orders already out are done:

**forecast = on hand − going out + coming in**

- **Going out** (committed): materials active work orders still need and haven't taken yet, plus what's left to ship on open delivery orders.
- **Coming in** (incoming): what active work orders will make and haven't put in stock yet, plus what's left to receive on open purchase orders.

The item page shows a **Forecast** box next to **On hand**, with how many orders it's after. Click it to see those orders in the order they'll move stock (by planned time on Mid and up, otherwise by due, expected, or ship-by date), what each takes or adds, and the stock left after each. That's how you see not just that an item goes short, but which order takes it there and when.

[Replenishment](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/replenishment/) is built on the forecast: it lists items whose forecast falls to or below their min, or below zero when they have no min.

## Lots, serial numbers, and locations

*(Mid plan and up)*

An item can also be counted **by lot** or **by serial number**. On hand and its movements work exactly as above, and the lots or serial numbers move alongside, so you can trace any lot from where it came from to where it went. Stock for these items is changed lot by lot or serial by serial; the on-hand button opens the lot or serial dialog instead.

*Screenshot: The stock dialog for an item counted by lot: pick a lot, record a count or an adjustment, and Save*

See [Lots and serial numbers](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/lots-serials/).

On the **High** plan with several locations, every movement happens at a location (a receipt at the purchase order's location, a step's materials at its station's location), and the stock dialog shows on hand at each location and in transit. The item's total, the forecast, and Replenishment still count the whole shop. See [Locations](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/locations/).

## Below Basic

Inventory is on the Basic plan and up. On Free, work orders still run and finish, but stock doesn't move and items have no on hand. If a shop moves down to Free, its inventory data is kept and hidden, and comes back on an upgrade.

**Tip:**
Start with an honest count. The floor keeps stock right from then on only if the starting number was right: count each tracked item once when you set it up, or import on-hand quantities with [Import from spreadsheets](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/importing/).

## Related

- [Set up items](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/items/)
- [Bills of materials](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/setup/boms/)
- [Replenishment](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/replenishment/)
- [Shipping and receiving](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/shipping-receiving/)
- [Lots and serial numbers](https://docs.floorlinehq.com/stock/lots-serials/)