If you run a separate sales company and a separate inventory company in Business Central, you can assign quantities across the two. The Assign Quantity functionality lets you check inventory availability in another company and assign from there, so a salesperson working in the sales company can reserve stock that physically sits in the inventory company.
You control which company to look into through the Item Availability Setup card. Set a default company for Assign Quantity, and the system will look into that company every time you assign from a sales order.
The graphical inventory profile can also show the profile from another company. The setting is remembered per user, so each salesperson can keep their own configuration.
Assigning quantity across companies in Business Central
Assign Quantity normally looks at the inventory in the company you are working in. With cross-company assignment, you can instead look into another company and assign according to the inventory availability there.
A typical scenario is a setup with one sales company and one inventory company. The salesperson sits in the sales company but needs to reserve stock that is held in the inventory company. With this functionality, the sales order can see and assign against the inventory in the other company.
How it works with two companies
In this example there are two companies. The inventory company is named Dynas Data, and the sales company is named Dynas Sales Company.
In the inventory company, the item has an ending inventory of 47 pieces, shown in the graphical inventory profile on a location basis.
If you create a sales order in the sales company and use Assign Quantity with the standard setup, it only assigns from the stock available in that same company. In this case the sales company holds 5 pieces, so assigning 30 only reserves the 5 pieces it has locally. The graphical profile in the sales company then shows the sales order drawing inventory down to zero.
You can still run the graphical profile for another company. By selecting Use Company, you choose to display the graphical profile from the inventory company instead, which shows the ending inventory of 47.
Setting a default company in the Item Availability Setup
The Assign Quantity setup is handled through the Item Availability Setup card. In the setup, you can default which company to use when you run Assign Quantity.
Set the inventory company as the default. From then on, every time you assign quantity from a sales order in the sales company, the system looks into the inventory company.
After configuring this, go back to the sales line and clear the quantity so it assigns according to the other company. When you enter 30, it now assigns the full 30 and displays an available quantity of 47, because it is reading from the inventory company.
Graphical profile is remembered per user
When you run the graphical profile after this setup, it shows the inventory company and remembers the company selection per user. Each salesperson keeps their own setting.
The result is that you can work as a salesperson in the sales company, use Assign Quantity against the inventory company, and see the result both in the graphical profile and through the assign functionality.
Q&A
What does cross-company Assign Quantity do in Business Central?
It lets you check inventory availability in another company and assign quantities from there. You can sit in a sales company and reserve stock that is held in a separate inventory company.
How do I tell Business Central which company to assign from?
Open the Item Availability Setup card and set a default company for Assign Quantity. Once set, every assignment from a sales order looks into that company instead of the one you are working in.
Why does Assign Quantity only reserve part of my sales order quantity?
With the standard setup, it only assigns from the inventory available in the company you are working in. If that company holds 5 pieces and you assign 30, only the 5 available pieces are reserved. To draw on stock in another company, set that company as the default in the Item Availability Setup.
Is the graphical profile company setting shared across users?
No. The graphical profile remembers the selected company per user, so each salesperson can keep their own configuration.
Can I view the inventory profile from another company?
Yes. When you run the graphical profile, select Use Company to display the inventory profile from another company, such as your inventory company.