How to remove sales order backlogs from Business Central?
Sometimes we didn’t manage to ship everything on a sales order and there could be a little backlog outstanding for the customer. But after discussing it with the customer, we might want to delete it and not ship it anyway.
This is what happens in the video
Sometimes you ship most of a sales order, but a small backlog remains for the customer. After talking it over, you and the customer agree to drop the rest and not ship it at all. The question then becomes how to remove the sales order from the system. This article explains why a sales order will not delete while a remaining quantity exists, and how to align the shipped and invoiced quantities so you can delete the order.
You can delete a sales order in Business Central once the quantity shipped equals the quantity invoiced. A sales order normally deletes automatically when you post the remaining quantities. If a backlog remains, the order stays in the system because there is still a remaining quantity to handle.
To delete an old sales order with an outstanding backlog, make sure you have invoiced everything you shipped. When the shipped quantity matches the invoiced quantity, the order no longer has anything open and you can delete it manually.
Why a sales order does not delete automatically
A sales order in Business Central is deleted automatically when you post the remaining quantities. The order stays in place as long as there is a remaining quantity outstanding.
Take an example where the order lines have quantities like 24, 17 and 12. If you scroll right on the sales order, you can see the relevant fields: quantity to ship, quantity shipped, quantity to invoice and quantity invoiced. In this case there is a remaining quantity of 8, which is the backlog. That remaining quantity is the only reason the sales order has not been deleted.
How to delete a sales order with an outstanding backlog
The single criterion for deleting an old sales order is that the quantity shipped equals the quantity invoiced. When those two numbers match, you have the same amount on the posted shipments and the posted invoices, and there is nothing left open on the order.
So to delete the sales order, make sure your quantity shipped equals your quantity invoiced. Once they are the same, you can delete the order directly from the sales order itself. Confirm the deletion, and the order is removed.
You do not need to ship or invoice the remaining backlog quantity to get rid of the order. As long as the shipped quantity and the invoiced quantity line up, you can delete the old sales order and leave the backlog unshipped.
Q&A
Why can’t I delete my sales order in Business Central?
A sales order will not delete while there is a remaining quantity outstanding. The order normally deletes automatically when you post the remaining quantities, so as long as a backlog exists, the order stays in the system.
How do I delete a sales order when I won’t ship the remaining backlog?
Make sure the quantity shipped equals the quantity invoiced. When those two values match, the order has nothing open, and you can delete it manually from the sales order. You do not need to ship the remaining backlog quantity.
What is the criterion for deleting an old sales order?
The only criterion is that the shipped quantity and the invoiced quantity are the same. When the posted shipments and posted invoices hold the same amount, you can delete the order.