How to use the Warehouse Item Journal?

This is what happens in the video

When you work with inventory on a location that uses directed put-away and pick in Business Central, you cannot post adjustments directly in a regular item journal. You have to use the warehouse item journal first, and then synchronise the result to your item ledger entries with a second journal.

The warehouse item journal posts warehouse entries only. It registers the physical quantity changes in your bins, but it does not affect your item ledger entries.

To update your item ledger entries, you run the Calculate Warehouse Adjustment function in a normal item journal. This creates the positive and negative adjustment lines you then post.

Making a positive or negative inventory adjustment on a directed put-away and pick location requires two journals. First the warehouse item journal, then the item journal with the warehouse adjustment calculation.

Why you cannot post directly in the item journal on directed put-away and pick locations

On a location set up with directed put-away and pick, posting directly in an item journal is not possible. If you want to make positive or negative adjustments on your inventory, you have to go through the warehouse item journal instead.

The reason is that this location type tracks inventory at the bin level. You need to tell the system not just that the quantity changed, but in which bin it changed. The regular item journal does not let you enter the warehouse location code for this kind of location, so it can’t handle bin-level changes on its own.

How the warehouse item journal works

The warehouse item journal posts warehouse entries, either positive or negative. You register the changes you have made physically in the warehouse.

A typical scenario looks like this. You prepare a few lines, each with an item number and a bin code. If you are counting and find one extra piece of a lamp in a bin, you add one. If you have broken two pieces of another item, you remove two from the same bin. This way you can add or subtract quantities directly on the bins where the change happened.

When you post the warehouse item journal, you have registered the quantities in your bins. But the adjustment is only on the warehouse side. It has not reached your item ledger entries yet.

Synchronising warehouse entries with your item ledger entries

To bring the warehouse entries into your item ledger entries, you open a normal item journal. You cannot enter the warehouse location code here, but you can use the Calculate Warehouse Adjustment function for a directed put-away and pick location.

This function compares your warehouse entries against your item ledger entries and creates the adjustment lines for you. In the lamp-and-broken-item example, you get one positive adjustment and one negative adjustment. You post these lines, and your item ledger entries are then adjusted to match your actual inventory.

One thing to be aware of: items might end up in a different bin than expected, depending on how the calculation runs. If that happens, you can simply post again and make the positive or negative adjustment.

The two-journal workflow you need to follow

For a positive or negative inventory adjustment on a directed put-away and pick location, you always run two journals:

• The warehouse item journal, where you register the physical quantity changes per bin.
• The item journal, where you run Calculate Warehouse Adjustment and post the resulting positive and negative adjustment lines to your item ledger entries.

Both journals are required. The first one handles the warehouse side, the second one keeps your inventory value and item ledger entries in line with what is physically on the shelves.

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