Understanding stock levels and availability

Fiddle tracks several quantities for every item at every location. Knowing what each one means prevents most “my numbers look wrong” confusion.

The four key numbers

Quantity	Meaning
On hand	Physically in your possession right now
Reserved	On hand but committed to sales or work orders
Incoming	On open purchase orders, not yet received
Available	On hand minus reserved — what you can still sell or use

The formula that matters most:

Available = On hand − Reserved

Why available can differ from on hand

If you have 100 units on hand but 30 are reserved for confirmed sales orders, your available is 70. Fiddle uses available (not on hand) to prevent overselling and to drive reorder suggestions.

Seeing stock you can’t sell? Check the Reserved screen under Inventory to see which orders are holding it.

Per-location vs. total

Each location has its own on-hand and reserved figures. The item’s total is the sum across locations. If you run multiple warehouses, always confirm you’re looking at the right location before adjusting stock.

When numbers look wrong

Most discrepancies come from one of these:

• A sales order reserving stock you forgot about.
• A purchase order received into the wrong location.
• A pending transfer between locations.

The inventory activity log shows every movement for an item — start there to trace any unexpected change.