Backorders and expected dates

When a supplier ships some of your order but not all of it, the remaining quantity is a backorder. Fiddle keeps it on the PO as still-incoming stock with its own expected date.

Set expected dates

1. On each PO line, enter an expected date based on the supplier’s lead time.
2. Set the PO-level expected delivery date for the shipment as a whole.
3. These dates drive availability projections and tell you when short stock should clear.

How backorders work

Receive only the quantity that actually arrived. The PO moves to Partially received, and the outstanding quantity stays incoming until the rest ships.

Ordered	Received	Backordered	PO status
100	100	0	Received
100	60	40	Partially received
100	0	100	Issued

Backordered quantities remain in your incoming total, so reorder suggestions will not double-order stock that is already on the way.

Keep dates honest

If a supplier slips a shipment, update the line’s expected date right away. Stale dates make availability look better than it is and can trigger stockouts you did not see coming.

When a supplier confirms they will not ship the remainder, close the PO instead of waiting — see purchase order statuses explained.

Next steps

Review receiving stock against a PO to handle partial shipments cleanly.