The Backorder Enquiry is a comprehensive order management tool that provides real-time visibility into your sales order fulfillment process. This powerful report enables administration staff to efficiently track shipping progress, manage inventory allocation, and streamline the entire order-to-delivery workflow. By consolidating information about stock availability, shipment status, and outstanding quantities in one place, the Backorder Enquiry eliminates guesswork and enables proactive order management.

Navigate to Reports > Sales > Backorder Enquiry from the main menu. The system automatically applies the "Backordered" filter to show orders requiring immediate attention. Click on Run to generate the report's results using your applied filters. Then click on the Export dropdown to share your results in a CSV, PDF or XLSX format.

Filtering the Backorder Enquiry

Use the Backorder Enquiry's available filter fields, found at the top of the page, to refine your search and manage your open Sales Orders and ordered products quickly and effectively.

Backorder Enquiry filters	Description
Date From	Set the start date to filter Sales Orders by their Order Date.
Date To	Set the end date to filter Sales Orders by their Order Date.
Order Status	Use the drop-down menu to filter open Sales Orders by their current Order Status: Open Parked Placed Backordered custom Sales Order Status
Order Warehouse	Use the multi-select drop-down menu to filter Sales Orders by their assigned warehouse.
Product Code	Filter for a specific product by their product code.
Product Description	Filter for a specific product by their product description.
Customer Type	Use the drop-down menu to filter Sales Orders by the customer's assigned Customer Type.
Customer Code	Filter for Sales Orders of a specific customer by their customer code.
Customer Name	Filter for Sales Orders of a specific customer by their customer name.

Using the Backorder Enquiry

There are two different views, available as tabs, to the Backorder Enquiry. The same filter options apply to both tabs, but how the enquiry's results populate varies.

Sales Orders tab

This Sales Orders tab presents a consolidated, high-level overview where each Sales Order appears as a single row that can be expanded for detailed line-by-line product information. This view is ideal for order-level decision making and bulk actions.

Backorder Enquiry's Sales Order tab grid column	Description
Expand (+) or Collapse (-)	Click on the + icon to expand the Sales Order's row to display an overview of each Order Line; click the - icon to collapse the view. The expanded view will display the following Order Line details: Line Number Product Code Product Description Next Delivery Ordered To Ship Can Ship On Shipments Shipped
Action cog	Use the checkboxes to select Sales Orders and process bulk actions by hovering over the action cog in the header: Select All Select None Complete Orders Create Shipments
Order No.	Displays the Sales Order's transaction number.
Order Date	Displays the Sales Order's Order Date.
Required Date	Displays the Sales Order's Required Date. When the Required Date is in the past, it will be highlighted in red.
Order Warehouse	Displays the name of the warehouse assigned to the Sales Order.
Order Status	Displays the current status of the Sales Order, including custom Sales Order Statuses.
Customer Code	Displays the Sales Order's customer's unique code.
Can Ship	Displays the quantity that is available to ship from the order warehouse's Stock On Hand (SOH) as a percentage of the ordered quantity, across the whole order.
On Shipments	Displays the quantity that is included on an open Shipment for the Sales Order as a percentage of the remaining ordered quantity to dispatch, across the whole order.
Shipped	Displays the quantity that has been dispatched for the Sales Order as a percentage of the ordered quantity, across the whole order.
Action	Hover over the action cog icon to select one of the following actions from the Sales Order: Ship Create Purchase Complete

Sales Order hidden columns

Use the Hidden Columns button in the Sales Order tab's Show Toolbar tab to customize your view by dragging and dropping columns into the grid. Additional available columns include:

Backorder Enquiry's Sales Order hidden columns	Description
Contact Email	Displays the Sales Order's customer's primary contact's email address.
Contact Name	Displays the Sales Order's customer's primary contact's name.
Contact Phone	Displays the Sales Order's customer's primary contact's phone number.
Customer	Displays the Sales Order's customer's name.
Customer Ref	Displays the Sales Order's Customer Reference.
Sales Order Group	Displays the Sales Group assigned to the Sales Order.
Sales Person	Displays the Sales Person assigned to the Sales Order.
Uninvoiced (base currency)	Displays the total sales value of the Sales Order that has not been included on a completed Invoice for the order.

All tab

The All tab displays every order line as a separate row, providing a product-focused perspective that's particularly useful for inventory planning and product-specific analysis. Each row shows the same fulfillment metrics as the Sales Orders tab, but at the individual product level rather than the order level.

Backorder Enquiry's All grid column	Description
Customer Name	Displays the name of the customer who has ordered the product.
Product Code	Displays the product's unique code.
Product Description	Displays the product's description.
Next Delivery	Displays the soonest Delivery Date of a Placed status Purchase Order, the product is included in.
Ordered	Displays the product's total order quantity in the Sales Order.
To Ship	Displays the product quantity still due to be dispatched on a shipment for the Sales Order.
Can Ship	Displays the product quantity that is available to ship from the order warehouse's available Stock On Hand (SOH).
On Shipments	Displays the product quantity that is currently included on open Shipments for the Sales Order.
Shipped	Displays the total product quantity that has been dispatched for the Sales Order.

All tab hidden column

Use the Hidden Columns button in the All tab's Show Toolbar tab to customize your view by dragging and dropping columns into the grid. Additional available columns include:

Backorder Enquiry's All hidden columns	Description
Customer Code	Displays the Sales Order's customer's code.
Customer Ref	Displays the Sales Order's Customer Reference.
Order Date	Displays the Sales Order's Order Date.
Order Number	Displays the Sales Order's transaction number.
Required Date	Displays the Sales Order's Required Date.
Sales Order Group	Displays the Sales Groups assigned to the Sales Order.
Sales Person	Displays the Sales Person assigned to the Sales Order.
Warehouse Code	Displays the code of the Sales Order's assigned Order Warehouse.
Warehouse Name	Displays the name of the Sales Order's assigned Order Warehouse.

Manage Orders from the Backorder Enquiry

Not only is the Backorder Enquiry a useful reporting tool, it can also become an action center, enabling you to move seamlessly from identifying order status to taking immediate fulfillment actions. Rather than simply viewing order information, you can directly create shipments, generate purchase orders for out-of-stock items, and complete orders without leaving the enquiry page. This integrated approach eliminates the need to navigate between multiple screens and significantly reduces the time between identifying an order issue and resolving it.

Create Shipments

To create Shipments for individual Sales Orders:

Go to Reports > Sales > Backorder Enquiry.
Filter and Run the enquiry to locate the open Sales Order.
Hover over the Sales Order row's action cog icon.
Select "Ship".
A Shipment with Parked status will be created for the Sales Order.

To create Shipments for multiple Sales Orders:

Go to Reports > Sales > Backorder Enquiry.
Filter and Run the enquiry to locate the open Sales Order.
Tick the checkboxes of select multiple Sales Orders in the same results page.
Hover over the column header's action cog icon.
Select "Create Shipments".
Shipments with Parked statuses will be created for the selected Sales Orders.

Create Purchase Orders

When stock levels are insufficient to fulfill orders, the Backorder Enquiry streamlines the procurement process:

Go to Reports > Sales > Backorder Enquiry.
Filter and Run the enquiry to locate the out-of-stock Sales Order.
Hover over the Sales Order row's action cog icon.
Select "Create Purchase".
In the Create Purchase Order pop-up window, confirm for each Order Line:
1. Purchase Qty: Will automatically populate based on availability requirements. Click on the field to edit.
2. Supplier: Will populate the product's default supplier. Click on the field to edit.
Select Create.
A new Purchase Order will be created for each supplier in Parked status.

Complete Sales Orders

Provided there is enough stock available in the Sales Order's Order Warehouse, Sales Orders can be completed directly from the Backorder Enquiry. When a Sales Order is completed, Shipments and Invoices for any ordered products that have not been invoiced or dispatched will be created and completed.

When there is not enough stock available to fulfil an open Sales Order, an error will be displayed as a red banner in the Backorder Enquiry when you attempt to complete it to advise why the order could not be updated.

To complete individual Sales Orders from the Backorder Enquiry:

Go to Reports > Sales > Backorder Enquiry.
Filter and Run the enquiry to locate the open Sales Order.
Hover over the Sales Order row's action cog icon.
Select "Complete".
The Sales Order will update to Completed status.

To complete multiple Sales Orders:

Go to Reports > Sales > Backorder Enquiry.
Filter and Run the enquiry to locate the open Sales Order.
Tick the checkboxes of select multiple Sales Orders in the same results page.
Hover over the column header's action cog icon.
Select "Complete Orders".
The selected Sales Orders will update to Completed status.

Best practices

The Backorder Enquiry transforms order management from a reactive process into a proactive, data-driven workflow that keeps your fulfillment operations running smoothly while maintaining high customer satisfaction levels.

Daily Checks: Use the Backorder Enquiry as part of your daily order management routine to identify priority shipments and potential stockouts before they impact customer satisfaction.
Proactive Inventory Management: Regular monitoring of the "Can Ship" percentages helps you identify inventory needs and trigger purchase orders before stockouts occur.
Customer Communication: Use the Required Date highlighting to identify overdue orders that may need customer communication or expedited handling.
Warehouse Coordination: Filter by specific warehouses to coordinate fulfillment activities across multiple locations and optimize shipping efficiency.