The quick answer
Set up an inventory status for damaged stock with Make Inventory Available For Commitment and Make Inventory Available For Allocation And Planning both cleared. Then go to Transactions > Inventory > Inventory Status Change, pick the location, leave Previous Status on Good, set Revised Status to Damaged, and enter the item and quantity. At a location that uses bins, name the bin in the line's Inventory Detail. After you save, the item's on-hand quantity doesn't change, but the damaged units drop out of Available, so sales orders can't commit them. In this example, 12 on hand stays 12 and Available goes from 12 to 9.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and company names are fictional. Use your own item, location and statuses when following the steps.
Before you start
A shelf check at Eastfield Warehouse turns up 3 fans with dented housings. The item is FAN-240 Wall-Mount Exhaust Fan, and all 12 units sit in bin B-03-02 in Good status. The fans might get repaired or go back to the vendor, so they still exist. An inventory adjustment would take them out of stock and post to the GL, which is wrong for units you still have. You just don't want an order promised against them.
The account needs the Inventory Status, Multi-Location Inventory and Bin Management features. NetSuite creates Good when Inventory Status is turned on. The Damaged status has to exist before you move anything into it, with both availability boxes cleared. Your role needs permission to create Inventory Status Change transactions and view items.
FAN-240 is a plain inventory item, not lot or serial numbered. Eastfield uses bins, so the line needs Inventory Detail to say which bin the units come from. At a location without bins, you usually skip that and enter only the item and quantity. Lot and serial numbered items need Inventory Detail to name the lots or serial numbers.
01. Check the item before the change
Open FAN-240 from Lists > Accounting > Items. On the Purchasing/Inventory subtab, open Locations and set View to Inventory. The Eastfield Warehouse row shows Quantity On Hand 12, Quantity Committed 0 and Quantity Available 12.
Then open the Inventory Detail subtab. It shows where the stock sits and in which status. Eastfield has one row: bin B-03-02, status Good, On Hand 12, Available 12.
02. Check the two statuses
Go to Lists > Supply Chain > Inventory Statuses.
The list has two statuses. Good has State Default, and Damaged is Active, described as units with physical damage awaiting repair or return.
Open Damaged. Make Inventory Available For Commitment and Make Inventory Available For Allocation And Planning are both cleared. Units in this status are on hand, but sales orders and other demand can't commit them, and supply allocation and planning don't count them.
Open Good. Both boxes are checked. Leave both records as they are.
The two boxes are separate on purpose. You can keep stock out of commitment and still count it for planning, say for units you expect back soon. For damaged stock, clear both. The second box depends on your allocation and planning features, so its label can differ a little or it may not show at all. Decide this before you use a new status: once a custom status is on transactions, you usually can't change its availability settings.
03. Enter the Inventory Status Change
Go to Transactions > Inventory > Inventory Status Change. Clicking the menu entry opens a new transaction.
The location and both statuses are header fields. Select Eastfield Warehouse in Location. Previous Status already shows Good, so leave it. Select Damaged in Revised Status. In a OneWorld account, Subsidiary fills in from the location on this form. If yours asks for it, select it. Enter the memo "Dented housings found during shelf check".
On the Items sublist, select FAN-240 Wall-Mount Exhaust Fan. On Hand shows 12 and Units shows Each. Enter 3 in Quantity. You don't pick statuses on the line. Every line moves stock from the header's Previous Status to its Revised Status.
Click the Inventory Detail icon on the line. In the popup, select B-03-02 in Bin. Its Available shows 12. Enter 3 in Quantity and click OK. Then click Add on the Items sublist to commit the line.
Click Save. The saved Inventory Status Change shows Location Eastfield Warehouse, Previous Status Good, Revised Status Damaged, the memo, and one line: FAN-240 with Quantity 3.
The transaction reclassifies stock. It doesn't change the on-hand quantity or the inventory value, and it normally has no GL impact.
04. Check the item after the change
Open FAN-240 again and go back to Purchasing/Inventory > Locations with the Inventory view. Eastfield Warehouse still shows Quantity On Hand 12 and Quantity Committed 0. Quantity Available is now 9. The 3 damaged fans are still in stock, they just aren't available.
On the Inventory Detail subtab, bin B-03-02 now has two rows: Good with On Hand 9 and Damaged with On Hand 3. The Damaged row still shows 3 under Available. That column counts per bin and status and ignores the status settings. The Locations figure of 9 is the one orders commit against.
Check the result
- The saved Inventory Status Change shows Eastfield Warehouse, Previous Status Good, Revised Status Damaged, and FAN-240 with Quantity 3.
- On the item's Locations subtab, Eastfield Warehouse shows On Hand 12, Committed 0 and Available 9.
- On the Inventory Detail subtab, B-03-02 has a Good row with 9 on hand and a Damaged row with 3 on hand.
- Riverside Warehouse is unchanged at 4 on hand and 4 available.
05. What a sales order can use
The walkthrough stops at the item record. To see the effect on an order, go to Transactions > Sales > Enter Sales Orders, select a customer, set Location to Eastfield Warehouse and add FAN-240 on the Items sublist. With nothing else committed at that location, the line's Available should show 9, not 12. Other open orders or allocation rules can lower it further. Cancel the order without saving.
A sales order line doesn't pick an inventory status. Commitment only draws on statuses that are available for commitment at the line's location. If you saved an order for 12 with the usual Available Qty commit setting and no other demand, it would usually commit 9 and back order 3. The exact result depends on the commit setting, other open demand and features like Supply Allocation.
When the fans are repaired, enter another Inventory Status Change from Damaged to Good and they become available again.
Common questions
How do I stop damaged inventory from being committed to sales orders in NetSuite?
Move the damaged units into an inventory status with Make Inventory Available For Commitment cleared, using an Inventory Status Change. The units stay on hand but drop out of Available. In this example, 3 of 12 fans go from Good to Damaged, so Eastfield still has 12 on hand and only 9 available.
What's the difference between the two availability boxes on an inventory status?
Make Inventory Available For Commitment decides whether sales orders and other demand can commit the stock. Make Inventory Available For Allocation And Planning decides whether supply allocation and planning count it as supply. A status can be out of commitment but still count for planning, for stock you expect back soon. For damaged stock, clear both.
Why is Available lower than On Hand for my item?
On Hand counts every status. Available counts only stock in statuses that are available for commitment, minus what's already committed. Here, nothing is committed, so the gap of 3 between On Hand 12 and Available 9 is the Damaged stock.
Do I need Inventory Detail on an Inventory Status Change?
At a location that uses bins, yes. The line's Inventory Detail names the bin the units come from, here 3 units from B-03-02. For a plain item at a location without bins, you usually enter just the item and quantity. Lot and serial numbered items need Inventory Detail to name the lots or serial numbers.
Should I use an inventory adjustment or an Inventory Status Change for damaged stock?
Use a status change while the goods still exist and their outcome is unknown. It keeps the units on hand and valued and normally has no GL impact. Use an inventory adjustment when the quantity itself is wrong, like units that are missing or scrapped. An adjustment changes quantity and posts to the GL.
How do I see on-hand quantity by inventory status?
The item's Locations subtab only shows totals by location. For the split, open the item's Inventory Detail subtab, which lists each bin and status, or run an Inventory Balance search that includes Inventory Status. In this example, that shows 9 in Good and 3 in Damaged.
Can I pick an inventory status on a sales order line?
No. Commitment draws only on statuses that are available for commitment at the line's location. With the usual Available Qty commit setting and no other demand, an order for 12 fans would usually commit 9 and back order 3. This guide's walkthrough doesn't show a sales order.
How do I move inventory back to Good after a repair?
Enter another Inventory Status Change with Previous Status set to Damaged and Revised Status set to Good, for the same location. Enter the repaired quantity and, at a bin location, the bin in Inventory Detail. Once it's saved, the units count as available again.
Can I change a status's availability settings later?
Usually not once a custom status has been used on transactions. Decide how a status should behave before you move stock into it. Good is created by NetSuite and can't be deleted.