Negative balances in the warehouse: why they appear and how to remove them systematically
Negative stock balances: how to find the cause and remove negative quantities
If, in Torgsoft, a product is displayed with a negative quantity in the «Warehouse status» form, this means there is a gap in accounting between product receipt and product outflow. Most often, this situation occurs when a product was sold before it was posted, when an old incoming invoice was changed or deleted, or when an error occurred during an internal transfer through the «Goods in transit» warehouse. To remove negative quantities correctly, you need not only to balance the stock but also to find the real cause of their appearance.
Negative stock balances should not be corrected mechanically without checking product movement. The same symptom may appear for different reasons: sale without receipt, a deleted invoice, or errors during internal transfer. If you simply create a new receipt or conduct inventory without understanding the source of the problem, you may remove the negative quantity from the screen but leave distorted cost and profit in reports. If the cause is not obvious or repeats systematically, it is better to contact technical support.
How the problem with negative stock balances appears
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Negative quantities appeared in the warehouse, although the product was available.
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The product is highlighted in red in the warehouse status.
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The program does not allow the period to be closed and displays an error about negative stock balances.
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The cost and profit calculation became incorrect.
How to understand that there are negative stock balances in accounting
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In the «Warehouse status» form, the «Quantity» column displays values with a minus sign, and the row itself is highlighted in red.
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When trying to close the period (month), the program signals the presence of negative stock balances and generates the corresponding report.
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The product cost is calculated incorrectly and, as a result, the profit report is distorted, because a sale “into negative stock” has no cost from a receipt.
Why negative stock balances appear in the warehouse
Cause No. 1 (most common). Product sale before posting
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Description. The store physically sells a product that has not yet been entered into the program. For example, a truck arrived, the product was immediately placed in the sales area, and the incoming invoice is processed later. -
How to check. Open «Warehouse» → «Warehouse status» → the «Product movement» button for the problem item. You will see that the «Sale» document comes before the «Receipt» document, or that there is no receipt at all.
Cause No. 2. Deleting, editing, or canceling incoming documents
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Description. The product was posted in an active invoice, then it was sold or moved to another store. After that, the user deleted the original incoming invoice or made it “inactive”. Since the outflow remained, and the source of receipt disappeared — a negative balance is created.
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How to check. Check «File» → «User action log» or «Document change log» for the deletion/change of the incoming invoice status.
Cause No. 3. Errors during internal transfer ("Goods in transit")
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Description. Transfer invoices are duplicated, for example, received on two computers at the same time, or a transfer invoice from the "Goods in transit" warehouse exists, but there is no incoming invoice to the final warehouse.
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How to check. Check stock balances and product movement in the third-level Goods in transit warehouse.
How to remove negative stock balances step by step
Step 1. Search for all negative stock balances
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Go to «Warehouse» → «Warehouse status».
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In the status filter at the top right, select «Only with negative quantity».
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Click «Refresh». You will receive a complete list of problem products.
Step 2. Analyze the cause for a specific product
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Select the problem product and click the «Product movement» button or «Warehouse accounting card».
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Analyze the sequence of documents: whether there is a receipt, whether it was deleted, and whether sales exceed actual receipts.
Step 3. Stock balancing (removing the negative quantity)
Depending on the cause, choose one of the options:
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Option A (The product was simply not posted): conduct an inventory of negative stock balances. Create an inventory sheet, add the “negative” products with the actual quantity or zero if the product is truly no longer available. After the sheet is closed, the program will automatically create a "Receipt from inventory", which will cover the negative quantity.
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Option B (Receipt was deleted by mistake): create a new incoming invoice for the missing product quantity.
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Option C (Pending status in the "Goods in transit" warehouse): find the duplicate transfer invoice in the Goods in transit warehouse and delete it, or complete the product receiving to the final warehouse.
Step 4. Cost recalculation
Since sales “into negative stock” had no purchase price, after posting or balancing the product, you must recalculate the cost through «Warehouse status» → «Recalculate cost» or in Analysis → Period, so that profit figures become accurate.
How to prevent negative stock balances from appearing again
To prevent the problem from recurring systematically, you need to change the settings and restrict staff permissions:
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Prohibit sales into negative stock (critically important):
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Go to «Settings» → «Parameters» → the «Accounting» tab.
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In the «What to do if there is not enough product in stock» field, select «Prohibit sales into negative stock». Now the program will physically prevent the cashier from selling a product that is not in stock.
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Hide negative stock balances from sellers:
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In Settings → Parameters → Access, remove permission for sellers to see negative and zero stock balances. This information is needed only by the merchandiser or owner; for sellers, it creates room for manipulation.
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Restrict permissions to delete documents:
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In Settings → Role settings, prohibit regular sellers from deleting products from sales without a reason, and also revoke the right to edit and delete warehouse documents (incoming invoices).
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Regular period closing:
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Make it a rule: at the end of the month, conduct inventory, balance stock, and close the period («Analysis» → «Period» → «Close period»). In a closed period, users will not be able to delete a receipt retroactively and create a negative balance.
How to check that negative quantities have been removed
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Open «Warehouse» → «Warehouse status».
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Set the filter «Only with negative quantity» and click «Refresh».
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The product list should be empty.
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Try to sell a product that is not in stock in «Sale» — the program should display a prohibition.
What to prepare for technical support if the problem is complex
If negative quantities appear due to unclear system errors, prepare the following for technical support:
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Torgsoft program version (Help → About the program).
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Barcode or SKU of the problem product where an unclear negative balance appeared.
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Screenshot of the «Warehouse accounting card» or «Product movement» for this item.
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Database archive, if a deeper analysis by developers is required.
Frequently asked questions
The most common reason is the sale of goods before they were officially posted in the program (sale "in the negative"). That is, the goods are physically in the store, and the buyer buys them, but the cashier or merchandiser has not yet entered the receipt in the database. Also, minuses often appear if the user accidentally deleted or canceled the old receipt, according to which this product was once received, but at the same time the expense documents (sales) remained in the system.
For system balance adjustment, it is best to filter out goods with a negative quantity on the "Warehouse Status" form and conduct an inventory on them. After closing the inventory statement, the program will automatically create "Inventory Income", which will cover the shortage and bring the balance to zero or the actual quantity. If the minus occurred due to an accidentally deleted receipt, you can manually create a new receipt document for the corresponding quantity of goods to restore the balance. After such actions, it is imperative to recalculate the cost price.
The program allows such a sale if the permission for negative sales is enabled in its global settings. This function is specially created for situations when the product has already physically arrived on the store shelves and needs to be sold urgently, but the merchandiser has not yet had time to enter the receipt invoice. While this function is active, the cashier will be able to punch in the product with a zero balance, and the program will simply record the negative value in the warehouse, waiting for the further posting of the product.
To prevent cashiers from selling a product that is not in the warehouse by the program, you need to change the accounting settings. Go to the "Settings" menu → "Parameters" → the "Accounting" tab. Find the field "What to do if there is not enough goods in the warehouse when selling" and select the option "Prohibit sale in minus". After saving the changes, the program will physically block the addition of such goods to the sales receipt.
Yes, the program supports flexible settings for each point of sale. In the "Settings" menu → "Parameters" → "Accounting" tab in the balance control field, you should select the option "Configure for each accounting center". After that, in the settings card of each individual accounting center (warehouse or store), its own field will appear, where you can individually allow, warn or prohibit the sale of goods in minus for this store.
The "Recalculate quantity" button on the "Warehouse status" form helps only when there is a desynchronization of the visual display of the warehouse with warehouse documents - for example, after editing or deleting documents "retroactively" with the static method of warehouse assembly. It updates the numbers on the screen to their real documentary value. However, if the minus arose due to real sales without receipt, the recalculation will not "draw" the goods - it will simply confirm the actual shortage according to the documents. To remove such a minus, you need a real receipt or inventory.
If you found a specific error in an open (recent) document - for example, you accidentally indicated 10 pieces in the receipt invoice instead of 100 - it is enough to simply open this document for editing and correct the quantity. An inventory is needed when you do not know for sure where the minus came from, if the error extends from past (closed) periods, or if the goods were regularly sold without invoices. In such cases, the easiest way is to calculate the actual balances and let the program balance them automatically through the inventory act.
If you delete or make "inactive" an old revenue invoice, all the goods from it will disappear from the warehouse status. However, all your sales (realizations) or movements of this product will remain in the database. As a result, the program will see that there is a consumption of the product, but there is no source of income, and will automatically transfer the balances of this product to the minus. In addition, this will seriously distort the calculation of the cost price and your profit in analytical reports.
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