Why Inventory Statuses Matter
Inventory statuses are a smart way to control the availability of your stock for specific operational needs. Whether it’s quality control, returns, or internal review, inventory statuses help you segregate inventory until it’s ready for action.
Let’s say you have a new raw material coming into your warehouse. If that material starts getting used in manufacturing before it undergoes a formal inspection, it could lead to costly errors. That’s where inventory statuses come in handy.
Step 1: Creating a New Inventory Status
To get started, navigate to:
Lists → Supply Chain → Inventory Statuses
You’ll likely see a default status already labeled “Good.” In our case, we’re adding a new status called “Quarantine.”
- Name: Quarantine
- Description: Used for items pending quality review
- Uncheck: Make Inventory Available for Commitment
This ensures that any item marked with the “Quarantine” status will not be available for sales or manufacturing until cleared.
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Performing and Approving the Count
Once the count is created, someone else can begin physically counting inventory.
- They go into the count record and edit it to enter the quantity they physically found.
- Notice they won’t see the system’s current quantity—this prevents just copying numbers without checking.
- For example, if there were 23 bikes recorded but only 21 counted, they’ll enter “21” and save.
At this point, the count status changes to Started.
Step 2: Receiving Inventory with a Specific Status
We’ve got a purchase order ready for our Dagobah location. The item is a lot-numbered component that must be reviewed before it’s used.
When receiving the PO:
- Go to the PO and click Receive.
- Enter inventory details—lot number, quantity (e.g., 500 units), expiration date (say, two years from today).
- Select Inventory Status = Quarantine.
- Save the receipt.
Now, if you return to the item record and scroll to inventory levels, you’ll see:
- Quantity on hand: 500
- Quantity available: 0
Why? Because those 500 units are in quarantine, as expected.
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Step 3: Changing Inventory Status After Review
Once your quality or engineering team gives the green light, it’s time to move the inventory to a usable state.
Here’s how:
- Go to Transactions → Inventory → Inventory Status Change.
- Set:
- Location: Dagobah
- From Status: Quarantine
- To Status: Good
- Location: Dagobah
- Select the item and assign the correct lot number (e.g., all 500 units).
- Hit Save.
Now, refresh the item record. Under the Dagobah location:
- Quantity on hand: 500
- Quantity available: 500
Your inventory is now officially available for commitment.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Inventory statuses categorize your stock based on usability such as “Good,” “Quarantine,” or “Inspection”—to control when items can be committed to orders or production.
They prevent errors by ensuring only approved or ready materials are used in production or sales, improving both quality control and process efficiency.
Yes. You can define as many custom statuses as needed (e.g., “Pending QA,” “Damaged,” “Returned”) to match your internal processes.
No. Changing an inventory status only affects item availability it doesn’t modify financial valuation or cost accounting.
When setting up a new status, simply uncheck “Make Inventory Available for Commitment.” This keeps the items in stock but not usable until cleared.
Absolutely. When receiving items from a purchase order, you can assign a specific inventory status (like “Quarantine”) directly in the receipt screen.
“Quantity on hand” is the total physical count in your warehouse, while “quantity available” excludes items marked with restricted statuses (like Quarantine).
Use the Inventory Status Change transaction under Transactions → Inventory → Inventory Status Change to move items from one status (e.g., Quarantine) to another (e.g., Good).
Yes. NetSuite allows you to assign statuses to specific lots or serial numbers, ensuring full traceability from receipt to release.
Yes. With workflows or SuiteScripts, you can automatically move inventory between statuses based on triggers like inspection approval or test results.
