web
You’re offline. This is a read only version of the page.
close
Skip to main content

Notifications

Announcements

Season of Giving Solutions is Here!
News and Announcements icon
Community site session details

Community site session details

Session Id :
Dynamics 365 Community / Forums / Small and medium business | Business Central, N... / GET the Default Sales ...
Small and medium business | Business Central, N...
Answered

GET the Default Sales Unit of Measure

(7) ShareShare
ReportReport
Posted on by DS-17071553-0 40
Hi everybody,
 
I'm developing an integration with BC and I'm trying to figure out how to get the Default Sales/Purchase Unit of Measure for a specific Item.
The doc doesn't seem to mention that.
 
Do you have any idea if it's a miss or it is actually not possible?
 
Thanks a lot!
 
 
Categories:
Dynamics 365 Business Central
I have the same question (0)
  • Vahid Ghafarpour Profile Picture
    Vahid Ghafarpour 12,204 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at
    It is important to know that the base unit of measure is always used for inventory transactions. The sales/purchase UOMs are just defaults for documents, they don’t affect inventory posting directly
     
  • DS-17071553-0 Profile Picture
    DS-17071553-0 40 on at
    @Vahid Ghafarpour  - Thanks for your answer! You're absolutely right about inventory posting, but this is exactly why I need access to the sales/purchase UOM fields.

    Here's my real-world scenario:

     

    I'm building an integration for a food distributor where customers place orders through different channels (email, phone, web). The challenge is that customers think and order in sales units, not base units. And so are the sales prices, set for sales unit.

     

    Example:

    • Product: San Marzano Tomatoes 5kg
    • Base UOM: KG (for inventory tracking)
    • Sales UOM: BOX (1 BOX = 5 KG)
    • Customer orders: "I need 3 boxes of tomatoes for tomorrow"
    Another example:
     
    The producer needs to receive the orders in PCS (eg. a package of mozzarella 125g) but I need to sell it in KG because customers are used to compare prices on diary products either in kg or in liters.
     
    Business impact:
    • Customer orders "10" thinking boxes, gets 10 KG instead of 50 KG
    • Staff spends time converting units manually
    • Order errors cost money and relationships
     
    Is there a way to solve this problem with a workaround?

       

       
  • Suggested answer
    Jeffrey Bulanadi Profile Picture
    Jeffrey Bulanadi 8,762 on at

    Hi,

    The documentation doesn’t always make it obvious, but BC does store default sales and purchase units of measure for each item.

    Here’s how it works:

    • On the Item Card, you’ll find:
      • Sales Unit of Measure on the Invoicing FastTab
      • Purch. Unit of Measure on the Replenishment FastTab
      • These fields reference the codes defined in the Item Units of Measure table
    • If you're accessing this via AL or API:
      • Use the Item table (Item."Sales Unit of Measure" and Item."Purch. Unit of Measure")
      • These fields return the default UOM codes assigned for sales and purchasing
      • You can also query the Item Unit of Measure table to get conversion ratios and descriptions
    • If you're using the OData API, make sure your endpoint includes the SalesUnitOfMeasure and PurchUnitOfMeasure fields. These are exposed in the standard items entity.


    Helpful references:

    Set up item units of measure – Microsoft Learn
    How to Setup Alternative Unit of Measure – CloudFronts
    Quantity in Units of Measure – Dynamics Community
    Units of Measure Setup – Solution Systems


    If you find this helpful, feel free to mark this as the suggested or verified answer.

    Cheers
    Jeffrey

  • DS-17071553-0 Profile Picture
    DS-17071553-0 40 on at

    Hi Jeffrey,

    Thanks for the answer.

    I'm currently working with the standard Business Central API v2.0, and I'm trying to retrieve the data via HTTP calls.

    However, when I do a GET on the Item, the response does not include the salesUnitOfMeasure or purchUnitOfMeasure fields — they're either missing or always null.

     

    What you mention is probably doable in AL, but how does it work with HTTP calls? If so, is there a specific $select or $expand I need to include in the query to retrieve them?

     

    Thanks again for your time and help!

     

    Best

  • Suggested answer
    Teddy Herryanto (That NAV Guy) Profile Picture
    Teddy Herryanto (Th... 14,284 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at
    On the item table, you will see the Sales Unit of Measure  and Purch. Unit of Measure. Those are the defaults.
  • DS-17071553-0 Profile Picture
    DS-17071553-0 40 on at
    That's what I get when I try to retrieve an Item with a HTTP request:


    {
       "@odata.etag":"W/""JzE5OzQyMDQ0ODgwODUzOTQxMzQ0OTgxOzAwOyc=",
       "id":ec58373e-0d11-ef11-9f88-000d3adf01b6,
       "number":ACQ01,
       "displayName":Lagrad carnaroliris 500g,
       "displayName2":,
       "type":"Inventory",
       "itemCategoryId":00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000,
       "itemCategoryCode":,
       "blocked":false,
       "gtin":,
       "inventory":0,
       "unitPrice":56,
       "priceIncludesTax":false,
       "unitCost":0,
       "taxGroupId":00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000,
       "taxGroupCode":,
       "baseUnitOfMeasureId":193014cd-c0f1-ee11-a1fd-002248a311d1,
       "baseUnitOfMeasureCode":"PCS",
       "generalProductPostingGroupId":5f5d6e62-c1f1-ee11-a1fd-002248a311d1,
       "generalProductPostingGroupCode":"DRY",
       "inventoryPostingGroupId":0c3014cd-c0f1-ee11-a1fd-002248a311d1,
       "inventoryPostingGroupCode":"WAREHOUSE",
       }
     
    I don't see anything recalling Purchase or Sales Unit Of Measure. Am I missing something?
  • Verified answer
    YUN ZHU Profile Picture
    YUN ZHU 96,039 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at
    If the standard API does not have the field you need, this needs to be customized.
    Dynamics 365 Business Central: Can we extend standard APIs? – Download Standard Source Code for APIs
     
    Hope the following can give you some hints.
    Thanks.
    ZHU
  • Suggested answer
    Sohail Ahmed Profile Picture
    Sohail Ahmed 11,154 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at
     
    To get the default Sales Unit of Measure for an Item in Business Central, check the SalesUnitOfMeasure field on the Item table (Item.SalesUnitOfMeasure).
     
    You can retrieve it via:
     
    1. AL Code / API:
    Use the Item API (v2.0) – while the standard endpoint may not include SalesUnitOfMeasure, you can create a custom API page that exposes it.
     
    2. OData or custom endpoint:
    Add the SalesUnitOfMeasure field to your custom API page or extend the standard one.
     
     
     
     
    ✅ Mark this answer as verified if it helps you.
  • Suggested answer
    Khushbu Rajvi. Profile Picture
    Khushbu Rajvi. 21,048 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

    You can get the default Sales or Purchase Unit of Measure from the Item record. These are directly available on the Item table and represent the default UOMs used on sales and purchase documents.

Under review

Thank you for your reply! To ensure a great experience for everyone, your content is awaiting approval by our Community Managers. Please check back later.

Helpful resources

News and Announcements

Season of Giving Solutions is Here!

Quick Links

Responsible AI policies

As AI tools become more common, we’re introducing a Responsible AI Use…

Neeraj Kumar – Community Spotlight

We are honored to recognize Neeraj Kumar as our Community Spotlight honoree for…

Congratulations to the November Top 10 Community Leaders!

These are the community rock stars!

Leaderboard > Small and medium business | Business Central, NAV, RMS

#1
OussamaSabbouh Profile Picture

OussamaSabbouh 1,651

#2
Khushbu Rajvi. Profile Picture

Khushbu Rajvi. 808 Super User 2025 Season 2

#3
YUN ZHU Profile Picture

YUN ZHU 718 Super User 2025 Season 2

Last 30 days Overall leaderboard

Featured topics

Product updates

Dynamics 365 release plans