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Item Purchases & Allocations

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Posted on by Greg Kujawa

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Using BC 365 SaaS v25. We utilize BC as our ERP system for retail operations. When we order items from our vendors, the allocated retail sites are pre-assigned as the Location Code for the purchase lines. So when they are received into inventory they already appear available at the respective Location Code.

The challenge is that most all stock is physically shipped to our main location. It's received in BC there, tagged, and then physically sent out to the destination site. We are missing the chain of custody component as is present in transfer orders, where we can perform the two-sided transfer shipment and receipt.

I am assuming the best practice solution for this gap would be to implement BC warehousing or an ISV add-on, correct? We can certainly look into that. Just wondering aside from the presumed solution if there's something doable in BC the way we are currently operating.

Any insight would be appreciated!

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Sagar Dangar, MCP 799 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hi,

Solution1:

1. Use "Central location" in PO instead of "Main Location". Once you receive it will increase inventory on "Central location", Not on Main location.

2. Then use transfer Order to move stock from "Central Location" to "Main Location". it will gain inventory on main location.

Solution2: Use Warehouse management of business central

1. Enable warehouse receipt and shipments on Main location.

Solution3:

Use ISVs like PortWise 365 or Lanham Inbound Container

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Ben Baxter 6,575 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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You don't have to implement BC Warehousing any more than you have today. The change you would need to make is that your retail location Stockkeeping Unit Cards have their "Replenishment System" value changed to "Transfer". This will require you have a Transfer Route defined from your main warehouse to each of the retail Locations. The retail Locations will still generate the suggestion in the Planning Worksheet for the same Quantity as before, but it will be a Transfer instead of a Purchase Order.

The main Location will have a higher demand based on the new Transfer orders, which is truer to what you defined as the reality of your operation. The main Location will now be where all Purchase Orders are generated for, so you may want to look into either Stock or Lot-for-Lot policies to keep the lines suggested minimized. Then the product will be shipped out of Main on a Transfer to each of the retail Locations.

The good news it is all out-of-the-box capabilities, and no added warehousing/ISVs are required to accomplish this. Just a change in process from Purchase Orders to Transfer Orders.

Best Regards,

Ben Baxter

Accent Software Inc

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Sohail Ahmed 11,136 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Yes, I’ve worked through a similar setup, and you actually don’t need to add warehousing or use any ISV.

A better approach is to adjust your process so all vendor purchases are received at your Main Location, and then move items to retail sites using Transfer Orders. To make this work properly

Set the Replenishment System to "Transfer" on the SKU cards for each retail location.

Define Transfer Routes from the Main Location to each retail site.

Once this is in place:

BC will suggest Transfer Orders instead of Purchase Orders for the retail locations.

Your Main Location will hold the central demand and purchasing, which better reflects your physical process.

You gain proper transfer tracking, including shipment and receipt — solving your chain of custody issue.

It’s all standard BC functionality and only needs a change in your replenishment setup — no need for full warehousing or third-party tools.

Mark below checkbox to make this answer Verified if it helps you.

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RockwithNav 8,600 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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If you are maintaining all those warehouse operations then yes you should but if not and you are just dealing with the Inventory then why not to receive where you wish and then execute the Transfer Orders?

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Greg Kujawa 583 on at

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Thanks everyone for the insightful suggestions. We are currently working directly with an ISV and will bounce some of our real-world workflows off them as well. Our inventory stocking process can take one of multiple paths due to the nature of our business. Which might or might not make this more challenging.

We have traditional "buyer" orders. Where the replenishment system is used to generate purchase orders to send to the vendor. This is all based on defined stock levels. This is the majority of our restocking process.

We have certain vendors that blind-ship us goods, allocated to specific retail locations. We create receiving documents for these on the fly as product arrives, with the paperwork indicating which retail location it's intended for.

We have one-off special orders. These are generated through requisition worksheets based on open sales orders. These are currently pushed into new purchase orders to send to the vendor. The retail location associated with the sales order is the intended destination as defined on the purchase order.

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Khushbu Rajvi. 20,275 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Hope this helps:https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/finance-define-and-allocate-costs

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/payables-how-assign-item-charges

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