Symptom

You see one or more of the following:

  • A SKU's Available Quantity is negative in the Stocks Grid (oversold).
  • The Resolve Inventory Discrepancies page lists SKU and warehouse rows where the quantity in Luminous's cost layers (System Qty) differs from the on-hand quantity (Stock Qty).
  • You aren't sure which of the four posting buttons to use, especially Post as Shipment COGS.

These are two separate problems. Work out which one you have before you change anything.

Why it happens

Oversold. Available Quantity is On-Hand minus Pending. Pending is the units reserved by open, unfulfilled sales orders. If open orders add up to more than the physical stock, Available goes negative. Luminous floors the quantity it publishes to your sales channels at zero, so a negative figure is not sent to your storefront. (Source: existing KB article, linked below.)

SKU-level discrepancy. The Resolve Inventory Discrepancies page compares each SKU's cost-layer quantity with its stock quantity, by warehouse and lot. It lists every row where the two differ. Each row shows the Variance, a loss or surplus badge, and an estimated Value impact. This commonly happens after 3PL syncs or month-end counts, when the warehouse's numbers differ from what Luminous recorded.

How to resolve

A. Oversold SKUs

  1. Go to Inventory → Stocks Grid. Filter Available Quantity to Less than 0.
  2. Compare On-Hand and Pending for each SKU. The gap is your shortfall.
  3. Close the gap in one of these ways:
    • Reduce demand: In Operations → Sales Order Grid → Backorders, filter by SKU and cancel or close orders that should not ship.
    • Add supply: Select the SKU in the Stocks Grid and click Create Purchase Order.
    • Record stock that was never entered: Post an Inventory Adjustment Entry with the counted quantity.
  4. Pending recalculates automatically. Allow a few minutes, then refresh.

B. SKU-specific discrepancies

  1. Trace the cause first. Go to Insights → Accounting → Drill Down. Use the Adjustment, Receiving and Transaction COGS drilldowns to see what was received, adjusted and shipped for the SKU.
  2. Go to Insights → Accounting → Resolve Inventory Discrepancies. The header shows how many discrepancies were detected, plus total Loss and Surplus values.
  3. Check the SKU, Warehouse, Lot, System Qty, Stock Qty, Variance, Type and Value columns. Use Export CSV if you want to review the list offline.
  4. Tick the rows you want to resolve. A bar with four buttons appears.
  5. Click the button that matches the cause. Luminous asks you to confirm.
    • Post as Inventory Loss: the confirmation says it posts found stock plus an inventory loss, so shrinkage is booked while on-hand stays at the stock figure.
    • Post as Inventory Surplus: updates cost layers to match stock. On-hand is not moved, because stock is already correct.
    • Post as Data Correction: a recording fix. The confirmation says negative gaps are booked like a Loss, and positive gaps update cost layers only.
    • Post as Shipment COGS: see below.
  6. If some rows can't be posted, Luminous skips them and shows a message. Rows that can be posted are still posted. Check the page after refreshing to see what remains.

What "Post as Shipment COGS" means

Use this when the gap is a month-end 3PL gap that you want recorded as cost of goods sold instead of as shrinkage or a correction. The confirmation message says it "posts found stock + shipment COGS … so Core books month-end 3PL gaps as COGS. Classic stock quantity is unchanged."

  • Your on-hand stock quantity does not change. The entry corrects the cost-layer side.
  • It is recorded as its own transaction type, "DISCREPANCY - SHIPMENT COGS". It is not recorded as a real shipment document.
  • Choose it instead of Inventory Loss when the missing units were effectively sold and shipped by the 3PL but never logged in Luminous. Choose Inventory Loss for true shrinkage.
  • Posting changes cost and valuation, so check your COGS and valuation reports afterward. If you're unsure which type applies to your accounting, ask your finance lead or support before posting.

The page's own hint gives the same guidance: use Shipment COGS for COGS gaps, Inventory Loss for shrinkage, and Surplus or a positive Correction to fix cost layers only.

When to contact support

  • Available Quantity is still negative several minutes after you cancelled orders or posted an adjustment.
  • Many rows fail to post, or the page shows a large number of unexplained variances after an integration event.
  • You are unsure whether a gap should be booked as Loss, Surplus, Correction or Shipment COGS, or the posting falls in a period that has been locked or closed.

See also: /articles/how-do-i-investigate-and-resolve-oversold-inventory-quantities-and-discrepancies-between-luminous-and-my-warehouse-or-3pl?