How do I investigate and resolve oversold inventory quantities and discrepancies between Luminous and my warehouse or 3PL?

Symptom

You notice one or more of the following:

A SKU's Available Quantity is a negative number in the Stocks Grid (e.g., −15), even though some physical stock exists.
The On-Hand Quantity in Luminous does not match the count your warehouse or 3PL is reporting.
After a 3PL sync, inventory jumped up or down in a way you cannot explain.
The Adjustment drilldown shows entries labelled External 3PL Sync Variance that you did not create manually.

These are two distinct problems that look similar on the surface. Identifying which type you have first will save time and avoid applying the wrong fix.

Step 1 — Identify which problem you have

What you see	Type of problem	Where to go
Available Qty is negative, On-Hand is still positive	Oversold — more units are reserved for open orders than physically exist	Jump to Oversold: negative Available Quantity
On-Hand Qty in Luminous is negative, or doesn't match the physical count	On-Hand mismatch — the quantity recorded in Luminous has drifted from reality	Jump to On-Hand mismatch vs warehouse or 3PL
Both are off	Start with the On-Hand mismatch steps first, then re-check Available Quantity	Both sections below

Oversold: negative Available Quantity

Why it happens

Luminous calculates Available Quantity as On-Hand minus Pending, where Pending is the total units reserved across all open, unfulfilled sales orders. When open orders collectively exceed physical stock, Available goes negative. Common triggers include a burst of incoming orders, an inventory adjustment or transfer that reduced on-hand without cancelling associated orders, or orders stuck in an open status that should already be closed.

Your sales channels are protected. Luminous floors the quantity it pushes to Shopify, EDI partners, and other channels at zero — a negative Available figure is never published to your storefront.

How to find the affected SKUs

Go to Inventory → Stocks Grid.
Click the filter icon below the Available Quantity column header.
Select Less than and enter 0.
Review the On-Hand Quantity and Pending Quantity columns for each row — the gap is the shortfall you need to close.

How to resolve

You have two levers: reduce open demand or increase supply.

Option A — Cancel or close over-committed orders (reduce pending)

Use this when some orders should not be fulfilled or are duplicates.

Go to Operations → Sales Order Grid → Backorders.
Use the SKU column filter to find open line items for the affected SKU.
For orders that should not ship: open the order and cancel it or update its status to Cancelled/Completed. This releases the reserved units immediately.
Pending recalculates automatically — the Available Quantity in the Stocks Grid will update within a few minutes.

Option B — Create a Purchase Order to replenish stock

Use this when all orders are legitimate and you simply need more inventory.

In the Stocks Grid, apply the Available Quantity less-than-zero filter.
Select the checkbox next to the affected SKU(s).
In the sidebar panel that appears, click Create Purchase Order.
Fill in the supplier, quantity, and expected delivery, then save.
Once received, on-hand increases and Available Quantity returns to a positive number.

Option C — Post an Inventory Adjustment if stock arrived but was never recorded

Use this when units are physically in the warehouse but were never entered into Luminous.

Go to Inventory → Adjustment Entries → New Inventory Adjustment Entry (or click New Inventory Adjustment Entry from the Stocks page).
Select the affected SKU and warehouse.
Enter the physically counted quantity in the Count field. Luminous calculates the delta automatically.
Save and post the entry. On-Hand updates immediately.

On-Hand mismatch vs warehouse or 3PL

Why it happens

When Luminous is connected to an external warehouse or 3PL (via a WMS integration such as TrackStar/ShipHero), the 3PL periodically pushes its stock counts into Luminous. If those counts differ from what Luminous has recorded — due to receiving, adjustments, or counts happening directly in the 3PL system without going through Luminous — a variance appears. These synced variances are automatically logged in the Adjustment drilldown under the type External 3PL Sync Variance.

On-Hand can also go negative or drift if inventory was deducted (via shipments or adjustments) beyond what was ever received.

Step 2A — Trace the variance in the Adjustment drilldown

Before correcting anything, understand what caused the gap.

Go to Insights → Accounting → Drill Down → Adjustment Drill-down.
Set the date range to cover the period when the discrepancy appeared.
Filter the Type column to External 3PL Sync Variance to see every automatic sync correction the system posted.
Review the Qty Delta and Running Balance columns to pinpoint when and by how much the counts diverged.
Cross-reference these dates with receiving reports or 3PL cycle-count events to identify the root cause.

If you want to trace further — for example, to confirm what was received vs what was shipped — use the Receiving and Transaction COGS drilldowns (also under Insights → Accounting → Drill Down) to build a full picture for the SKU.

Step 2B — Check and post corrections on the Stock Discrepancies page

Once you understand the cause, use this page to formally post a correction.

Go to Insights → Accounting → Resolve Inventory Discrepancies.
The page shows a single summary line with the total variance impact. There is currently no per-warehouse filter on this page — review the table directly if you manage multiple warehouses.
The table lists every SKU/warehouse combination where the quantity recorded in Luminous's cost system does not match the on-hand quantity. Review the Variance column.
Select one or more rows using the checkboxes.
Click the appropriate posting button:
- Post as Inventory Loss — units physically left the warehouse without being recorded in Luminous.
- Post as Inventory Surplus — units were received at the 3PL but never recorded in Luminous.
- Post as Data Correction — the discrepancy is a system recording error, not a physical event.
Confirm. Luminous creates an adjustment entry, updates the cost layers, and refreshes the table.
Use Export CSV to download the full list for offline review or audit.

Note: Posting a correction updates cost-layer quantities and inventory valuation. It does not change your on-hand figure by itself — on-hand is adjusted through the underlying adjustment entry that is created. Review your financial reports after posting to confirm COGS and valuation are correct.

Step 2C — If pending quantities appear negative but on-hand is fine

If only the pending number looks wrong (not on-hand), this is usually transient. Luminous runs an automatic pending-quantity recalculation job every minute in production. Wait a few minutes and refresh the Stocks Grid before taking any manual action.

Tips for ongoing accuracy

Review Stock Discrepancies regularly — at minimum once per month before closing your accounting period — to catch 3PL sync variances before they compound.
Reconcile inbound shipments promptly. Inventory received at a 3PL does not enter Luminous until the corresponding inbound shipment is reconciled. Delays here are a leading cause of on-hand mismatches. See Understanding Inbound Shipments and Reconciliation for Amazon FBA and your 3PL for the full reconciliation workflow.
Investigate before you post. Use the Adjustment drilldown to understand why a variance exists before clicking Post — posting the wrong type (Loss vs Surplus) can have financial reporting consequences.

When to contact support

Contact the Luminous support team via the chat icon in the bottom-right corner of your screen if:

Negative Available Quantity persists more than 5 minutes after you have cancelled orders or posted an adjustment.
The Stock Discrepancies page shows a large number of unexplained variances after a 3PL sync that you cannot trace through the Adjustment drilldown.
On-Hand quantities are negative across multiple SKUs simultaneously after an integration event.
You need to reset an entire warehouse to zero for a fresh physical count (this is an irreversible action that support can help you plan safely).