What Are Back Orders?
A back order occurs when you cannot fulfill the complete quantity of a sales order from available stock. Instead of holding the entire order until all items are available, you ship what you can now and create a back order for the remaining quantities. Odoo handles back orders automatically, creating new delivery orders for unfulfilled quantities and tracking them until complete fulfillment.
How Back Orders Work in Odoo
When a delivery order is validated with quantities less than ordered, Odoo asks whether to create a back order. If you confirm, Odoo creates a new delivery order for the remaining quantities. The original delivery is completed and the back order appears in the delivery queue with its own tracking. The sales order status updates to reflect partial delivery — showing the customer how much has shipped and how much is pending.
Triggering Scenarios
- Insufficient stock — Ordered 100 units but only 60 are available. Ship 60 now, back order 40.
- Multi-product orders — Some products are available, others are not. Ship available items, back order the rest.
- Quality rejection — 50 units ordered but 5 fail quality inspection. Ship 45, back order 5 pending replacement.
- Vendor delay — Components for MTO products arrive late. Ship completed items, back order those still in production.
Configuration Options
Automatic vs Manual Back Orders
Odoo prompts you when validating a partial delivery. You can choose to create a back order (remaining quantities tracked in a new delivery) or process without a back order (remaining quantities are cancelled, reducing the sales order). Some businesses always create back orders; others cancel remaining quantities and ask the customer to reorder.
Reservation Policy
Configure how Odoo reserves stock for back orders. Options include reserving immediately when the back order is created (stock is locked for this back order), reserving manually when the warehouse team decides it is ready, or reserving at the scheduled date (Odoo reserves stock based on the expected availability date). Choose based on your inventory allocation priorities.
Customer Communication
Back orders require clear customer communication. Configure email templates for partial delivery notifications — informing the customer what was shipped, what remains, and when they can expect the rest. The customer portal shows all deliveries related to their sales order, including pending back orders with estimated dates. Proactive communication prevents customer frustration and support inquiries.
Back Order Fulfillment Priority
| Priority Factor | Rule | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Customer tier | Premium customers first | Retention of high-value accounts |
| Order age | Oldest back orders first | FIFO fairness |
| Order value | Highest value first | Revenue maximization |
| Commitment date | Earliest promised date first | Promise fulfillment |
Impact on Invoicing
Back orders interact with your invoicing policy. If you invoice on ordered quantities, the full invoice is sent when the order is confirmed, regardless of delivery status. If you invoice on delivered quantities, invoices are generated only for shipped amounts. Partial deliveries create partial invoices, and back order fulfillment creates additional invoices. Most businesses prefer delivered-quantity invoicing when back orders are common.
Reducing Back Orders
- Better demand forecasting — Accurate forecasts lead to adequate stock levels and fewer stockouts.
- Safety stock levels — Reorder rules with safety stock buffer against demand spikes and supply delays.
- Vendor lead time accuracy — Update vendor lead times regularly to improve replenishment timing.
- Substitute products — Offer equivalent alternatives when the original product is unavailable.
- ATP (Available to Promise) — Show accurate availability on the sales order so salespeople set correct expectations.
Back Order Reporting
- Back order rate — Percentage of orders with back orders. Lower is better.
- Average back order duration — Days from back order creation to fulfillment.
- Back order by product — Identifies products with chronic stock availability issues.
- Revenue impact — Value of pending back orders representing delayed revenue.
DeployMonkey + Back Order Management
Deploy Odoo on DeployMonkey and configure back order workflows with AI assistance. Handle partial deliveries smoothly with proper customer communication and fulfillment tracking.