Most motor repair shops do not lose money on inventory because they lack a spreadsheet. They lose it in two opposite mistakes: over-ordering because nobody trusts the count, or sitting a job while the customer waits for a bearing, seal, or lead wire that was already on the shelf, just not written down anywhere the counter can see. A whiteboard with “we have three” and a drawer that actually has one is how promised dates slip.
IQMotorBase inventory is built for that shop floor problem, not for a warehouse that ships cartons all day. The parts catalog holds SKU, unit of measure, on-hand count, reserved count, and optional bin/aisle location. Reservations follow the quote path; shortfalls can become vendor POs from the same screen; when a work order ships, consumed quantities deduct without a second manual entry. This page walks that mechanics, how available-to-promise is calculated, how purchasing folds into the quote, and how the books stay tied to what left the dock. For the full Job Write-Up through payment path, start at motor repair shop management software.
On-hand vs. reserved: available to promise
On-hand is what is physically in the shop. Reserved is what is already spoken for by approved quotes. Available to promise is the difference: on-hand minus reserved. That number, not the raw shelf count, is what you should use when you tell the next customer you can start their rewind next week with the parts you still have free.
Formal quotes (RFQs) start from the Job Write-Up and stay linked to the same job number. Quote line items can pull directly from the shop’s parts catalog, so the person writing the quote is looking at catalog parts, not inventing a free-text description that never touches stock. When that quote is approved, the parts on it get reserved against the job. The reservation is not a sticky note on a bin; it is a count change in the same system that will later generate the work order from the job’s primary final quote.
Without reservation, two estimators can both promise the last set of bearings on the same afternoon. One job gets the parts; the other discovers the shortfall when the motor is already torn down. With reservation, the second quote sees less available to promise because the first approval already claimed quantity, preventing a double-promise against the same physical part before either work order hits the floor.
Inventory reservations and consumption follow the quote-backed path through to delivery. The work order is not a disconnected parts list someone typed later; it carries line items from the primary final quote, with numbering aligned to the job so floor and office reference the same ID. When you ask “which job owns these seals?” the answer is the approved quote reservation, not a guess from whoever last walked the aisle. How that work order is created and tracked is covered on the work order software for motor repair shops page. How those same line items become invoices without re-keying is on motor repair invoicing and quoting software.
Shortfalls, vendor POs, and purchasing in the same flow
Reservation only helps if you can act when the catalog says you are short. When a quote needs a part that is not available to promise, shortfalls can generate a vendor purchase order directly from the quote screen. You are not copying SKUs into a separate purchasing app and hoping the PO still matches what the customer approved. The PO is tied to a vendor you already keep on file.
Vendor management and purchasing live in this same shop system, there is no separate “vendor product” page in this cluster because the work happens on the quote and PO path. Per supplier you store contact and terms. Purchase orders are created for parts and materials the job needs. Vendor invoices attach to those POs. PO status is tracked as open, invoiced, or paid so the office can see whether the parts order is still waiting, already billed by the supplier, or settled, without a parallel spreadsheet labeled “POs this month.”
Receiving ties the physical delivery back to the relevant PO: vendor deliveries against purchase orders are logged with the same chain that tracks customer motors arriving and shipments back to customers. That gives a practical answer to “did that order come in?” and “where is it right now?” instead of checking email threads for packing slips. When the parts land and on-hand increases, you are still in the same inventory and purchasing record set that started from the quote shortfall, not three systems that disagree by the end of the week.
This matters for repair shops because parts buys are job-driven, not forecast-driven like a retail parts house. You buy because an approved quote reserved more than you had free, or because the quote never had stock in the first place. Starting the PO from the quote screen keeps the purchase tied to that job’s need. Contacts and terms on the vendor record keep the counter from hunting for a phone number every time the same supplier gets another rush order. Status on the PO, open, invoiced, or paid, keeps purchasing and AP on one object instead of a folder of PDFs.
Automatic consumption when the work order ships
Reservation holds quantity for the job. Consumption is what happens when the work leaves. When a work order ships, consumed quantities are automatically deducted from inventory. There is no second pass where someone opens a stock spreadsheet and subtracts what they think went into the motor. The quote-backed line items that reserved parts are the same path that settles the stock when delivery happens.
That is the difference between “we think the shelf matches the books” and “the books moved when the shipment logged.” Manual double-entry is where counts drift: the floor used two seals, the office forgot to edit the sheet, and three weeks later the next job is promised against a ghost quantity. Automatic deduction on shipment closes that loop for the quantities that followed the work order.
Shipping and receiving stay linked to the work order or PO involved, so the logistics record and the inventory movement are not two unrelated stories. Customer motors in, vendor deliveries against POs, and shipments back to customers all answer custody questions. Inventory consumption on shipment is the stock-side half of that same discipline: if it shipped on the work order, the catalog should reflect the use.
Low-stock alerts on the dashboard
Low-stock alerts surface on the dashboard so the office does not discover a problem only when the next quote cannot be promised. You still run the shop from jobs and quotes, the alert is a visibility layer on parts that need attention before another approval burns through what little available-to-promise remains. Combined with on-hand and reserved counts in the catalog, the dashboard answer is clearer than walking the aisle after a customer is already waiting on a date.
Alerts do not replace the shortfall-to-PO path from the quote screen. They catch the slow bleed: common consumables and high-turn items that drop while several jobs are open. When an alert fires, you still use vendor contacts, terms, and purchase orders in the same purchasing flow described above, not a separate “reorder app” that never sees the jobs.
Optional bin and aisle locations
The parts catalog can store an optional bin or aisle location for each SKU. That field is optional on purpose. Some shops pick by labeled rack and want the location on the part record; others run a smaller cage and do not need software to say “third shelf left.” On-hand, reserved, available to promise, shortfall POs, low-stock alerts, and automatic consumption on shipment all work whether or not you fill in bin and aisle. Use location when it helps picking; leave it blank when it would only be clutter.
Frequently asked questions
- How does parts reservation work when a quote is approved?
- When a quote is approved, parts on that quote get reserved against the job. Available to promise is on-hand minus reserved. That stops two jobs from being sold against the same physical part while both quotes are still open.
- What happens if a quote needs a part that is not in stock?
- Shortfalls can generate a vendor purchase order directly from the quote screen, tied to a supplier. Vendor contacts and terms are stored per supplier. You track PO status as open, invoiced, or paid, and attach vendor invoices to the PO.
- When does inventory actually deduct from on-hand?
- When a work order ships, consumed quantities are deducted from inventory automatically. You do not re-enter the same line items in a separate stock sheet after delivery, the quote-backed reservation path carries through to shipment.
- Do I have to use bin and aisle locations?
- No. Bin and aisle location fields are optional on the parts catalog. Shops that pick by location can fill them in; shops that run a simpler shelf system can leave them blank and still use on-hand, reserved, alerts, and automatic consumption.
Book a demo
Pricing is custom, monthly, yearly, or one-time, matched to how your shop runs. There is no self-serve signup on a public rate card. Use the form to book a demo and see on-hand, reserved, quote shortfalls, vendor POs, and shipment consumption on your own parts list. For the broader system around inventory, read motor repair shop management software, work order software for motor repair shops, and motor repair invoicing and quoting software.