Strict Inventory Control helps you maintain accurate stock by restricting transactions when an item does not have enough available stock.

Once enabled, Refrens will not allow users to create invoices, delivery challans, stock adjustments, or other stock-reducing transactions if the selected item’s stock goes below zero.

This is useful for businesses that do not want their team to oversell items or create sales documents for products that are not available in stock.

What is Strict Inventory Control?

Strict Inventory Control is an inventory setting that prevents the stock of selected items from going negative.

For example, if an item has 5 units in stock and Strict Control is enabled for that item, users will not be able to create a sales transaction for more than 5 units.

If they try to do so, Refrens will show an insufficient stock error and stop the transaction from being saved.

How Strict Inventory Control Works

Strict Inventory Control works at two levels:

1. Business level
2. Item level

First, you need to enable Strict Inventory Control from Business Settings. After that, you can enable or disable Strict Control for individual items.

This gives you flexibility. You can apply strict control only on items where stock accuracy is important, while keeping other items flexible.

Step 1: Enable Strict Inventory Control for Your Business

To enable Strict Inventory Control, go to Business Settings > Inventory Options > Manage Inventory & Behavior >Enable Strict Inventory Control:

Once this setting is enabled, you can apply strict control on individual inventory items.

Step 2: Enable Strict Control for an Item

To enable Strict Control for an item, go to Inventory **Dashborad Table **> navigate to **Strict Control column > **Turn the toggle ON:

Once enabled, Refrens will check the available stock before allowing stock-reducing transactions for that item.

When Will Refrens Restrict a Transaction?

Refrens will restrict transactions when:

• Strict Inventory Control is enabled at the business level
• Strict Control is enabled for the selected item
• The transaction reduces stock
• The available stock is not enough
• The transaction would make the stock negative

For example:

Transactions Where Strict Control Applies

Strict Inventory Control applies to stock-reducing transactions such as:

• Document Creation (Invoices, Sales Orders, Proformas, Delivery Challans, Quotations - if inventory is updated from quotation, etc.)
• Manual outgoing stock adjustments
• Bulk stock adjustments
• Bulk document upload
• Document conversion
• API-created transactions, where applicable

If the transaction does not reduce stock, Strict Control will not block it.

Creating New Items from Documents

This is because newly created items have zero stock. If such an item is added directly to a sales document, it may immediately result in negative stock.

To use the item in a sales transaction, first create the item from Inventory and add stock to it.

How Stock is Checked

Refrens checks stock based on your inventory setup.

If warehouses are enabled, stock is checked at the selected warehouse level.

If batch tracking is enabled, stock is checked at the selected batch level.

This means Refrens does not only check the total stock of the item. It checks the stock that is actually available for the selected warehouse, batch, or item.

For example, if an item has 100 units in total but only 5 units in the selected warehouse, users can only sell up to 5 units from that warehouse.

Strict Control for Batchwise Items

For batchwise items, Refrens checks the stock available in the selected batch.

If the selected batch does not have enough stock, the transaction will be restricted.

Example:

Strict Control for Warehouse Items

If warehouses are enabled, Refrens checks stock at the warehouse level.

Example:

Strict Control for Package Items

Strict Control is not applied directly to package items because package item stock is calculated from its child items.

When a package item is used in a transaction, Refrens checks the stock of all child items included in that package.

If any child item does not have enough stock, the transaction will be restricted.

Example:

Enabling Strict Control in Bulk

You can also enable Strict Control for multiple items at once.

To do this, Go to Inventory Dashboard Table > Select the items > Click on Bulk Actions > Select Enable Strict Control:

Once enabled, selected items will not be allowed to go into negative stock.

Similarly, you can also disable Strict Control for multiple items at once with the Bulk Actions.

Bulk Upload and Bulk Update Support

Strict Control can also be managed using bulk upload and bulk update.

In your CSV file, use the strictControl column:

Allowed values are:

Why Am I Unable to Enable Strict Control for an Item?

You may not be able to enable Strict Control for an item in the following cases:

1. Strict Inventory Control is disabled in Business Settings

If the business-level setting is disabled, item-level Strict Control cannot be enabled.
To use this feature, first enable it from:** Business Settings → Inventory Options → Manage Inventory & Behavior**

2. The item already has negative stock

If an item already has negative stock, you may need to adjust the stock and bring it to zero or positive stock before enabling Strict Control.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I enable Strict Control for only selected items?

Yes. Strict Inventory Control is enabled at the business level, but Strict Control can be turned on or off for individual items.

Will Strict Control stop all sales transactions?

No. It only stops transactions where the selected item does not have enough available stock and the stock would go negative.

Can I still create purchase transactions?

Yes. Purchase transactions usually increase stock, so they are not restricted by Strict Control.

Does Strict Control apply to warehouses?

Yes. If warehouses are enabled, Refrens checks stock at the selected warehouse level.

Does Strict Control apply to batches?

Yes. If batch tracking is enabled, Refrens checks stock at the selected batch level.

Does Strict Control apply to package items?

Strict Control is checked for the child items inside the package. If any child item does not have enough stock, the package transaction will be restricted.

Can I disable Strict Control later?

Yes. You can disable Strict Control for individual items or use bulk actions to disable it for multiple items.

If you still have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us on care@refrens.com OR drop a message on chat support for a quick assistance!

Updated on: 22/06/2026