> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bumara.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Adjustments

> Increasing or decreasing stock with a documented reason — damage, loss, corrections and opening balances.

An adjustment changes stock at one location, up or down, with a reason. It is how stock enters or
leaves your records outside of transfers, counts and sales.

## When to use one

| Reason              | Use it for                                                           |
| ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Opening balance** | Bringing existing stock into Bumara for the first time               |
| **Damage**          | Goods damaged and no longer sellable                                 |
| **Loss**            | Theft, breakage, disappearance                                       |
| **Found**           | Stock discovered that was not on the system                          |
| **Correction**      | Fixing a known error in the records                                  |
| **Sale**            | Recorded automatically by the till — you do not create these by hand |
| **Other**           | Anything else. Explain it in the notes                               |

<Note>
  If you have counted a location and found many differences, use a
  [stock count](/inventory/stock-counts) rather than a series of adjustments. A count records what
  you counted and posts the variances in one operation, which is a far clearer record.
</Note>

## Creating one

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Inventory, then Adjustments">
    Choose **New adjustment**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select the location">
    Where the stock actually is. An adjustment affects one location only.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the reason">
    Be honest. "Loss" and "correction" mean different things, and knowing which is which is the
    point of recording the reason.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add your lines">
    For each: the item, and the quantity.

    **Positive** quantities increase stock. **Negative** quantities decrease it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Add notes">
    What actually happened. "Three cartons water-damaged, roof leak in store room, 14 March" is
    useful. "Damage" is not.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save as draft">
    Nothing has moved yet.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check it">
    Right items, right quantities, right signs, right location.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Post it">
    Stock movements are written and balances update.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Draft and posted

| State      | You can                                       | Stock affected? |
| ---------- | --------------------------------------------- | --------------- |
| **Draft**  | Edit lines, add lines, delete the whole thing | No              |
| **Posted** | Void it only                                  | Yes             |
| **Void**   | Nothing — it is a permanent record            | Reversed        |

<Warning>
  Once posted, an adjustment cannot be edited. If it is wrong, void it — which creates reversing
  movements — and post a correct one. Both remain visible, which is what makes the history reliable.
</Warning>

## Voiding

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the posted adjustment">
    From Inventory → Adjustments.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose Void">
    Only an administrator can void. A reason is required.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Reversing movements are created">
    Stock returns to what it was before. The original adjustment stays visible, marked void.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What Bumara checks

| Check                       | Behaviour                                                       |
| --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| At least one line           | An empty adjustment is rejected                                 |
| No zero quantities          | A line of zero is meaningless and is rejected                   |
| Item is active              | You cannot adjust an archived item                              |
| Stock would not go negative | Blocked by default. An administrator can override with a reason |

### Negative stock

By default, an adjustment that would take a balance below zero is refused, naming the item that is
short.

This is usually the right answer. A negative balance means your records and reality have diverged,
and posting anyway makes that worse.

Where an override is genuinely needed — goods physically received but not yet entered — an
administrator can override with a documented reason, which is recorded.

## Opening balances

Your first adjustment at each location is the opening balance. See
[Setting up inventory](/inventory/setting-up).

Use the reason "opening balance" so it is distinguishable from later corrections when you review
your history.

## What happens after posting

| Effect            | Detail                                                             |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Movements written | One per line, permanent                                            |
| Balances updated  | At that location                                                   |
| Low stock checked | If a balance falls to or below its reorder level, you are notified |
| Timeline recorded | Who posted it, when, and why                                       |

## Reviewing adjustments

Adjustments deserve periodic review — they are the operation most open to abuse, since they can
make stock disappear.

| Watch for                               | What it may indicate         |
| --------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| Frequent "loss" adjustments             | Theft, or poor handling      |
| Repeated "correction" on the same items | A process problem upstream   |
| Large adjustments outside working hours | Worth asking about           |
| One person making most adjustments      | Concentrate the review there |
| Adjustments with vague notes            | Enforce the standard         |

Filter by reason and by date from the adjustments list.

## Good practice

* **Post promptly.** An adjustment made a week after the event is guesswork.
* **Write real notes.** Someone will read them in six months.
* **Use the right reason.** Damage, loss and correction are genuinely different.
* **Restrict who can post.** Not everyone needs the ability to make stock disappear.
* **Review monthly.** Patterns are visible in aggregate, not in individual entries.

<Note>
  Related: [Transfers](/inventory/transfers) for moving stock between locations, and
  [Stock counts](/inventory/stock-counts) for correcting after a physical count.
</Note>