Hey there! Happy to help with this one. I know how frustrating it is when your inventory numbers don't reflect what your techs actually used in the field — especially when you're trying to keep accurate stock levels.
Summary
Inventory quantities remain unchanged after parts are consumed on completed work orders.
Symptoms
You'll typically notice this when:
- Parts are marked as consumed on a work order
- The job status shows Completed
- Navigate to Inventory > Items and the quantity on hand hasn't decreased
- The Usage History tab on the item shows no record of the transaction
Affected Versions
This primarily affects organizations using the Standard Inventory workflow (not the Advanced Inventory module with location tracking). Most commonly reported on FieldPulse 3.1.x and 3.2.0.
Cause
This happens when the "Auto-deduct inventory on job completion" setting is disabled in your account, or when there's a sync delay between the mobile app completing the job and the web inventory system processing the deduction.
In some cases, technicians completing jobs while offline will have their inventory deductions queued locally, and if the app doesn't fully sync before closing, those deductions never reach the server.
Resolution
Here's what to check and fix:
- Verify your inventory settings:
- Go to Settings > Inventory
- Confirm "Auto-deduct on job completion" is toggled ON
- If it was off, enable it — this won't retroactively fix past jobs, but prevents future issues
- Check for pending sync on technician devices:
- Have the technician open the FieldPulse mobile app
- Tap the sync icon in the top-right corner
- Look for any items stuck with a pending upload indicator
- Keep the app open until all items show synced
- Manually process pending deductions (if needed):
- Go to Inventory > Adjustments
- Create a manual adjustment for the missing quantities
- Add a note referencing the work order number for your records
Prevention
To avoid this going forward:
- Train technicians to wait for the "Sync complete" confirmation before closing the app
- Enable push notifications for sync errors so you catch stuck transactions quickly
- Consider upgrading to Advanced Inventory if you need location-level tracking and more robust sync handling
Still seeing issues after trying these steps? Drop a reply with your account ID and a specific work order number where the inventory didn't update — I'll take a closer look!