---
title: "About shipping rules"
description: "The shipping rules specified for a particular sales order define how the goods for the sales order should be shipped; whether they should be shipped only in full or partial shipments for the available quantities are allowed."
lang: en
languages:
  en: https://docs.vismasoftware.no/visma-net-erp/help/sales/process-sales-orders/about-shipping-rules/index.md
lastmod: 2026-02-19
---

> Documentation index: https://docs.vismasoftware.no/visma-net-erp/help/sales/process-sales-orders/llms.txt


# About shipping rules

Last modified February 19, 2026

> The shipping rules specified for a particular sales order define how the goods for the sales order should be shipped; whether they should be shipped only in full or partial shipments for the available quantities are allowed.


The shipping rules specified for a particular sales order define how the goods for the
sales order should be shipped; whether they should be shipped only in full or partial
shipments for the available quantities are allowed.
The shipment rules for a sales order are
applied when you create a shipment for the order manually by using the **Create shipment** action in the [Sales orders (SO301000)](https://docs.vismasoftware.no/visma-net-erp/help/sales/sales-windows/sales-orders-so301000/index.md) window, or
automatically, by running the **Create shipments** process from the [Process orders (SO501000)](https://docs.vismasoftware.no/visma-net-erp/help/sales/sales-windows/process-orders-so501000/index.md) window.

## Shipping rule options

In the [Sales orders (SO301000)](https://docs.vismasoftware.no/visma-net-erp/help/sales/sales-windows/sales-orders-so301000/index.md) window, you can specify the shipping rule for the
sales order document as a whole (the **Shipping rule** field on the
**Delivery settings** tab) and for each order line (in the
**Shipping rule** column on the **Document details**
tab).
The document-level rule is inserted by default for each line of the order, but you can
change the rule for any line as needed.

You can specify any of the following shipping rule options for order lines and for orders:

+ **Back orders allowed**
+ **Cancel remainder**
+ **Ship only when complete**

The shipping rules applied to order lines are explained in the following table.

<table class="vismanet-table">
  <colgroup>
    <col class="vismanet-table__col--key">
    <col>
  </colgroup>
<thead class="vismanet-table__head">
  <tr class="vismanet-table__header-row">
<th class="vismanet-table__cell vismanet-table__cell--header">Shipping rule option</th>
<th class="vismanet-table__cell vismanet-table__cell--header">Result</th>
</tr>
</thead>

<tr class="vismanet-table__row">
<td class="vismanet-table__cell">Back orders allowed</td>
<td class="vismanet-table__cell"><p>The item specified in the line can be included in a shipment if any non-zero
quantity that is equal to or less than the ordered quantity is available for
shipping.
The remaining quantity (if applicable) is shown as the <strong>Open quantity</strong> on the line.
The ordered quantity can be shipped in
multiple shipments.</p>
<p>The line gets the <strong>Completed</strong> status once the full ordered quantity has been shipped.</p>

    <div class="admonition admonition-note" role="note">
    <div class="admonition-title">
        
        Note
        
    </div>
    <div class="admonition-body">
        <p>If you have classes of stock items for which negative quantity is allowed and if you do not want to rely completely on availability data, select the <strong>Add zero lines for items which are not in stock</strong> check box in the <a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/sales-windows/sales-order-preferences-so101000/index.md">Sales order preferences (SO101000)</a> window. Then, for order lines with the <strong>Back orders allowed</strong> shipping rule, a zero-quantity line will be added to the shipment if the item is not in stock, and you will be able to manually enter the actually available quantity of the item.</p>
    </div>
    </div>

</td>
</tr>

<tr class="vismanet-table__row">
<td class="vismanet-table__cell">Cancel remainder</td>
<td class="vismanet-table__cell"><p>The item specified in the line can be included in a shipment if any non-zero quantity that is equal to or less than the ordered quantity is available for shipping.</p>
<p>With this shipping rule, shipping for the line is performed only once.
After this
shipment has been confirmed, the line is marked as <strong>Completed</strong>, and the
<strong>Open quantity</strong> value is set to zero.</p>
</td>
</tr>

<tr class="vismanet-table__row">
<td class="vismanet-table__cell">Ship only when complete</td>
<td class="vismanet-table__cell"><p>The item specified in the line can be included in a shipment only if the full
ordered quantity is available for shipping.
After this shipment has been
confirmed, the line has the <strong>Completed</strong> status in the <a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/sales-windows/sales-orders-so301000/index.md">Sales orders (SO301000)</a> window.</p>
<p>If the quantity of the item that is available for shipping is less than the
ordered quantity, then the item in this line is not included in the shipment.
The
ordered quantity is shown as the <strong>Open quantity</strong>, and the
line remains <strong>Open</strong>.</p>
</td>
</tr>

</table>


See the table below for details about how the shipping rule of a sales order affects the
automatic processing of the sales order (performed by using the [Process orders (SO501000)](https://docs.vismasoftware.no/visma-net-erp/help/sales/sales-windows/process-orders-so501000/index.md) window).

> [!NOTE]
> If you initiate shipment creation manually (by using the [Sales orders (SO301000)](https://docs.vismasoftware.no/visma-net-erp/help/sales/sales-windows/sales-orders-so301000/index.md) window) and the system detects the shortage of the items, the system displays the message informing you that the order cannot be shipped in full so that you can make an appropriate decision on the fulfillment of this order and either change the quantities, or create a partial shipment, or change the order status to **Back order** manually.

<table class="vismanet-table">
  <colgroup>
    <col class="vismanet-table__col--key">
    <col>
  </colgroup>
<thead class="vismanet-table__head">
  <tr class="vismanet-table__header-row">
<th class="vismanet-table__cell vismanet-table__cell--header">Document-level rule</th>
<th class="vismanet-table__cell vismanet-table__cell--header">Result</th>
</tr>
</thead>

<tr class="vismanet-table__row">
<td class="vismanet-table__cell">Ship only when complete</td>
<td class="vismanet-table__cell"><p>If shipping cannot be performed for each line of the order, no shipment is created, and the order gets the <strong>Back order</strong> status.</p>
<p>The shipment is created (and the order gets the <strong>Shipping</strong> status) if shipping can be performed for each line; that is, if the lines meet the following criteria:</p>
<ul>
<li>For each <strong>Ship only when complete</strong> line The ordered quantity is available for shipping and can be shipped in full.</li>
<li>For each <strong>Cancel remainder</strong> line Any non-zero quantity that is equal to or less than the ordered quantity is available for shipping.</li>
<li>For each <strong>Back orders allowed</strong> line Any non-zero quantity that is equal to or less than the ordered quantity is available for shipping.</li>
</ul>
<p>You cannot specify different <strong>Requested on</strong> dates for different lines in the order.</p>
<p>When the shipment has been confirmed, the order gets the <strong>Completed</strong> status if all the lines have the <strong>Completed</strong> status. If any line is not completed, the order gets the <strong>Back order</strong> status.</p>
</td>
</tr>

<tr class="vismanet-table__row">
<td class="vismanet-table__cell">Cancel remainder</td>
<td class="vismanet-table__cell"><p>If shipping cannot be performed for any of the order lines, no shipment is created, and the order gets the <strong>Back order</strong> status.</p>
<p>If full or partial shipping can be performed for at least one line (according to the line&rsquo;s shipping rule), the shipment is created.</p>
<p>You cannot specify different <strong>Requested on</strong> dates for different lines in the order.</p>
<p>When the shipment has been confirmed, the order gets the <strong>Completed</strong> status
if at least one line has the <strong>Completed</strong> status and the lines not included in
shipment have the <strong>Cancel remainder</strong> rule.
The order gets the
<strong>Back order</strong> status if at least one line is not completed (that is, if it
has non-zero open quantity).</p>
</td>
</tr>

<tr class="vismanet-table__row">
<td class="vismanet-table__cell">Back orders allowed</td>
<td class="vismanet-table__cell"><p>If shipping cannot be performed for any of the order lines, no shipment is created, and the order gets the <strong>Back order</strong> status.</p>
<p>You can specify different <strong>Requested on</strong> dates for different
lines in the order and get the different lines shipped on different dates.</p>

    <div class="admonition admonition-note" role="note">
    <div class="admonition-title">
        
        Note
        
    </div>
    <div class="admonition-body">
        <p>If you change the <strong>Requested on</strong> date for the order, the system will prompt you to choose whether you want to keep the dates specified for each line or to update the respective dates with the new <strong>Requested on</strong> date.</p>
    </div>
    </div>

<p>If full or partial shipping can be performed for at least one line according to the line&rsquo;s shipping rule, the shipment is created.</p>
<p>After the shipment has been confirmed, the order gets the <strong>Back order</strong> status if other lines are not completed.</p>
</td>
</tr>

</table>


## Examples of the application of shipping rules

The table below presents the examples that illustrate how the shipping rules specified for
the sales order and its lines affect the fulfillment of the order.
Assume this order has the
following lines:

+ Line 1: **Product 1** with an ordered quantity of 150
+ Line 2: **Product 2** with an ordered quantity of 100

Each row of the table shows a combination of shipping rules:

+ The first column displays the rule specified for the sales order as a whole.
+ The second column displays the rules specified for the lines of the sales orders.
+ The third column displays the quantity of each product that is available for shipping in the example in the row.
+ The fourth column displays, for the particular shipping rules and available quantities, the result of and conditions.
+ The table includes enough combinations to give you an idea how these settings work together without covering an overwhelming amount of detail.

|Document-level rule|Shipping rules for order lines|Qty. available for shipping|Result|
|---|---|---|---|
|**Ship only when complete**|+ Line 1: Ship only when complete + Line 2: Ship only when complete|+ 300 + 2000|A shipment is created that includes both lines (150 of **Product 1** and 100 of **Product 2** ), and the sales order gets the **Shipping** status. On shipment confirmation, the order gets the **Completed** status.|
|**Ship only when complete**|+ Line 1: Ship only when complete + Line 2: Ship only when complete|+ 300 + 99|No shipment is created, and the sales order gets the **Back order** status.|
|**Ship only when complete**|+ Line 1: Ship only when complete + Line 2: Cancel Remainder|+ 300 + 50|A shipment is created that includes both lines (150 of **Product 1**, and 50 of **Product 2** ), and the sales order gets the **Shipping** status. On shipment confirmation, the order gets the **Completed** status.|
|**Ship only when complete**|+ Line 1: Ship only when complete + Line 2: Back orders allowed|+ 300 + 50|A shipment is created that includes both lines (150 of **Product 1**, and 50 of **Product 2** ), and the sales order gets the **Shipping** status. On shipment confirmation, the sales order gets the **Back order** status.|
|**Cancel remainder**|+ Line 1: Ship only when complete + Line 2: Cancel remainder|+ 300 + 0|A shipment is created that includes only one line (150 of **Product 1** ), and the sales order gets the **Shipping** status. On shipment confirmation, the order gets the **Completed** status.|
|**Cancel remainder**|+ Line 1: Ship only when complete + Line 2: Cancel remainder|+ 100 + 50|A shipment is created that includes only one line (50 of **Product 2**), and the sales order gets the **Shipping** status. On shipment confirmation, the order gets the **Back order** status.|
|**Cancel remainder**|+ Line 1: Cancel remainder + Line 2: Cancel remainder|+ 0 + 0|No shipment is created and the sales order gets the **Back order** status.|
|**Back orders allowed**|+ Line 1: Ship only when complete + Line 2: Cancel remainder|+ 300 + 50|A shipment is created that includes both lines (150 of **Product 1** and 50 of **Product 2** ), and the sales order gets the **Shipping** status. On shipment confirmation, the sales order gets the **Completed** status.|
|**Back orders allowed**|+ Line 1: Ship only when complete + Line 2: Back orders allowed|+ 300 + 50|A shipment is created that includes both lines (150 of **Product 1** and 50 of **Product 2** ), and the sales order gets the **Shipping** status. On shipment confirmation, the order gets the **Back order** status.|
|**Back orders allowed**|+ Line 1: Cancel remainder + Line 2: Back orders allowed|+ 100 + 50|A shipment is created that includes both lines (100 of **Product 1** and 50 of **Product 2** ), and the sales order gets the **Shipping** status. On shipment confirmation, the sales order gets the **Back order** status.|

## Shipment thresholds

You can use under-shipment and over-shipment thresholds, in addition to shipping rules, to determine whether a shipment results in changing the status of the sales order line to **Completed**.

On the **Document details** tab in the [Sales orders (SO301000)](https://docs.vismasoftware.no/visma-net-erp/help/sales/sales-windows/sales-orders-so301000/index.md) window, for each line of a sales order, you can specify whether under-shipment and over-shipment are allowed as follows:

+ To allow over-shipment, you enter in the **Over-ship. threshold (%)** column a value greater than 100 (meaning 100%). For an order line with the **Ship only when complete** shipping rule for 100 yards of fabric, you might opt to have the whole lap shipped (a lap of fabric has 100 metres, and each metre is 1.093 yards). To do this, you can specify the over-shipment threshold at 110%, which allows up to 10% more fabric than the ordered amount to be shipped.
+ To allow under-shipment, you enter in the **Under-ship. threshold (%)** a value that is less than 100 (meaning 100%). Suppose that when you create a shipment, for an order line with the **Back orders allowed** shipping rule, the system detects a small shortage of goods, for example, only 99 units are available for shipping and 100 have been ordered. If the line's under-shipment threshold was specified at 99% or lower, the 99 units for the line will be included in the shipment, the line will be marked as **Completed**, and no open quantity will be left on the line for a back order.

> [!NOTE]
> If 100(%) is specified in both these columns, it means that under-shipment or over-shipment are not allowed.

## Default values for shipping rules

You can set up default values to be used for shipping rules on sales orders and order lines.

During the implementation process or at any time after, you can specify the shipping rule
for each customer class in the **Default delivery settings** section on
the **General settings** tab of the [Customer classes (AR201000/AR2010PL)](https://docs.vismasoftware.no/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/customer-ledger-windows/customer-classes-ar201000/index.md) window.
Then when you create a new customer account for a customer of this
class, the customer will get the default shipping rule value along with other default values
from the customer class.

For each customer, the shipping rule is specified on the
**Delivery settings** tab of the [Customers (AR303000)](https://docs.vismasoftware.no/visma-net-erp/help/customer-ledger/customer-ledger-windows/customers-ar303000/index.md) window.
When you create a sales order and select the customer, the sales order
automatically gets the default shipping rule you specified for the customer.

If the **Business account locations** functionality is enabled in the [Enable/disable functionalities (CS100000)](https://docs.vismasoftware.no/visma-net-erp/help/common-settings/enable-or-disable-functionalites/enable-disable-functionalities-cs100000/index.md) window, the customer locations generally get the
default shipping rule values from the customer accounts.
If needed, you can specify
different default shipping rules for different locations of the customer.

## Default shipping rules for transfer orders

Because transfer orders are created to account for transfers between warehouses, and warehouses are assigned to branches, the default shipping rules can be specified for branches on the **Delivery settings** tab of the [Branches (CS102000)](https://docs.vismasoftware.no/visma-net-erp/help/organisation-structure/organisation-structure-windows/branches-cs102000/index.md) window.

<h2>Related pages</h2><h3>Concepts</h3>
<ul><li><a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/manage-document-types-and-work-flows/about-predefined-types-of-sales-orders/index.md">About predefined types of sales orders</a></li><li><a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/process-sales-orders/about-sales-order-processing-options/index.md">About sales order processing options</a></li><li><a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/process-sales-orders/about-invoice-order-processing-options/index.md">About invoice order processing options</a></li><li><a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/process-sales-orders/about-cash-sales-processing-options/index.md">About cash sales processing options</a></li>
</ul><h3>Tasks</h3>
<ul><li><a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/manage-document-types-and-work-flows/display-profit-and-margin-totals/index.md">Display profit and margin totals</a></li><li><a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/process-sales-orders/create-a-sales-order/index.md">Create a sales order</a></li><li><a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/process-sales-orders/create-a-sales-order-with-allocations/index.md">Create a sales order with allocations</a></li><li><a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/process-sales-orders/create-a-sales-order-with-reserved-allocations/index.md">Create a sales order with reserved allocations</a></li>
</ul><h3>Windows</h3>
<ul><li><a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/sales-windows/sales-orders-so301000/index.md">Sales orders (SO301000)</a></li><li><a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/sales-windows/sales-order-preferences-so101000/index.md">Sales order preferences (SO101000)</a></li><li><a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/sales-windows/order-types-so201000/index.md">Order types (SO201000)</a></li><li><a href="/visma-net-erp/help/sales/sales-windows/process-orders-so501000/index.md">Process orders (SO501000)</a></li>
</ul>


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