Sales Order Workflow — overview
Understand how the Sales Order Workflow differs from Counter Checkout and when to use each selling mode.
BusinessCopilot supports two distinct selling modes. Workspace owners assign one or both to each role in Settings → Roles & Permissions.
| Mode | Best for |
|---|---|
| Counter Checkout (POS) | Walk-in customers, instant payment, no warehouse stage |
| Controlled Order & Goods Release | Pre-orders, B2B, internal fulfilment — stock reserved then physically picked and released |
This section covers the Controlled Order & Goods Release workflow. For Counter Checkout, see Sales & POS.
The lifecycle of a sales order
Every sales order moves through a fixed set of statuses in sequence:
Draft → Submitted → Picking → Picked → Released → Completed| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Order is being built. Stock is not yet reserved. Can be edited freely. |
| Submitted | Order is locked and stock is reserved. Pickers can now be assigned. |
| Picking | One or more warehouse staff are actively picking stock. |
| Picked | All lines have been confirmed or a discrepancy reported. Awaiting payment & release. |
| On Hold | A discrepancy was found. Must be resolved before goods can be released. |
| Released | Payment confirmed, goods handed over. A completed Sale record is created automatically. |
| Completed | Final state after goods leave the warehouse. |
| Cancelled | Order was cancelled before release. Reserved stock is returned to available. |
Stock reservation
When an order is Submitted, BusinessCopilot automatically places a soft reservation on every line's inventory. The reserved quantity is subtracted from available stock across all order-aware screens, but the physical stock count does not change until the order is Released.
If a reservation is about to expire (less than 30 minutes remaining), the Control Tower flags it in the Expiring Soon tile so a manager can act in time.
Two ways to trigger a sale
When goods are released, BusinessCopilot creates a complete Sale record — the same record type the POS creates. Inventory is deducted and the accounting entry is posted at that moment. From the customer's perspective, there is no difference between a POS sale and a released sales order.