What is a Stockkeeping Unit in Business Central?

A stockkeeping unit is a per location, and optionally per variant, version of an item card holding its own replenishment, planning and lead time settings.

A stockkeeping unit, usually called SKU, is a version of an item card for one combination of item, location and optionally variant. The item card stays the shared master record for description, unit of measure and posting setup, while the SKU carries the values that differ per site: replenishment method, reordering policy, reorder point and quantity, lead time and the vendor or source location used to refill. Planning uses the SKU values whenever an SKU exists for that item and location.

Press Alt+Q and search for Stockkeeping Units to open the list, or open them from an item through its related item information. In practice SKUs are not typed one by one: a batch job creates stockkeeping units for the item, location and variant combinations you select. Each SKU has its own card with replenishment and planning fields that mirror the ones on the item card.

Item 1896-S is sold from MAIN and from EAST. The SKU at MAIN uses replenishment by purchase from vendor Fabrikam, reorder point 20 pcs and reorder quantity 100 pcs. The SKU at EAST is replenished by transfer from MAIN with a lead time of 3 days and a reorder point of 5 pcs. When stock at EAST falls to 4 pcs, planning proposes a transfer from MAIN, not a purchase order.

The trap that catches most teams is editing only the item card after SKUs exist: planning reads the SKU, so the new reorder point on the item is simply ignored at that location. Generating SKUs for every item and location combination, including sites that never stock the item, is another one; it produces planning noise and hides the real exceptions. Deleting an SKU that still drives open planning lines, or forgetting variants so the SKU is defined at the wrong level of detail, causes the same kind of surprise.

Treat SKUs as something you maintain, not something you create once: run the creation batch job again after opening a new location, and review reorder points at least seasonally. Item availability by location on the item card is the quickest way to check whether the parameters you set actually match how the site sells.

Frequently asked questions

Related terms

• Location Code, A location code identifies the warehouse or site where stock is held; it appears on documents, journals and entries, and keeps quantities separated per site.
• Reordering Policy, Reordering Policy is the field on an item or stockkeeping unit that tells Business Central which planning method to use when it proposes replenishment.
• Safety Stock, Safety Stock Quantity is the buffer quantity Business Central adds to demand so that planning keeps a reserve against demand peaks and late deliveries.
• Item Variant, An item variant is a version of an existing item, for example a colour or a size, that shares the item number but whose stock is tracked separately.
• Transfer Order, A transfer order moves inventory between two locations of the same company, through an in-transit location, with a separate shipment posting and receipt posting.

How Zentriq helps

Zentriq's AI tools automate many of the manual processes around stockkeeping unit in Business Central. Learn about the Zentriq Agent or try Zentriq PunchOut to see how AI simplifies procurement in BC.