Production
Cancel or reverse a work order
Stop a work order that has not finished and roll back everything it moved, or undo a completed order with a reversal order that backs out its stock, cost and entries.
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In this article
There are two ways to undo a work order, and which one you use depends on whether it is finished. Cancel stops an order that is planned, released or in progress. Reverse undoes an order that is already completed. Both leave a full trail: nothing is deleted.
Cancel a work order
Use this when an order should not continue, for example because the customer withdrew or the order was created by mistake.
Open Manufacturing › Production › Work Orders.
On the order's row open the actions menu, or open the order, and select Cancel.
Confirm Are you sure you want to cancel this work order?
The message Work order cancelled confirms it. In one step the system:
Reverses every journal entry the order posted, with mirror entries.
Returns all issued materials that were not consumed from the work-in-progress warehouse to their source warehouse.
Removes from the finished goods warehouse any units that production reports had already received.
Releases the remaining reservations, so the stock is available again.
Sets the status to Cancelled.
If any step fails, nothing changes and the order keeps its status.
Reverse a completed work order
Use this when a completion was recorded in error, for example with the wrong quantity.
On a completed order, select Reverse.
Confirm Reverse this completed work order? A reversal (-REV) work order will be created and its GL/stock entries reversed.
The message Work order reversed confirms it. The system:
Creates a reversal work order with the original number followed by -REV. It is marked Reversal WO in the list.
Removes the finished goods from stock, puts the consumed materials back and reverses the journal entries.
Restores the product's average cost as it was before the completion.
Sets the original order's status to Reversed.
Then create a new work order with the right figures.
Cancelling orders that belong to a plan
A production plan cannot be cancelled while it has open work orders. Cancel those orders first, then cancel the plan. See Plan production and generate work orders.
Common questions
Can I delete a work order instead? No. Use Cancel so that the history and the reversal entries stay on record.
Who can cancel or reverse? Users with the permission to manage work orders.