How to use Serial and Batch Tracking in SAP Business One

In SAP Business One you can set up your inventory item to be tracked by Serial numbers or Batch numbers (also known as Lot Control).
First, let’s check that Serial and Batch control is enabled in your SAP Business One.

Go to Administration -> System Initialization -> General Settings. In the Hide Functions Page, make sure Serial Numbers and Batches is NOT checked. If it is, simply uncheck it. Once unchecked the feature will be available in SAP.

Now that you have enabled Serial Numbers and Batches, you can tell SAP what items need to be tracked.

A few things to note when using Serial Numbers and Batches:

Serialized Items are tracked by individual serial numbers, each unit (quantity of 1) has its own code number.

Batch Items are grouped and tracked by a batch or Lot number, so when a Batch item is moved you need to select the quantity from the batch.

erial and Batch based items are not allowed to go negative on inventory quantity.

Once an item has Serial or Batch tracking turned on, all transactions of the item will need serials or batch numbers applied. For Serialized items this means each unit (quantity or 1) that you move in SAP needs a serial number selected. For Batch items they are grouped by the Batch or Lot number.

Batch items can be moved by selecting quantities from multiple batches.

To take an existing Item and make it Serial or batch tracked, Open the item master screen and on the General tab, in the center of the screen is the option to Manager Item By Serial Or Batch:

Serial or batch control can be turned on or off per item, in the item master screen. Note that when you change this setting there cannot be any inventory in SAP of the item.

You have to issue out all inventory of an item to make it Serial or Batch, then receive that inventory back in, assigning serial or batch numbers to the quantity you receive in.

In the same way, if you make a serial or batch item into a non serial/batch item, you must issue out any quantity and receive it back in after the change.

When making an item serial or batch controlled there is a further option in the Item Master screen to select if the serial/batch number must be applied on every transaction or on release only.

Release only means that when you receive the goods, SAP will not ask you for the serial or batch number, but instead creates a serial or batch record with a system assigned number.

When releasing this inventory, that is making any transaction to move it out of a warehouse or bin location, SAP will require you select the serial or batch number. Before the release transaction takes place you must assign a number to the inventory.

Assigning serial or batch numbers prior to release is done in Inventory -> Item management -> item Serial Numbers or Batches. This is only necessary if you have not selected Management Method -> On Every Transaction in the Item Master screen.

Tracking Serial Numbers and Batches

The purpose of Serial Number or Batches is to be able to track the item history of a specific unit or group of units of inventory.

The system keeps this information from every transaction and it is available to see in the Serial Number (Or Batch Number) Transactions Report. This report is available by going into the Item Master screen and right clicking then selecting the report. It is also found in the Inventory module and where most item transactions are listed, by a right click.

See example below: The item’s serial number displays all the transactions that apply to a specific serial:

Need Help Getting Started?

If you need assistance setting up Serial or Batch Tracking in SAP Business One, our support team is here to help.

Contact our SAP Business One Support team in the US to get personalized guidance.

You can also find more details on Serial or Batch Tracking in SAP Business One 10.0 in the SAP Help portal.