The Potential Column
How many units could you have once your open purchase orders arrive? One column answers it — no BOM math in your head.
What is the Potential column?
The Potential column on the Inventory page shows the additional unitseach SKU could have beyond what’s on hand today. It counts two things: units on order with your suppliers on open purchase orders, and — for products with a bill of materials — units you could build from components, including components that are still inbound.
Say WIDGET-100 is sold out. Its components on the shelf could build 50 units, and an open purchase order for more parts would unlock 200 more once delivered. The Potential column shows 250— the answer to “how many could I have?” without opening a single BOM or purchase order.
How it’s calculated
The math depends on what kind of SKU the row is:
Standard SKUs
The outstanding quantity on open purchase orders — what’s still coming. If a purchase order has been partially received, only the remaining units count.
Manufactured products (manufacturing BOM)
Units of the finished product on order, plus units you could build from components — counting both components on the shelf and components on open purchase orders. The On Hand column shows only finished stock you’ve actually built, so everything buildable appears here.
Assembled-to-order bundles (dynamic BOM)
Bundles already show what’s buildable from on-hand components as their available quantity. The Potential column adds only what open purchase orders unlock on top of that — nothing is counted twice.
Only open purchase orders count — Confirmed, In Transit, or partially received. Draft purchase orders don’t; they’re still being edited and haven’t been sent to a supplier.
See the purchase orders behind the number
Click any Potential value to see how it breaks down: the portion that’s buildable from components, the portion on order for the SKU itself, and the list of open purchase orders involved — each with its expected date, status, and outstanding quantity. Every purchase order number links straight to the purchase order, so “when is the wax arriving?” is one click away.
For products with a bill of materials, the list includes purchase orders containing the product itself or any of its components. The quantities shown are ordered units of those line items, not finished builds — a purchase order for 500 lids doesn’t promise 500 finished units if another component runs out first.
Rename it, show it, hide it
Prefer to call it On Order or Incoming? Go to Settings → Display → Potential Column Name and type the header you want — the column, its toggle, and its breakdown all pick up your name.
To show or hide the column, use the Velocity columns menu at the top of the Inventory page — the same menu that controls the 30/60/90-day velocity and ROP columns. The preference is remembered per browser.
Good to know
- Potential means possible, not guaranteed.If two finished products share the same inbound component, each row shows what that product could reach if it got the components — building one may reduce what’s possible for the other. Potential values are per-SKU answers, not a grand total you can add up.
- Partial receipts are handled.If you ordered 1,000 units and have received 400, the column counts the outstanding 600 — not the original order quantity.
- Buildable units still need a build.For manufactured products, the buildable portion becomes sellable stock only after you run the build. The column tells you what’s achievable, not what’s already done.
- Nested BOMs are followed.If a bundle contains a sub-assembly, the calculation walks down to the raw components — the same way availability is calculated everywhere else in Carpe Inventory IQ.
Questions? Contact us — we’ll help you directly.