Guide ยท EBMS
How do you use lost sales and sales history to buy smarter in EBMS ERP?
Last updated
EBMS ERP records every invoiced sale in each item's history, but a customer who left because you were out of stock leaves no trace unless someone logs a lost sale. Set up Lost Sale Reasons, record lost sales from the Product Catalog or a sales order line, and review them beside the item's sales history before you set stock levels or reorder.
This guide covers EBMS ERP by Koble (formerly Eagle Business Software) and follows Koble's current online help. Those pages do not state an EBMS version, so screens may differ slightly on older releases. Koble's help does not tie lost sales tracking to an add-on module.
Why does sales history understate demand?
Sales history counts what you shipped, not what customers wanted. When an item is out of stock, its sales drop, and any forecast or min/max built from that history learns to stock even less.
That loop is how a popular item quietly turns into a chronic stockout. Lost sales break it by recording the demand you could not fill, with a reason, so a buyer can see the gap between sold and wanted.
How do you set up lost sales tracking in EBMS?
Create your Lost Sale Reason list under Inventory > Options, on the Lost Sale/Return tab. Keep the list short and clear so staff pick the right reason quickly.
A practical list separates reasons that call for more stock from reasons that do not:
| Example reason | Purchasing action |
|---|---|
| Out of stock | Raise stock levels or reorder sooner |
| Not enough quantity | Raise the Maximum or Reorder Increment |
| Delivery time too long | Review vendor lead time and safety stock |
| Price too high | A price question, not a purchasing one |
| Item not carried | Consider adding the item if it repeats |
Plan the list before rollout. Koble's help notes that a reason cannot be deleted once it has been used.
How do you record a lost sale?
Right-click the Product ID wherever you see it and record the lost sale. That works in the Product Catalog, an inventory record, or a line on a sales order under Sales > Invoices and SO's.
- Right-click the Product ID and choose to record a lost sale.
- Enter the quantity the customer wanted. This is the only required field.
- Check the date, and add the Customer ID and Unit Price if you know them.
- Pick a Reason and add a short explanation if it helps.
- Save. The entry is stored on the item.
The hard part is habit, not software. Make it part of the counter and phone routine: if you say "we don't have it", you log it.
Where do you review lost sales and sales history together?
Open the item in Inventory > Product Catalog. The Lost Sale/Returns tab shows lost sales, and the fiscal year history tabs show what actually sold and was purchased each month.
- The Lost Sale/Returns tab lists each entry, sortable by Date, Customer, Quantity and Reason, with a summary for the current month, last month and last year.
- Each history year tab shows monthly purchase quantity and cost, plus monthly sales quantity, cost and totals. Right-click a total and choose Drill Down to see the invoices behind it.
- The Activity tab lists individual documents. Filter Doc Type to Sales Orders or Sales Invoices, set a date range and click Find (F5).
EBMS keeps history until someone removes it with the purge utilities, so you can compare several years before deciding.
How should lost sales change what you buy?
Add stock-related lost sales to recorded sales when you judge an item's real demand, then raise its stock levels to match. Koble describes lost sales as an input to decisions on stock levels and prices; its help does not say EBMS adds them to automatic calculations.
In practice, that means a manual review:
- Once a month, run the Lost Sale report, or check the Lost Sale/Returns tab, for items lost to Out of stock or Not enough quantity.
- For each, add the lost quantity to the recorded sales for the same months.
- If the total is meaningfully higher, raise the Minimum and Maximum on the Count tab.
- If you recalculate stock levels with the Calculate Stock Level Settings utility or the Advanced Inventory Management forecasting module, recheck these items afterward, because both work from recorded sales history.
- Ignore price-driven lost sales for purchasing, and pass them to whoever sets prices.
Our guide to setting reorder points in EBMS covers the Count tab fields, and the EBMS forecasting guide explains the forecasting module, which not every EBMS company has.
How does ReorderOwl use EBMS sales history?
ReorderOwl is a purchasing agent for EBMS ERP that reads three years of sales history read-only and picks a forecast method for each item. Items that sell most months get a trailing average (12 months by default); items that sell only now and then get a method built for spotty demand.
Its inputs are sales history, stock on hand, open purchase orders, vendor lead time, safety-stock days and the EBMS Minimum. Lost-sale entries are not one of them. So where your lost sales show unmet demand, there are two levers: raise the item's EBMS Minimum and turn Minimums on for that item, so ReorderOwl adds it to its order target, or ask it to use more safety-stock days for that vendor.
Each run returns an Excel workbook that names the forecast method behind every line, and seasonal methods are available for items where last year's pattern matters. You work in Slack or ChatGPT, it drafts purchase orders in EBMS, and nothing goes to a vendor until someone on your team sends it. See how to automate purchasing in EBMS for the full routine.
Frequently asked questions
Where is lost sales tracking in EBMS?
Set up reasons under Inventory > Options on the Lost Sale/Return tab. Record lost sales by right-clicking a Product ID, and review them on the item's Lost Sale/Returns tab.
Do lost sales change EBMS stock levels automatically?
Koble's help does not say they do. It describes lost sales as information to guide stock level and price decisions, so plan to review them and adjust stock levels yourself.
Can I delete a lost sale reason in EBMS?
Only if it has never been used. Once a reason is attached to a lost sale it cannot be deleted.
How far back does EBMS keep sales history?
Until you remove it. History stays on each item's year tabs until someone runs the purge utilities.
Does a customer ID have to be entered for a lost sale?
No. Only the quantity the customer wanted is required. Customer, price and a note are optional; a reason makes the record far more useful.
Sources
- Lost Sales, Koble Systems, accessed 2026-10-01
- Inventory History, Koble Systems, accessed 2026-10-01
- Product Sales and Purchase Activity, Koble Systems, accessed 2026-10-01
- Stock Level Settings, Koble Systems, accessed 2026-10-01
- Inventory Forecasting Management, Koble Systems, accessed 2026-10-01