Inventory Management and Physical Inventory
Stock types, movement types and the material document
Every goods movement is booked with a movement type that determines direction (receipt, issue, transfer), the stock types affected, and account determination. Stock sits in unrestricted, quality inspection and blocked stock, plus GR blocked stock, which is not available stock.
Numbers to know: 101 goods receipt to a purchase order, 103 GR into GR blocked stock, 105 release from GR blocked stock, 122 return delivery to vendor, 201/261 consumption, 301/311 transfer postings (plant to plant, storage location to storage location), 561 initial stock entry, 701/702 physical inventory gain/loss, 551 scrapping.
In S/4HANA material documents are stored in the single table MATDOC; the classic header/item tables and many aggregate stock tables no longer exist. Stock is still managed per storage location and may go negative if customizing allows negative stocks for the plant/storage location.
Physical inventory: MI01 creates the count document (optionally setting a posting block so no movements occur during counting), MI04 enters counts, MI07 posts differences with 701/702, and MI31/MI37 generate count documents for batch input. Periodic, continuous and cycle counting differ in when documents are created; cycle counting uses the cycle-count indicator in the material master's plant data, often derived from the ABC indicator.
Traps: 103 is not a receipt into unrestricted stock; 105 is not the reversal of 101 (that is 102); a reservation reduces available quantity but moves nothing; a difference posted in MI07 is a real material document requiring account determination; a count document does not change stock until differences are posted.
Rule of thumb: read a movement type as direction + stock type + valuation impact. Example: 500 pieces received with 101 and 100 returned with 122 leave 400 in unrestricted stock and a GR/IR obligation for 400.