Stock room is still showing one consumable as instock even quantity is 0

[BotuM]

Hi Team,

I am facing an issue with consumable records in ServiceNow.

I can see multiple records in the alm_consumable table where:

Quantity = 0
State = In Stock
Substate = Available 

despite the item in the shopping cart is also inactive

This is occurring across multiple consumable models and stockrooms, not just a single record.

My understanding is that if the quantity has reached zero, the consumable should ideally not be shown as In Stock and Available. However, the records continue to display those values even when no stock is available.

Could anyone please clarify the following:

Is this expected OOB ServiceNow behavior?
Are the Quantity, State, and Substate fields independent of each other in the consumable table?
Is there any OOB Business Rule, Flow, Script Include, or Inventory Management process that automatically updates the State/Substate when the quantity changes?
If Quantity becomes 0, should the State/Substate be updated manually, or is there a recommended approach to keep them in sync?

Has anyone encountered a similar issue or can confirm the expected behavior?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Deėpak Sharma]

Hi @BotuM 

1. Is this expected OOB behavior?

Yes, it is. When the quantity of a consumable reaches 0, ServiceNow intentionally leaves the original record as "In Stock / Available" with a quantity of 0.

2. Are Quantity, State, and Substate independent?

They work together, but Quantity doesn't control the State. Think of State and Substate as defining the "bucket" (like In Stock / Available). The Quantity is simply the count inside that bucket.

3. Is there any OOB automation that changes the State when quantity hits 0?

No, and that’s intentional. If you have a bucket of 5 items and consume all 5, the out-of-the-box logic decrements that original record to 0 and creates a separate record with a quantity of 5 marked as "Consumed". It leaves the original record untouched.

4. Should it be updated manually, or what is the recommended practice?

Don't update it manually. If you change that 0-quantity record to Consumed or Retired, you break the bucket. The next time you receive stock for the same model in that stockroom, ServiceNow won't see an existing "In Stock / Available" record to add to, so it will create a duplicate record instead. Keeping the 0-quantity record prevents duplicate rows and keeps inventory clean.

Happy to help! If this resolved your issue, kindly mark it as the correct answer ✅ and Helpful and close the thread 🔒 so others can benefit too.

Warm Regards,

Deepak Sharma

Community Rising Star 2025