---
title: "Customer Order Types in IFS Cloud: Automate Order to Cash"
date: 2026-10-12
description: "How the Customer Order Type controls the IFS Cloud order flow: Stop After events, priority reservation, consignments and shipment inventory."
author: "Dariusz Myśliwiec"
intro_image: "https://ifs-erp.consulting/images/articles/customer-order-types-order-flow-ifs-cloud-en-b5d2b7df.webp"
fulltext_image: "https://ifs-erp.consulting/images/articles/customer-order-types-order-flow-ifs-cloud-en-b5d2b7df.webp"
categories:
  - name: "Business Process Optimisation"
    url: "https://ifs-erp.consulting/business-process-optimisation.md"
tags:
  - name: "IFS Cloud"
    url: "https://ifs-erp.consulting/tags/ifs-cloud.md"
---

# Customer Order Types in IFS Cloud: Automate Order to Cash

![Customer Order Types in IFS Cloud: Automate Order to Cash](https://ifs-erp.consulting/images/articles/customer-order-types-order-flow-ifs-cloud-en-b5d2b7df.webp)

Independent IFS Cloud practice · Business process optimisation

 
## Customer order types in IFS Cloud: deciding which steps of the order flow run on their own

 Every customer order in IFS Cloud has an order type, and the order type decides how much of the order flow happens without a person: release, reservation, picking, delivery, invoicing. Changing it needs no development, only a decision about where a human should stand in the flow, and it is easy to leave at whatever the first project configured. This article explains what the order type controls, what each setting does according to the IFS Cloud documentation, and how to use it to remove waiting from the flow.

 **Key takeaways**

 
- Every customer order requires an order type. It controls which steps run automatically and which are manual, and whether shipment inventory, consignments and priority reservations apply.
- The Stop After field marks the events that are performed manually. Selecting fewer events produces a more automatic flow, and the documentation lists eleven events from Release Order to Print Invoice.
- Priority Reservation reserves at order entry, and if inventory is insufficient the order line cannot be saved. The line is either reserved or refused at entry.
- An order type header cannot be deleted once saved, and only its description can be changed, so the design deserves some thought before the first one is created.
- The default order type on the customer helps keep the flow consistent at entry, because the user does not have to choose.

  ## 1.What does the customer order type control in IFS Cloud?

 The documentation says that order types control the customer order process, and that each order type maps to one customer order routine the company uses. A routine is a way of working, for example stock items shipped from one warehouse, goods staged before loading, or service orders. Different routines need different amounts of human attention, and the order type is where that difference is written down.

 An order type needs a code and a description. Two types are preset, Normal (NO) and Service Order (SEO), and the service management process requires the second. Their settings and descriptions can be changed. Creating or modifying order types is an administrator task.

 The order type is attached in one of two ways. You can enter it on the order, or you can set a default order type on the customer record. The default is used automatically at order entry and can be changed before the order header is saved. If there is no default, the user has to type the short code.

  ## 2.How does the Stop After field shape the flow?

 On the IFS Cloud customer order type, the Stop After field marks which events are performed manually. The documentation gives one example: selecting Report Picking and Print Delivery note makes delivery and invoice creation manual, while the other steps run automatically. The documentation does not state the default settings, so check what your own order types contain before you change anything.

 
| Event | Documented effect |
| --- | --- |
| Release Order | Changes the planned order to Released after entry and approval. |
| Print Order Confirmation | Prints a confirmation for the customer. The customer record determines whether one is printed. |
| Reserve Order | Reserves inventory, unless that is done manually or through priority reservation. |
| Create Pick List and Print Pick List | Creates the pick list, then prints it. |
| Report Picking | Confirms quantities and source inventory locations. |
| Deliver Order | Records the delivery and reduces the inventory balance. |
| Create Delivery Note and Print Delivery note | Creates the delivery note, then prints it. |
| Create Invoice and Print Invoice | Creates the customer invoice for the delivered order, then prints it. |

 In the documented example and in both documented rules (Priority Reservation and Use Shipment Inventory), the step after the selected event is the one that waits for a person. Read in the documented order, the events form a chain, and in my reading a stop is a hand-over to a person that lasts until that person acts. That is useful where a human adds judgement, for example checking a picked quantity. It is waste where the person only presses the button that the system could have pressed.

  ## 3.What do Priority Reservation, Consignment and Shipment Inventory add?

 - **Priority Reservation** - the order is reserved at entry and gets a higher priority than other orders. If inventory is insufficient, the order line cannot be saved. Without this option, Print Order Confirmation must be in Stop After, so that reservation is done manually.
- **Consignment** - Order Specific creates a new consignment when the order is saved. Add To Existing adds the order to a matching consignment, one with the same customer, site, order currency and delivery terms, and creates a new one if none is Open. No Consignment creates none, and the order can be connected to one manually.
- **Use Shipment Inventory** - after picking, orders move to a shipment inventory location to be staged before delivery. When it is selected, the flow should stop after Print Pick List, because report picking must be done manually.

 Two remarks in the documentation affect the design. Consolidated pick lists have their own settings, which override the order type for shipment inventory, pick list printing and pick reporting, and pick reporting is always manual with them. And in multi-site environments the documentation recommends dedicated order types to distinguish multi-site orders.

 In my view, Priority Reservation deserves particular care. A refused line at entry tells the salesperson about the shortage at the moment of entry, and so moves the reaction to that point. Where reservation is not instant, lines can wait without supply, which is the situation described in [sales orders without coverage](https://www.ifs-erp.consulting/ifs-cloud/sales-order-without-coverage-ifs-cloud).

  ## 4.How do you design order types so the flow loses its waiting time?

 My approach has five steps. It is built on the documented behaviour and is not an IFS procedure.

 
1. **List your real routines first.** Write down the ways orders actually move through your company. Each routine that needs a different set of manual steps is a candidate for its own order type. Routines that need the same steps share one.
2. **For every manual step, name the person and the reason.** If nobody can say what judgement the person adds at a stop, the stop is a candidate for removal.
3. **Keep the number of types small.** Each type has to be explained to users and cannot be deleted once saved, so a type that few orders use adds maintenance for little gain.
4. **Set the default on the customer.** Then the routine is chosen by the customer's profile and not by whoever enters the order that day.
5. **Change one type at a time and watch the flow.** Move a stop later, and look at what shows up downstream. A step that used to be checked by hand may start to fail quietly.

 The last point is the real risk of automation. When a step that a person used to supervise becomes automatic, the person's supervision disappears with it. That is a process-drift problem, described in [process drift after go-live](https://www.ifs-erp.com/en/blog/process-drift-after-go-live-ifs-cloud), and the answer is to replace the supervision with a check that reports exceptions, not with a weekly review, as discussed in [exception routing instead of reporting](https://www.ifs-erp.com/en/blog/exception-routing-vs-reporting-ifs-cloud).

 An example of the thinking, for illustration only: a company ships stock items from one warehouse, stages some orders before loading, and also runs service orders. That is three routines, two of them on preset types if the plain stock routine uses Normal and the service routine keeps Service Order. The staged routine selects Use Shipment Inventory and stops after Print Pick List, as the documentation advises. The plain stock routine has no stop before invoicing, so picking, delivery and invoice creation do not wait for a person. Your own stops depend on who can do what, and that has to be agreed with the people involved.

  ## 5.What should you check in an existing configuration?

 | What you see | What to check first |
| --- | --- |
| Orders wait after picking for days | Whether the order type stops after Report Picking, so that Deliver Order waits for a person, and whether anyone is assigned to act on it. |
| Invoices are created late | Whether the order type stops after Print Delivery note, which makes invoice creation manual in the documentation's own example. |
| Users keep choosing the wrong order type | Whether the customer has a default order type. |
| Lines are refused at entry for lack of stock | Whether the order type has Priority Reservation, which refuses a line when inventory is insufficient. |
| Staged orders are reported as picked without a person | Whether Use Shipment Inventory is selected and the flow stops after Print Pick List, as the documentation advises, and whether consolidated pick lists are in use, because their settings override the order type for shipment inventory and pick reporting. |
| Multi-site orders are mixed with domestic ones | Whether dedicated order types exist for multi-site orders, as the documentation recommends. |

 Order types set the flow after entry, but the promise made at entry can still change later. When an order changes after the customer has been told, see [orders changed after confirmation](https://www.ifs-erp.consulting/ifs-cloud/sales-order-changed-after-confirmation-ifs-cloud). When the cost of checking steps by hand is the question, [the cost of manual monitoring](https://www.ifs-erp.com/en/blog/cost-of-manual-monitoring-ifs-cloud) puts a number on it.

 The primary source is the IFS Cloud documentation page [Customer Order Type (25R2)](https://docs.ifs.com/ifsclouddocs/25r2/Sales/AboutOrderType.htm). Behaviour can differ between releases, so check the page for the release you run.

 [Book a 30-minute fit call](https://ifs-erp.consulting/contact) [See the SCM Automation Pack](https://www.ifs-erp.com/en/applications/scm-automation-pack)

  ## 6.Frequently asked questions

 What is a customer order type in IFS Cloud? A customer order type is a setting that every customer order requires and that controls the customer order process. It decides which steps run automatically and which are manual, and whether shipment inventory, consignments and priority reservations apply. Each order type maps to one customer order routine that the company uses.

   What does the Stop After field do on the IFS Cloud customer order type? The Stop After field marks the events that are performed manually. Selecting fewer events produces a more automatic flow. In the documentation's example, selecting Report Picking and Print Delivery note makes delivery and invoice creation manual, and the other steps run automatically. In that example, the step after each selected event becomes manual.

   Can I delete or rename an order type? An order type header cannot be deleted once it is saved, and only its description can be changed. The preset types Normal (NO) and Service Order (SEO) can have their settings and descriptions changed, and the service management process requires the Service Order type. Creating or modifying order types is an administrator task.

   How do I make sure users pick the right order type? Attach a default order type to the customer. The default is used automatically at order entry, and the user can still change it before saving the order header. Without a default, the user has to enter the order type's short code manually.

  ## 7.About the author

 **Dariusz Myśliwiec** brings 18 years of hands-on work with IFS (Apps 7.5–10 and IFS Cloud). IFS Certified Associate Consultant. PRINCE2® 7. Based in Kraków, delivering remotely across Europe and globally as an independent practice, so you talk to the consultant who builds it.

 **Selected clients:** Fugro · LGC · BVI Medical · Betafence (PRÆSIDIAD) · Barlinek · NGK Ceramics · Newag · Oleofarm.

 IFS is a registered trademark of IFS AB; this practice is not affiliated with IFS AB.

  ## Find where your order flow waits for a person

 Tell me which order routines feel slowest. On a 30-minute fit call we can look at your order types, their Stop After settings and customer defaults, and decide which stops add judgement and which only add delay.

 [Book a 30-minute fit call](https://ifs-erp.consulting/contact)