what are the inventory impacts of closing a fulfilled sales order?

AI generated answer (using internal Slack threads):

When a fulfilled sales order is closed in NetSuite, it does not directly impact the inventory levels. The inventory is affected at the time of fulfillment, not at the time of closing the sales order. When a sales order is fulfilled, the inventory is reduced by the quantity of items that have been shipped. This is when the inventory commitment is relieved. If the sales order is then closed, it simply means that no further actions (like additional fulfillments or returns) can be taken on that order. However, the inventory levels are not further impacted by this action. In the context of dropship or special order scenarios, the inventory recognition can be a bit more complex. Some businesses choose to recognize the inventory asset in their General Ledger (GL) during posting but reverse it out once the item has been shipped to the customer. This process can be achieved in NetSuite using the Special Order feature, although it requires receiving the PO before recording the fulfillment. As for closing sales orders, it's typically done when the entire order is cancelled after approval or when all items have been fulfilled and there's no intention to fulfill the remainder. However, care should be taken when closing line items as it can prevent unbilled items from being billed. If you need to manually close a line, it's recommended to adjust the quantity to match the quantity shipped. ****** Disclaimer: This response was generated by an artificial intelligence assistant based on previous conversations from multiple Slack channels, and may contain inaccuracies or mistakes. ******