Drop shipments in Business Central have worked the same way for several releases: create a sales order, use Get Sales Orders on a purchase order to link them, then post receipt and invoices in sequence. Version 28.0 (2026 release wave 1) adds several improvements that reduce manual steps and give more flexibility in how you handle the invoicing and error correction.
If you are new to drop shipments, start with How to Configure Drop Shipments in Business Central for the full setup guide.
Create Purchase Orders Directly from Drop Shipments
Previously, creating the purchase order for a drop shipment required opening a new purchase order and using the Get Sales Orders action to pull in the linked lines. This still works, but version 28.0 adds the option to create the purchase order directly from the sales order.
From the sales order with drop shipment lines, you can now trigger purchase order creation without navigating to the purchase order list first. This reduces the number of steps, especially when handling a single sales order.
Post Purchase Invoices Independently of Sales Invoices
In earlier versions, the posting sequence for drop shipments was rigid: you had to post the sales invoice before or at the same time as the purchase invoice. This created friction when the vendor invoice arrived before the customer was ready to be billed.
Starting with version 28.0, you can post the purchase invoice for a drop shipment independently of the related sales invoice. This means you can:
- Record the vendor cost when the vendor invoice arrives.
- Invoice the customer on a separate timeline.
- Avoid holding up vendor payment processing while waiting to bill the customer.
The link between the sales order and purchase order is maintained regardless of which side is invoiced first.
Reverse Drop Shipments
Mistakes happen. A vendor ships to the wrong address, the customer cancels after the order is placed, or the wrong item was entered on the sales line. In earlier versions, correcting a drop shipment after the receipt was posted required manual adjustments.
Version 28.0 lets you reverse a drop shipment when neither the sales document nor the purchase document has been invoiced yet. This undoes the receipt and shipment postings, restoring both documents to their pre-posted state so you can correct or cancel the order.
If either document has already been invoiced, the reversal is not available. In that case, you need to use credit memos to correct the transaction. See How to Handle Credit Memos in Business Central for that workflow.
Filter Receipt and Shipment Lines
When you need to create a combined invoice from multiple shipments or receipts, finding the right lines used to involve scrolling through potentially long lists.
Version 28.0 adds filtering capabilities to receipt and shipment line lists, so you can narrow down to the specific documents you want to invoice. This is useful when you process drop shipments in volume and need to invoice specific subsets of shipped orders.
Summary of Changes
| Feature | Before 28.0 | In 28.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Create purchase order | Navigate to Purchase Orders > Get Sales Orders | Can also create directly from the sales order |
| Invoice posting order | Sales and purchase invoices tied together | Purchase invoice can be posted independently |
| Reversing a drop shipment | Manual corrections required | Reverse action available (if not yet invoiced) |
| Finding lines to invoice | Scroll through full list | Filter receipt and shipment lines |
For the complete drop shipment setup process, see How to Configure Drop Shipments in Business Central.
For a broader overview of all new features in this release, see What’s New in Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1.