>Hi,
>
>I have a field in the Parts Table that stores quantity of items on order. This field is updated by the application when user posts purchase orders and then the qty is reduced when qty is received. But I get, quite of few times, that the value in the field does not match the actual on-order quantity. Probably somewhere the code is missing to make correct updates.
>
>Do you think it would be better to calculate this value "on-the-fly" instead of relying on the program updating it?

If the current calculated field is inaccurate, then it needs to be fixed. Removing them is one approach. Potential downsides to doing that:

- have to rework all queries that use(d) the calculated fields - app queries, reports etc.
- queries can be simpler if you have reliable calculated fields
- performance can be better with calculated fields
- some apps use "hidden" calculated fields that aren't queried from the app, for audit purposes. In that case it's probably a bad idea to delete them

OTOH if you want to keep the calculated fields but make them accurate, you have some debugging and code updating to do. This can be challenging if it's not a well-divided n-tier app.

In practice I never use calculated fields unless the client specifically asks for them.