Calculating and Comparing Freight Charges

Freight charges can be entered manually on a sales invoice or can be automatically calculated by EBMS when the invoice is entered. The Ship via setting is used to determine if an order is being shipped or not and which rate formula to use.  

Freight Calculation Factors

Freight costs are calculated within the sales order using the following factors:

  1. Ship Via setting: A sale is identified as being shipped rather than being a pickup (FOB) sale by the Ship Via setting within the sales order. If the Ship Via setting is configured as a Customer Pickup, no shipping charges are calculated. See the Creating Shipping Methods section for details on Ship Via options. The Ship Via field defaults to the Default Shipping Method within the customer's terms tab.

  2. Weight and dimensions: The total weight or dimensional weight of the package may be a factor in the freight cost. The weight may be determined from the Gross Weight value within the inventory item or the package weight or dimensions in the optional Shipping tab of the inventory item. Review the Calculating Total Weight section for more details.

  3. Shipping Rates: Rates can be determined by a formula or combination of formulas set within the following settings:

    1. Ship Via setting: Review the Creating Shipping Methods section for details.

    2. Customer setting: Review the Entering a Shipping Rate for a Customer section for more details.

    3. The shipping company’s rate table: This rate table is often accessed online to keep the rates current. Review the Connecting directly to UPS WorldShip or FedEx rate tables section for examples of online rate tables.

  4. Ship To Address: Many rate tables are determine by the destination. The Ship To address may be defaulted to by the customer record. Review the Terms tab details within the Customers > Changing Customer Information section for more details.

Shipping Details

Shipping is calculated within a sales order or proposal using one of the following methods:

  1. Click on the Est. S&H button to the left of the freight field to estimate shipping costs based on current settings.

  2. Click on the Shipping tab for more advanced shipping management tools.  This tab lists the shipment details, tracking information, shipping costs, and package information.  The Shipment records are created using one of the following shipping tools that interface with EBMS:

Enter the following shipping details within the Shipping tab:

    1. Enter the contact Phone number associated with the shipment.

    2. Enter the shipment Notification Email address.  This email address can be reference by AutoSend.  Review the (Shipping Tab Email) priority setting in CRM > Auto Send > Auto Send Sales Orders or Invoices.  

    3. Click Shipment Details button to enter the following information manually.  This information may be created by integrated shipper software.

      1. Enable the Residential Delivery option if the shipping carrier requires the shipment to be noted if it is delivered to a residential address.

      2. Package details such as dimensional weight (Length, Width, Height) or the Actual Weight must be entered before rate shopping.

      3. Click Validate Ship To to have ShipEngine verify the shipping address.   

      4. Review the Rate Shopping section below for details on the powerful Rate Shop All Packages feature.

      5. Click Enter Manual Shipment to create a new Shipments record or click OK to return to Shipping tab.  

    4. Click Track to access shipping tracking details.

    5. Click Apply as Freight button to copy the Total Shipping amount to the Freight field at the bottom of the sales order. This button is useful when the actual shipping cost is added to the invoice rather than an estimated freight cost.

    6. Highlight the shipment, set the Printer, and click Print Label to print a shipping label for individual shipments.  Review Print Labels section below for more details.

Rate Shopping

Click on the Rate Shop All Packages button within the Shipment Details dialog.   Click the Shipment Details button within the Shipping tab of a sales order to open the Shipment Details dialog.

Package details must be entered into the Shipment Details dialog before rate shopping.

Click on the Rate Shop All Packages button to compare shipping options using the ShipEngine service.  

Double click to select the desired Shipping Method based on the ETA Date and Total Cost.  The number of options within the list of shipping methods is based on the ShipEngine subscription.   Review Integrating ShipEngine for subscription details.

Click Save/Print to select the method and print the shipping label.  Review [Inventory] Barcodes > Printing Barcodes for Zebra label printer setup instructions.

Manual Freight Entry

If you wish to manually add a freight charge to a sales invoice, enter the S&H amount and/or the Handling fee located at the bottom of the invoice. The freight income amounts will be posted to the Freight Charges general ledger account entered in the View > Advanced Options dialog accessed from the invoice menu.  

Review the Invoices > Entering a Sales Invoice section for more information about the sales order entry and process.