How to Configure Shipping Charges

This topic provides an overview of how shipping charges are handled in Aptify.

1. The organization defines the applicable Shipment Types that it supports.
   • For example, an organization may use the United States Postal Service, UPS, DHL, and Fed Ex to ship packages. Each of these shipping methods would have its own Shipment Types record.
   • See Adding Shipment Types for details.
     
     
2. The organization defines one or more Matrix records for a particular Shipment Type. Each Matrix record defines a shipping charge for a particular set of criteria, based on an order or order line's Ship To location, quantity, and/or weight.
   • See Adding Matrix Records for details.
     
     
3. On each Shipment Types record, an organization defines any applicable groupings that the Order Entry system will use to segment items when determining an order's shipping charge.
   • See Creating Shipment Type Groupings for details.
     
     
4. The organization configures the shipping characteristics of the products it sells.
   • Select the Include in Shipping Calc. option for a product for which shipping is charged.
     • On a particular order, the Order Entry system will only calculate the shipping charge for those products that have the Include In Shipping Calc. option selected.
       
       
   • If one or more Shipment Types calculate price based on weight, specify the product's weight on the Products record's Inventory > Dimensions tab.
   • See Configuring Shipping Options for a Product for details.
     
     
5. When a user creates a new order that includes one or more order lines for a product that has the Include in Shipping Calc.option selected, the Order Entry system performs the following steps:
   1. Determines the order's Shipment Type, as specified by the user on the Order's Shipping tab.
      • Note that a user can specify a Shipment Type at the Order Line level that is different from the Shipment Type at the Order level. In this case, the system will consider those Order Lines separately from the rest of the order.
        
        
   2. Based on the selected Shipment Type, the system determines how many shipments exist within the order.
      • For example, if an order has two order lines that ship to different locations, the single order has two order shipments. In this case, the system identifies two separate groups for Shipping Charge calculation purposes.
      • A second example is an order that has two order lines that ship to the same location but the products are in different groupings, based on the criteria specified on the Shipment Type's Groupings tab. In this case, the system would also identify two separate order shipments for Shipping Charge calculation purposes.
        
        
   3. The Order Entry system calculates the Shipping and Handling charges for each order shipment. 
      • For each order shipment (based on the order or order lines' Ship To destinations or Shipment Type groupings), the system matches the shipment with one Matrix record from the Shipment Types record.
      • A Shipment Type's Matrix records are typically organized in a hierarchical fashion of Parent records with multiple Child records. For example, a Shipment Type may have a top-level "Ship To U.S. Address" parent Matrix record that does not specify shipping charges. This parent would then have multiple child records that specify the shipping cost based on another characteristics, such as a child record that specifies the charge for U.S. shipments that are 0 to 2 pounds, a second child record for 2 to 5 pounds, and so on.
      • When attempting to match a shipment with a Matrix record, the system reviews all top-level Matrix records first in rank order. It identifies the first qualifying Matrix record based on the shipment's characteristics. Then, the system evaluates any child records (in rank order for child records that share the same parent) to determine if a more narrow match is possible. In this case, the system matches against the first qualifying child record it identifies. Then, the system reviews any child records for that Matrix record to look for an even more narrow match. The process completes when the system matches the order shipment against the lowest possible Matrix record within the hierarchy.
      • The system obtains the shipping charge amounts from the matching Matrix record and calculates the applicable shipping and handling charges as well as the shipping cost for the shipment.
        
        
   4. The system adds together the shipping and handling charges of the individual order shipments on the order and displays the total in the Shipping and Handling fields in the Order's Summary area.
      • If a shipping charge includes tax, then the system subtracts the applicable tax amount from the Shipping and/or Handling fields.
      • You can click the information (i) icon to display information about how the system calculated the shipping or handling charges. See Understanding the Shipping and Handling Details Dialog for details.
        
        
        
        
      • The system also adds together the shipping cost of the individual order shipments on the order and displays the total in the Shipping Cost field on the Order's Shipping tab.
        
        
        
        
   5. When a user ships the order, the system automatically generates the appropriate GL entries for the shipping charges and costs based on the general ledger (GL) accounts specified in the corresponding Shipment Types records.
   6. The accounting department batches the GL entries associated with Orders and Payments, which aggregates the individual GL entries related to the shipping charges and shipping costs for importing into your organization's accounting package.