This service stores the set of available shipping methods that the organization uses to send order shipments to customer/members. The Order Entry system automatically calculates an order's shipping and handling charges based on the shipping rate information linked to the specified Shipment Type. See Managing Shipping Charges for complete information on how Aptify calculates shipping charges. Also, see Adding Shipment Types for information on the fields found on the Shipment Types record.

General Tab

Name (Required)

The name of the Shipment Type.

Description

A description of the Shipment Type.

Calculation Type (Required)

The Calculation Type field indicates the type of calculation: Standard (uses Matrix records) or Plug-In (uses a plug-in object).

Shipper

The Shipper field indicates the name of the company that shipping the order. This field links to the Companies service.

Accounting Tab

The fields on this tab determine what set of General Ledger (GL) accounts the Order Entry system debits and credits for amounts related to shipping costs and charges.

Revenue Recognition (Required)

Determines the recognition method for revenue from shipping charges: Accrual or Cash. With Accrual recognition, the Order Entry system debits an accounts receivable (A/R) account and credits an Income account the amount of the shipping charges when an order ships. Then, in the corresponding payment, the system credits the A/R account and debits a Cash account. With Cash recognition, the shipping charge revenue is recognized at the time payment is received. In other words, the system credits the Income account at the payment level. In the Orders record, the system credits the shipping amount to the Unearned Revenue account, which is then reversed in the GL entries in the Payments record.

Income Account (Required)

The GL account that is credited with the shipping charge and handling fee amounts.

Expense Account (Required)

The GL account that is debited with the shipping cost amount.

A/P Account (Required)

The GL account that is credited with the shipping cost amount.

Unearned Account

If Revenue Recognition is set to Cash, the Order Entry system credits this account with the amount of the shipping and handling charges at the order level. Then, at the payment level, the system credits the Income account and debits the Unearned account for the amount of the charges.

A/R Account

The GL account that is debited with the shipping and handling charges amount at the order level and credited at the payment level.
 

Groupings Tab

The Groupings tab lists all groupings records associated with the Shipment Types record. See About the Shipment Type Groupings Form.

Matrix Tab

The Matrix tab lists all Shipping Type Matrix records associated with the Shipment Type record. See About the Shipment Type Matrix Form.

Plug-In Tab

If the Shipment Type's Calculation Type is Plug-In, configure the fields found on this tab to identify the location of the plug-in object.

Shipment Type Calc Object

This field specifies the location of the shipment type's plug-in object in the Aptify Object Repository.

Shipment Type Calc Assembly Name

This field specifies the .NET assembly name of the shipment type plug-in.

Shipment Type Calc Class Name

This field specifies the class that provides the plug-in's logic to calculate this shipment type's shipping charges.

Web Tab

The fields on this tab are reserved for future use.

Package Tracking URL

This field stores a valid URL from fields in the Order. The purpose is to allow the system to link to shipment status URLs from shipping companies, such as UPS or Fed Ex.

Web Service URL

This field stores the URL for the web service provided by the shipper to calculate shipping costs.