Every rate and template has two settings that decide what it bills and how much. The transaction type decides what creates the charge, either a warehouse event or a recurring schedule. The rate type decides how ShipHero works out the quantity. Getting both right is what makes a rate produce the charge you expect.
New to 3PL Billing Alpha? Start with Overview: 3PL Billing Alpha in ShipHero.
Table of Contents
- How Transaction Types and Rate Types Work Together
- Transaction Types in 3PL Billing Alpha
- Rate Types in 3PL Billing Alpha
- How to Choose Between Transactional and Accessorial Rates
- Requiring an Entry on an Accessorial Rate
- 3PL Billing Alpha Rate Structure
How Transaction Types and Rate Types Work Together
The two settings do different jobs. The transaction type decides when a rate bills. The rate type decides how the quantity is worked out.
| Setting | What it decides | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction type | What causes the rate to bill: a warehouse event or a recurring schedule. | Inbound shipments, Wholesale Order, Recurring |
| Rate type | Whether ShipHero calculates the quantity, a worker enters it, ShipHero counts LPNs in storage, or the charge is a flat amount. | Transactional, Accessorial, Flat fee (recurring rates only), Storage (recurring rates only) |
For example, a rate set to inbound shipments with the accessorial rate type bills when an inbound shipment closes, using a quantity your team entered during receiving. The same transaction type with the transactional rate type bills on the same event, but ShipHero works out the quantity itself.
A rate with the wrong transaction type never bills
A rate only bills for the transaction type selected on it, no matter how the rest of the rate is configured. When a rate that looks correct produces no charges, check the transaction type first and confirm it matches the event your team is actually closing.
Transaction Types in 3PL Billing Alpha
The transaction type is what causes a rate to bill. Inbound shipments and Wholesale Order connect your billing setup to a warehouse event. Recurring connects it to a schedule instead. Ad hoc charges are different: they are not a rate setting, because you enter the charge yourself. Each row below links to the article with the setup steps.
| Transaction type | What triggers the charge | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Inbound shipments | The charge is created when an inbound shipment closes. | Inbound Shipments Transaction Type in 3PL Billing Alpha |
| Wholesale Order | Your team enters accessorial quantities on a wholesale order, and the order's Billing tab shows the resulting charges. | How to Enter Accessorial Charges on Wholesale Orders in 3PL Billing Alpha |
| Recurring flat fee | The charge is created on the weekly or monthly schedule you set, not on a warehouse event. | Recurring Transaction Type in 3PL Billing Alpha |
| Recurring storage | The charge is created on the storage schedule you set, based on the LPNs a client has in storage. | How to Set Up Recurring Storage Billing in 3PL Billing Alpha |
| Ad hoc charges | You create the charge yourself, from an inbound shipment or the Charges page, instead of a rate creating it. | How to Create Ad Hoc Charges in 3PL Billing Alpha |
You set the transaction type when you create a template or a rate. You can also filter by transaction type on the Templates page and on a client's rates list, which is the quickest way to see every rate tied to one kind of event.
Transaction type cannot be changed after creation
Once you save a rate or template, its transaction type is permanent. To bill a different kind of event, create a new rate or template with the transaction type you need.
Rate Types in 3PL Billing Alpha
Every rate is transactional, accessorial, flat fee, or storage. The rate type decides whether ShipHero calculates the quantity for you, whether someone on your team enters it, whether ShipHero counts LPNs in storage, or whether the charge is a fixed amount with no quantity at all.
| Rate type | How the quantity is set | When the charge is created |
|---|---|---|
| Transactional | ShipHero derives the quantity from the event automatically. | When the event completes. |
| Accessorial | A warehouse worker enters the quantity on the desktop or in ShipHero Mobile. | When the event closes. |
| Flat fee | There is no quantity. ShipHero bills the same set amount every time. | On the recurring schedule you set. |
| Storage | ShipHero counts the Pallet LPNs and Box LPNs a client has in storage. | On the recurring schedule you set. |
Transactional rates bill on their own. Nobody enters a quantity. When the event completes, ShipHero counts what happened and creates the charge. What it counts depends on the transaction type you selected. Use transactional rates for work ShipHero can already measure, such as a per pallet handling fee or a flat fee for receiving a shipment.
Accessorial rates bill from a quantity a person enters. ShipHero cannot see the work, so someone records it during the event on the desktop or in ShipHero Mobile. When the event closes, that quantity becomes a charge. Every person who enters a quantity gets their own line item, so you can see who recorded what. Use accessorial rates for hands-on work that varies, such as pallet wrapping, re-labeling, or labor hours. Workers enter quantities on an inbound shipment or on a wholesale order.
Flat fee rates bill a fixed amount on a schedule instead of a warehouse event. There is no quantity to calculate or enter. Flat fee is only available with the recurring transaction type. Use it to replicate a recurring charge from your legacy system, such as a monthly admin fee.
Storage rates bill a client for the pallets and boxes they store. ShipHero counts each LPN (license plate number, the barcode ShipHero uses to track a pallet or box) in storage, so nobody enters a quantity. Storage is only available with the recurring transaction type. See recurring storage billing for billing types and frequencies.
The rate name is the instruction your team sees
Warehouse staff pick an accessorial rate from a list in ShipHero Mobile, and the rate name is the only guidance they get. Name accessorial rates so someone on the floor knows exactly what to count.
How to Choose Between Transactional and Accessorial Rates
Ask whether ShipHero can already tell how much of the work happened. If it can, use transactional. If the answer lives in someone's head, use accessorial.
| If the work | Use this rate type |
|---|---|
| Can be counted from containers or events ShipHero already tracks | Transactional |
| Happens the same predictable way on every event | Transactional |
| Depends on what a person did by hand, and ShipHero has no record of it | Accessorial |
| Varies from one event to the next and needs someone to judge the amount | Accessorial |
| Needs to be recorded by the person who did it, for later review with the client | Accessorial |
Transactional rates take work off your team but only cover what ShipHero measures. Accessorial rates cover anything, at the cost of an entry during the event. This comparison doesn't apply to flat fee or storage rates: they don't bill from work at all. A flat fee bills a fixed amount on a schedule, and a storage rate bills for LPNs in storage on a schedule. Use flat fee and storage only with the recurring transaction type.
Requiring an Entry on an Accessorial Rate
Accessorial rates include a setting that makes an entry mandatory. When you require an entry, nobody can close the event until a quantity is recorded for that rate.
Zero is a valid entry. The setting makes your team look at the rate, it does not force them to bill for it.
A required rate stops the event from closing
Warehouse staff cannot complete the event until they enter a quantity for every rate that requires one. Set entry to required only for accessorial work your team needs to account for every time.
3PL Billing Alpha Rate Structure
Rates use simple flat amounts. For transactional and accessorial rates, you set one amount and ShipHero applies it to the quantity. For flat fee rates, there is no quantity: the amount you set is the charge, every time the schedule fires.