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How to Create Ad Hoc Charges in 3PL Billing Alpha

An ad hoc charge (also called a one-time charge or ad hoc fee) bills a client for work or a manual adjustment that no accessorial rate covers. In 3PL Billing Alpha, you can create an ad hoc charge from an inbound shipment or from the Charges page, and ShipHero adds it to the client's charges right away.

Before You Begin

  • Account access: 3PL Billing Alpha is available to a limited group of accounts. Contact ShipHero Support to ask about joining the alpha group.
  • Inbound shipment: To create a charge for an inbound shipment, open the shipment you want to bill first. An ad hoc charge created there belongs to that shipment.
  • Wholesale Order: To create a charge for a wholesale order, open the order and navigate to the accessorial charges tab. Navigate to the Adhoc charges section. The charge created through this flow will be created immediately and ties directly back to the wholesale order. 
  • Client and warehouse: To create a charge from the Charges page, you choose the client and warehouse the charge applies to.

New to 3PL Billing Alpha? Start with Overview: 3PL Billing Alpha in ShipHero. To enter quantities for rates you set up ahead of time, see How to Add Accessorial Charges to an Inbound Shipment in 3PL Billing Alpha. Using the original 3PL Billing? See How to Set Up Ad Hoc Fees in 3PL Billing.

Table of Contents

How Ad Hoc Charges Work in 3PL Billing Alpha

An ad hoc charge in 3PL Billing Alpha is a one-time charge you enter by hand. Use one when no accessorial rate covers what happened, or when you need to make a manual adjustment.

Accessorial rates are different. You set them up ahead of time, and your team enters only a quantity. With an ad hoc charge, you enter the charge label, charge category, quantity, and rate yourself.

You can create a charge in three places:

  • Inbound shipment and wholesale order: The Accessorial charges tab has a Create adhoc charges button. The inbound shipment supplies the client, warehouse, and event for you.
  • Charges page: The Create charge button starts a charge for any client and warehouse. You can base the charge on an existing accessorial rate or enter every field yourself.

ShipHero creates the charge as soon as you save it, with the status Ready to invoice. It doesn't wait for the inbound shipment to close. The Create adhoc charges button is available on open inbound shipments and on completed ones.

How to Create an Ad Hoc Charge from an Inbound Shipment in 3PL Billing Alpha

Ad hoc charges can't be edited or deleted after you create them

The Create adhoc charges window warns: "Please review all details carefully. Once created, this charge cannot be edited or deleted." Check every field before you create the charge.

  1. Open the inbound shipment you want to bill and select the Accessorial charges tab.
  2. Select Create adhoc charges.
  3. Fill in the fields in the table below. Required fields have a red asterisk.
  4. Select Create adhoc charges. ShipHero shows "Adhoc charge created".
Select Create adhoc charges Fill in the charge and create it
Accessorial charges tab of an inbound shipment in the ShipHero Web Dashboard showing the Create adhoc charges button next to Columns and Export
Create adhoc charges window showing the warning, Charge label Pallet Re-wrap, Charge category Handling, GL code, Quantity 1, Rate amount 25, and the Create adhoc charges button
Field Required What to enter
Charge label (Customer description) Yes A short description of the charge, for example "Pallet Re-wrap".
Charge category Yes Select Freight Prepaid, Freight Third Party, Handling, Labor, Materials, Miscellaneous, or Storage.
GL code No The general ledger code for the charge.
Quantity Yes The number of units to charge.
Rate amount Yes The price per unit, in dollars. ShipHero multiplies Quantity by Rate amount to get the charge amount.

Reopening an inbound shipment deletes its ad hoc charges

When you reopen an inbound shipment, ShipHero deletes every charge attached to it, including the ad hoc charges you created from that shipment.

How to Create a Charge from the Charges Page in 3PL Billing Alpha

The Create charge button on the Charges page adds a charge for a client without waiting for an event to create it. The page has two steps: choose the client and warehouse, then choose how to build the charge. You can base the charge on an existing accessorial rate, or enter every field yourself.

  1. Go to Billing (Alpha) > Charges and select Create charge.
  2. In Client, search for the client by name and select it.
  3. In Warehouse, select the warehouse.
  4. Select Continue. The Rates step opens with two options: Existing rate and From scratch.
Select Create charge Select the client and warehouse
Charges page in the ShipHero Web Dashboard showing the Create charge button at the top right
Create charge page in the ShipHero Web Dashboard with BackCountryGearExchange selected as the client, Valshallas East as the warehouse, and the Continue button

To associate a charge with a wholesale order, select Wholesale Order as the Transaction type and search for the order in Event ID. To record accessorial quantities on wholesale orders, see How to Enter Accessorial Charges on Wholesale Orders in 3PL Billing Alpha.

Create a Charge from an Existing Accessorial Rate in 3PL Billing Alpha

Use Existing rate when the client already has an accessorial rate for the work. The rate supplies the charge label, category, GL code, and rate amount, and you can't change them here. You enter the quantity.

  1. Select Existing rate.
  2. In Transaction type, select Inbound or Wholesale Order.
  3. In Accessorial rate, select the rate. ShipHero fills in the Charge label, Charge category, GL code, and Rate amount.
  4. Check the Confirmation date. It starts as today's date. You can select an earlier date.
  5. Enter the Quantity. ShipHero multiplies it by the Rate amount to show the Charge amount.
  6. In Event ID, search for the inbound shipment or wholesale order ID and select it.
  7. Optional: Enter Notes.
  8. Select Create charge.
Create charge page in the ShipHero Web Dashboard with Existing rate selected, Transaction type Inbound, Accessorial rate Per Pallet, Event ID 23721, and the Create charge button

Create a Charge from Scratch in 3PL Billing Alpha

Use From scratch to enter every field yourself. This is how you create an ad hoc charge from the Charges page.

  1. Select From scratch.
  2. In Transaction type, select Adhoc, Inbound, or Wholesale Order.
  3. Fill in the fields in the table below. Required fields have a red asterisk.
  4. Select Create charge.
Create charge page in the ShipHero Web Dashboard with From scratch selected, Transaction type Adhoc, Charge label Special Handling, Charge category Handling, quantity 2, rate amount 15.5, and a Charge amount of $31.00
Field Required What to enter
Event ID Not for Adhoc Search for the inbound shipment or wholesale order ID and select it. This field stays unavailable when the Transaction type is Adhoc.
Charge label Yes A short description of the charge.
Charge category Yes Select Freight Prepaid, Freight Third Party, Handling, Labor, Materials, Miscellaneous, or Storage.
GL code No The general ledger code for the charge.
Confirmation date Yes Select today's date or an earlier date. Future dates are unavailable.
Quantity Yes The number of units to charge. ShipHero doesn't accept zero or a negative number.
Rate amount Yes The price per unit, in dollars. Enter a negative amount to create a credit. ShipHero multiplies Quantity by Rate amount to show the Charge amount.
Notes No Any extra context for the charge.

Where Ad Hoc Charges Appear in 3PL Billing Alpha

After you create a charge, ShipHero shows it on the Charges page. Charges created from an inbound shipment also appear on that shipment.

Add Wholesale order

  • Inbound shipment: The Accessorial charges tab adds an Adhoc charges section below the accessorial rates. It lists the Charge label, Quantity, Amount, Created by, and Created date. The Create adhoc charges button moves into this section's header, so you can add more charges to the same shipment.
  • Charges page: Go to Billing (Alpha) > Charges and search by the inbound shipment's ID in Search by Event ID. The charge appears with the Transaction Type Inbound, the Confirmation Date, and the status Ready to invoice.
Adhoc charges section on the inbound shipment Charge on the Charges page
Adhoc charges section on the Accessorial charges tab of an inbound shipment in the ShipHero Web Dashboard showing the Pallet Re-wrap charge with quantity, amount, created by, and created date
Charges page in the ShipHero Web Dashboard filtered by the inbound shipment ID showing the Pallet Re-wrap charge with the status Ready to invoice

To review and invoice charges from the Charges page, see How to Manage Charges and Invoicing.

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