How to Reconcile Carrier Bills in 3PL Billing

In high-volume warehouse management, accurate billing is as critical as shipping speed. ShipHero's Carrier Reconciliation tool bridges the gap between quoted carrier rates and the actual billed charges.

Accurate data ensures your warehouse remains profitable. ShipHero uses reconciliation data to balance shipping costs against customer billing. Because the system is designed for financial transparency, errors like duplicate imports or incorrect file formatting can create significant administrative hurdles if not caught early.

Table of Contents

• How Carrier Reconciliation Works
• Best Practices for Success
• How to Reconcile Carrier Invoices
• Troubleshooting Errors

How Carrier Reconciliation Works

ShipHero links uploaded carrier invoice data to shipments using the tracking number.

1. The system compares the quoted cost (at time of shipping) to the actual cost (from the carrier).
2. If a difference is found, a list of "label reconciliations" appear on the customer's billing page.
3. Adjustments are automatically added to the customer's next bill.

Carrier Filtering and Cost Detection

• The carrier selected is used to filter shipping labels. The system searches for shipping labels that match both the tracking number AND the carrier. This prevents false matches when the same tracking number format might exist across different carriers.

  Exception: When Endicia is selected as the carrier for the reconciliation CSV upload, ShipHero searches both "endicia" and "usps" carriers since Endicia uses USPS for delivery.

  So if you select "Canada Post" from the dropdown, the reconciliation will only match tracking numbers from labels that were created with Canada Post as the carrier — not UPS, FedEx, or any other carrier, even if a tracking number somehow matched.

• ShipHero uses the label cost charged by the carrier. If a carrier lists duties, taxes, and surcharges separately (for example, in a column called "Taxes"), ShipHero might not detect them when reconciling the bill.

Duplicate Tracking Number Handling

To prevent overcharging, ShipHero handles duplicate tracking numbers differently based on how you upload the reconciliation CSV:

Best Practices for Success

• The "Test Row" Strategy: Before a bulk upload, create a CSV with only the first 2 rows. Upload it to ensure columns (weight, zone, tracking number) map correctly.
• Consolidate Files: Combine all carrier data into a single master CSV before uploading. This triggers ShipHero's internal deduplication to merge multi-line charges.
• Centralized Management: Assign one team member to handle uploads to prevent redundant data entry.
• Audit Surcharges: Remember that ShipHero sums the base rate and surcharges. If a cost looks high, it is likely the total of all fees for that tracking number.

How to Reconcile Carrier Invoices

1. Go to the 3PL Billing > Reconcile page and click the Reconcile Carrier Bill button (top left).
2. Select your Carrier from the dropdown.
   • For FedEx, UPS, and Endicia reconciliations you have the option to directly upload the carrier's CSV invoice or upload your own CSV using the "Other" option. See How to Export Your Carrier Invoice CSV for instructions on exporting your invoice file from each carrier portal.

   • For all other carriers, select the "Other" option and then select the carrier from the dropdown in the next module. You will need to upload a CSV using the reconciliation CSV template. See How to Reconcile a Carrier Invoice with a Custom CSV for template guidelines and required fields.

     Navigation Example: 3PL Billing > Carrier Reconciliation

3. Upload your CSV. Specific instructions on how to export your carrier invoices and format a custom reconciliation CSV can be found in the related articles linked above.

Troubleshooting Errors

If you upload incorrect data, use these three paths to resolve it:

• Manual Exclusion: Before finalizing a client's bill, review pending charges and manually exclude incorrect records. Use this when you catch an error before the billing cycle closes.
• Status Monitoring: Check the job status (NEW, PENDING, COMPLETED, ERROR). Records in ERROR status will generally not proceed to billing. Use this to identify uploads that failed processing before they affect a customer's bill.
• Engineering Support: If a record must be deleted from the database entirely, you must contact ShipHero Support. Use this as a last resort when neither exclusion nor error status resolves the issue.