Shipments
Once stock is allocated to a Sales Order, a 'child' Shipment transaction can be created. Shipments track the progress of Line Items through the pick, pack, and shipment processes.
Shipments manage and track the journey of allocated Line Items, specifically the status and outcomes of the pick, pack and shipping process.
Shipments post to the GL accounts Stock Asset & COGS
When the Shipment status is changed to 'Shipped' a transaction credits the Stock Asset account and debits the COGS (Cost of Goods Sold). The balance posted is derived from the average cost of the commensurate Items.
Pick, Pack, Ship etc Actions are initiated from the Shipment.
You cannot create a Shipment if stock is not allocated to the corresponding Sales Order and the respective Line Items you want to ship.
From the Sales Order List you can:
- bulk allocate stock to Sales Orders.
- bulk create Shipments
Shipment Documents are ‘children’ of Sales Orders. A Sales Order can result in multiple Shipments. For example partial fulfillment of Line Items because of stock shortfalls.
Shipments inherit properties from the Sales Order specifically,
- Customer name
- Corresponding 'Ref#' e.g. SO123/1
- Contact details
- Shipping Priority
- Shipping vendor and method (if preset on the Order)
- Shipping Address
- Site or Warehouse from where it will be picked, packed, and shipped.
- Line Items
You have two options to manage your pick, pack, and ship processes. There is no change in your subscription cost if you enable or disable the WMS.
If you have existing warehouse(s), or your operation is scaling beyond a managable number of products and stock locations, you can take advantage of our built in warehouse management system. See Warehouse for an in depth overview.
If you have a simple operation with a relatively small assortment of SKUs, and low number of locations you can efficiently manage your pick, pack, and shipping process with the WMS disabled.
You still have access to all of the volume automation functions on the Sales Order List and Shipments List. See WMS disabled workflow.
Shipments appear in:
- the Transactions tab on the Sales Order from which they originated.
- the warehouse management system’s ‘Goods Out’ lists (Barcode and Warehouse manager console).
- the Shipments List.
- the Transactions tab on the Customer Master.
The Pick, Pack and Ship instructions originate from the Shipment Document. The status of the Pick, Pack and Ship workflow is tracked by the Shipment Document.
The Shipment Document receives and stores the Shipping vendor tracking number.
Sales Order>Actions>Create Shipment
Assuming the Sales Orders have been allocated stock.
Sales Order List>Allocating>Create Shipments from selected Sales Orders.
If you have unallocated orders
Sales Order List>Allocating>List Orders requiring allocation
If the above Action detects there are unallocated orders that can be partially or fully allocated, a list of these orders will be displayed together with these additional actions. You can then use:
Sales Order List>Allocating>Allocate Stock
The Sales Order List will display a button 'Create Shipments'
Alternatively you can use the the 'List Orders ready to Pick-Pack-Ship' button. This button is permanently displayed on the Sales Order List.
If the above action detects there are partially or fully allocated orders, a list of these orders will be displayed together with this control.
You can then use the 'Create Shipments' button on selected Sales Orders
Shipment>Action>Hold stops the Shipment in its current phase and sets the appropriate status i.e. Pick on Hold.
In the Shipments List, select the Shipments you want to send by email.
Shipments>Action Bar>Email Shipments
To adapt the PDF (printed Document) styling see ‘Using Templates’. You can adapt the Email template message to meet your requirements. See ‘Email Templates’ to adapt the message body etc.
If you are not using the WMS (warehouse management system), the Shipment List can be used to manage the Shipment journey, specifically the pick pack ship process. Here’s how...
No WMS pick, pack and ship process
Closed Periods: In the unlikely event that a user tries to ship within a closed period the Shipment account entries will be posted on the first available open date.
Stock Valuation: The Stock Valuation report takes into account the new Shipment account entries.
Stock Transfers: Stock Transfers use a Shipment between sites. But the associated accounting entries are done via a Stock Transfer document within SO. There is therefore no need to generate account entries for the Shipment.
Supplier Returns: The Supplier Return (via a Supplier Credit Note) uses a Shipment to send the stock back to the supplier. However, it is the Credit Note that creates the associated account entries. There is therefore no need to generate account entries for the Shipment.
Last modified 1mo ago