Automating invoicing and rate card calculations

Putting off implementing a WMS could be costing you more than you think. Ensuring you have accurate and considered rate cards and calculations is essential to building a strong and sustainable business, and automating this process can save you hours of admin each day. 

By using automatic consignment and order creation through CartonCloud for 77% of November's jobs, our customers collectively saved over 3 years' worth of admin hours. 

This is how you turn your storage and services to profits. 3PL companies charge customers using a rate card; a list of standard service charges. These are calculated based on the services required by each customer and may change between customer, service type, or time of the year.

For growing 3PLs, calculating rates and charges on excel spreadsheets can get complex and confusing very quickly. Calculating rate cards manually can be time-consuming and complex, leaving many 3PLs to use simplified rates for faster calculations, where they miss out on important charges simply to save time. 

This is where having a cloud-based WMS software system is so important. CartonCloud’s WMS automatically calculates complex rates and charges based on the rules you set. This means you can have different charges for various services, seasons, customers or any other customization your business needs — giving you the power to charge your customers in the best way for your business. 

Step 1. Stop using excel spreadsheets for calculating charges

Step 2. Set up charges based on your services and customer needs

Step 3. Automate

With CartonCloud’s WMS, you can save yourself hours of admin time, which can be channeled into other areas of your business. 

CartonCloud allows you to define 3PL rate cards and charging methods for each client. So you might have one client charged based on how many pallet spaces they occupy. Then another client is charged based on the total weight of everything they've stored. 

Within CartonCloud, you can simply build your own unique rate cards based on your customers and services, and the system will automate all of the calculations and invoicing. 

Find our more about automating warehouse and transport charges with CartonCloud so you never miss a charge. 

With transparent pricing and clearly defined rates, you can also be more flexible in the services you provide to customers, giving you the ability to expand your 3PL services and introduce new revenue streams. 

Get the right rates with ease

Using barcode labeling on incoming and outgoing orders, warehouse locations and product bins let you save key information about the stock for all staff to access, including its receiving date, correct storage location, and even expiry or best before — to ensure no picking errors are made. It also means you can automatically capture stock handling charges, storage charges, and other custom charges (like custom packaging or handling of dangerous goods) with ease. 

The system automatically records the activity as you work, using the barcode scanning from the mobile app, and these charges are attributed to the order or customer. The invoice is then automatically generated based on the trigger you set, this may be a completed order, a storage period, or another trigger. CartonCloud simply calculates the charges for various customers, as well as rates for pick, pack, storage, and other various services automatically for you — so you can get on with the job at hand. 

Did you know, using CartonCloud’s custom fields feature, you can also include relevant information about a product, order or location within the barcode label, so your team can simply scan and see all they need to keep your operations running smoothly.

Increase your 3PL revenue by offering more services 

Make sure you capture all billable charges, including receiving and inspecting incoming stock, unpacking products, sorting, storage and stock movement, right through to pick and pack order fulfillment, kitting and bundling, and order dispatch. 

Have you heard of CartonCloud’s powerful Business Intelligence Tool? With our BI tool you have access to more insights, data and reporting for your own business planning, and to share with your customers as an additional service. 

Capture fuel levy rates

For 3PLs providing transport services, it’s important to capture fuel use with Fuel levies and seasonal fuel rates as well. This means you can fairly incorporate some of the additional operational expenses outside of your service control. 

Tip: Did you know you can use your company logo on all invoices generated through CartonCloud? Visit our Knowledge Base to find out how. 

Want to know more?

Contact our friendly team today for a free demo of our software, or ask about setting up rates for your 3PL, so you never miss another charge.