ANS-0859 · SALES ORDER PROCESSING
How to Display Shipping Costs on Item Fulfillments Without Charging Customers
Learn to configure NetSuite to show shipping expenses for internal validation while ensuring customers are not billed for shipping.
Short answer
To display shipping costs on Item Fulfillment records for internal validation without charging customers, enable "Charge For Shipping" under Set-up>>Accounting>>Shipping. This makes the shipping cost field visible. For real-time rates, configure carriers via NetSuite Ship Central, which integrates through ShipEngine. To prevent customer charges, apply discounts or manually zero out the shipping cost on the transaction. NetSuite Ship Central also offers an 'Actual Shipping Cost' field for carrier charges.
Scenario
A common requirement for businesses is to view the shipping cost on an Item Fulfillment or Sales Order for internal evaluation, even when customers are not charged for shipping. By default, NetSuite may not display shipping costs on these records unless specific configurations are enabled, posing a challenge for companies needing to assess different shipping methods and their associated expenses.
Solution
To display shipping costs on Item Fulfillment records for internal evaluation without charging customers, follow these steps:
Enable "Charge For Shipping":
Navigate to Set-up>>Accounting>>Shipping and enable the "Charge For Shipping" preference. This setting makes the primary shipping cost field visible on the Item Fulfillment transaction screen, allowing for internal cost validation.
Configure Carrier Integration:
For real-time shipping rate retrieval, configure carrier accounts. NetSuite Ship Central integrates carrier accounts through ShipEngine to facilitate this process.
Manage Customer Billing:
To ensure customers are not charged for shipping despite the cost being visible, implement one of the following strategies:
- Apply a promo code or a shipping discount to the sales transaction to negate the shipping cost.
- Instruct users to manually zero out the shipping cost on the transaction after completing their internal validation.
- Note on Actual Shipping Costs: While the primary 'Shipping Cost' field may reflect the sales order's shipping charge (which can be zeroed out), NetSuite Ship Central provides an 'Actual Shipping Cost' custom field on the Item Fulfillment record. This field can display the actual carrier charge, offering a distinct view of expenses even if the customer is not billed.
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