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      Accounting Automation

      Accounting Automation Rules

      Baseline Data 

      When a shipment is booked it is stamped with data to be used later to validate information as the shipment goes along. 

      Baseline Data Stored: 

      • Weight 
      • Average class 
      • Origin zip code 
      • Destination zip code 
      • Accessorials 
      • Buy 
      • Sell 
      • Tariff 
      • Linehaul Carrier 

      Along with the Baseline data when a shipment is set to ready, we attach a PDF Rate Quote sheet with the same data to persevere the original quote as entered by the customer or your staff. 

      This is all in the interest of maintaining the documentation that will help you collect money from your customers. 

      Automatic Invoicing Safety 

      Before we get to Invoice Automation, we want to assure you that invoices are not just sent out. We have put in guardrails to help you with your business. These invoices are combed through and compared to Baseline Data and industry-standard accounting practices.

      Automatic invoicing will only take place if the shipment is in a status that Tai says it's ok for invoicing. 

      How does Tai decide if a shipment is ready for invoicing?

      • Is Sell greater than $0.00?
      • Is there is a margin on the shipment? 
      • Is the margin within $0.50 +/- of the margin at the time of booking?
      • Is the tariff the same as the tariff at the time of booking?
      • Has the Origin or Destination zip code changed since the time of booking?
      • Is the average class within 1 Freight Class Code up or down of the average class at the time of booking? 
      • Is the total weight of the shipment within 20 kg/lbs. of the weight at the time of booking? 
      • Is the AR set to Variance?

      Automatic Invoicing 

      You can set the customer to automatically invoice the shipment at certain points in the shipment lifecycle.

      Again, in all cases for automation, this will only occur if Tai has checked the shipment. 

      Currently available are: 

      •  Manually Invoice
        • This is the standard setting where no invoice automation will take place and your staff will need to validate, approve, and send the invoice.
      •  Auto Invoice at Billing 
        •  This will automatically invoice the customer when the bill is approved 
      •  Auto Invoice at Delivery 
        • This will automatically invoice the customer when the shipment is set to delivered 
        • This includes automation such as EDI or API as well as manually setting the shipment to delivered Auto Invoice at Booking 
      •  Auto Invoice at Booking 
        • This will automatically invoice the customer when the shipment is booked and the accounting settings set up as follows: Credit Status to Continual Credit Card (authorize.net) & Invoice Automation Method to Auto Invoice at Booking.

      Invoice Sending 

      If the customer is set to receive invoices via email, the email will be queued and sent out as soon as the automatic invoicing is successful. 

      invoice Data Audit 

      The baseline data can be used to show the user what may have changed on the shipment to affect pricing on the current invoice.

      Figure 1 - Valid Unchanged Shipment InvoiceFigure 2 - Invoice with shipment updates

      Figure 2 - Invoice with shipment updates

      In Closing 

      The goal of this automation is to streamline the 80% of your shipments that are presentable to your customer without any user interaction and allow your staff to focus on the 20% of the shipments that may need some help before they can go out to the customer.

      If you would like to know more about this Shipment Data Audit section or any of the information in here, you can contact the Teknowlogi Support or Customer Success teams for more information.