Shipping Modules - FedEx
PhreeBooks includes a shipping module to integrate with Federal Express through their APIs. Companies must have a FedEx shipper number and register with FedEx.com to request a meter number before the module will function correctly.
Features Include:
- Request for meter number.
- Freight quotes for Ground, Home Delivery, Express, Express Freight, and Freight (Ground LTL)
- Label generation for Express, Ground, Home Delivery, and Express Freight
- Shipping Manager integration
- Customer and Vendor order integration.
- Integration with Invoice Manger
- Tracking integration
- Multi-piece shipments
- Report capability available through reportwriter.
How to Install FedEx Shipping/Request a Meter Number
- Through Setup -> Shipping Settings, click on the FedEx Service row in the table and a button labeled Install will appear on the right.
- Click on Install to install the FedEx module.
- Click the FedEx row again and Click on the Edit Button.
- Select True to enable the module, enter your FedEx account number and FedEx Freight number if you want to use the service. Leave the meter number field blank. Select Test Mode and your desired Printer Type. Select the services you want to offer and press Update.
- Request a Meter Number: Click the FedEx Edit button again and press the Request a Meter Number button (which will appear if your fedex number is present but the meter number is blank). An XML request will be sent to FedEx with your company's information (as defined in Company -> My Company) and account number to register with FedEx API servers. A popup window will appear if the transaction was successful with your meter number. WRITE IT DOWN! If you accidentally un-install the module, the meter number is not saved and you will have to repeat the request. Enter the meter number in the Meter Number field and press Update.
- FedEx requires sample labels to be mailed to them to validate the quality of the image. Refer to FedEx.com for further information.
- After approval from FedEx with your sample labels, Edit the FedEx shipping settings and change the Test Mode to Production. You will need to request a new meter number for the production servers before an actual label can be generated.
Note: Place the sort order to a number greater than zero. IF THE SORT ORDER IS ZERO, IT WILL NOT SHOW UP.
How the Get a Rate Quote
- Rate quotes are available from the order screens. When shipping is enabled (Company -> My Company -> Enable Shipping Settings) a button will appear next to the freight method and price to load the shipping popup and request a rate.
- The Shipping Quote popup will be mostly filled out with values pulled from the order and the shipping defaults. Changes , however can be made before the carrier servers are queried for rates.
- Once the information in the shipping popup has been verified, Press the Next button and the rate estimator will pull the quoted rates form the selected services.
- Click on the rate desired and the carrier, method, and rate information will be entered into the order form; the popup will close.
Note: If the weight field of inventory items is filled out, the weight of the shipment will be automatically calculated and inserted into the rate estimator.
How to Print a Label
Labels can be printed manually through Shipping Manager or, for a particular invoice, through the Invoice Manager. If Invoice Manager is used, most of the information will be pre-entered into the label form. Verification of information and the package details are all that is needed. If a label is generated from Shipping Manager. the destination address must be entered and the package information.
From Invoice Manager
- Select Customers -> Invoice Manager. Invoices are listed in descending order by invoice number.
- Locate the invoice to generate a label from and press the Ship button. NOTE: Once a package has been shipped, the button will change to Void Shipment and the invoice cannot be re-shipped.
- A popup form will appear with most of the fields filled in. The field information is derived from the invoice itself along with default values set in the Company -> Shipping Defaults settings.
- Enter the package weight, dimensions and insurance value. If more than one package is to be shipped with this invoice (Multi-piece), press the Plus sign to add another package row.
- After all information has been entered, press the PDF icon and the label will be retrieved from FedEx.
- Once the label has been retrieved, the window will contain either a button to download the image (thermal printers) or a PDF image will appear in the window.
- Print the label to the appropriate printer. NOTE: For thermal labels, the label must be printed in RAW format directly to the printer port. In this case, the label must be downloaded and saved locally, The file must then be copied (or moved) directly to the port the thermal printer is connected to.
- Once all labels have been printed, close the label manager popup widow.
From Shipping Manager
- Select Tools -> Shipping Manager.
- Click on the Ship a Package button.
- A popup form will appear with shipping default fields filled in. The field information is derived from the default values set in the Company -> Shipping Defaults settings.
- Enter the address information to ship the package.
- Enter the package weight, dimensions and insurance value. If more than one package is to be shipped with this invoice (Multi-piece), press the Plus sign to add another package row.
- After all information has been entered, press the PDF icon and the label will be retrieved from FedEx.
- Once the label has been retrieved, the window will contain either a button to download the image (thermal printers) or a PDF image will appear in the window.
- Print the label to the appropriate printer. NOTE: For thermal labels, the label must be printed in RAW format directly to the printer port. In this case, the label must be downloaded and saved locally, The file must then be copied (or moved) directly to the port the thermal printer is connected to.
- Once all labels have been printed, close the label manager popup widow.
How to Re-Print a Label
- From Tools -> Shipping Manager, locate the package to re-print the label. Click on the printer icon on the package line. NOTE: All labels are stored in the my_files directory on the server. re-printing will not re-query FedEx but merely reload the image file from the original request.
- Once the label has been retrieved (from your local my_files directory), the window will contain either a button to download the image (thermal printers) or a PDF image will appear in the window.
- Print the label to the appropriate printer. NOTE: For thermal labels, the label must be printed in RAW format directly to the printer port. In this case, the label must be downloaded and saved locally, The file must then be copied (or moved) directly to the port the thermal printer is connected to.
- Once all labels have been printed, close the label manager popup widow.
How to Void a Shipment
NOTE: Shipments can only be voided the same day the label was generated.
- Packages can be deleted through either Invoice Manager or Ship Manager.
- From Invoice Manger, locate the invoice to void the shipment. Press the Void Shipment button and a label void request will be sent to FedEx. NOTE: Once a shipment is voided, the button from that invoice in Invoice Manager will revert back to the Ship state where the shipment can be re-shipped if necessary.
- From Shipping Manager, press the delete icon next to the package you want to void. Confirm the void operation and the shipment will be deleted. NOTE: FedEx will only let an entire shipment be deleted, if the shipment contains more than one package, all packages in the shipment will be voided.
How to Track a Package
- From Tools -> Shipping Manager, select the date the package was shipped. Locate the package to track and click on the tracking number.
- A new window will appear linked to the FedEx.com web site and the tracking information will be automatically entered.
- Packages can also be tracked through the Invoice Manager. Locate the invoice to track, select the View Ship Log icon and a popup will appear with the shipment information. The tracking number will appear in the log, Click on the tracking icon next to it to track the package.
Related Subjects
How to Set up Shipping Defaults
Shipping Manager
Invoice Manger