Shipping/Freight Charges

[CJJ]

Is there anyway to automate freight charges? For example, I know the percentage that freight costs me based on the value of my shipment(for inventory items that I sell or drop ship). When I sell the product at retail or wholesale, my markup is 3X or 4X . The price I paid to have an item shipped will always be a certain percent of the sales price based on my suppliers price.

I would like to be able to simply enter the customers info, enter the line items they are purchasing, and have peachtree fill in freight based on known costs . Is there any way to do this?

Also, I am having problems deciding how to separate charges for freight. I wholesale and retail through catalog orders. I send out catalogs which have a preprinted order form inserted and a shipping rate chart included- these are my retail sales.

For my wholesalers, I would like to charge exact shipping charges, to keep their cost to a minimum, this is where I have problems because I have to get my calculator out when a customer calls. Sometimes while taking an order a customer my change their mind about a particular item they wish to order, and I have to re-calculate shipping manually...

[dringstrom]

What you're trying to accomplish requires an external solution, such as a custom Access database that integrates with Peachtree. For its price, Peachtree Accounting offers a great deal of functionality. However, it's also a very generic package. Fortunately, there are several ways to put data into Peachtree from external programs, which makes it easy to leverage the software.

[jdncpa]

Can you give us some examples of outside solutions for importing freight? Maybe something you have tested and know works.

Thanks

[dringstrom]

I create solutions like this on a regular basis for my clients, as do several other members of this forum. Depending upon the amount of volume, solutions may involve an Excel spreadsheet that the user inputs into, then uses a macro to write out the necessary import file for Peachtree. One can also use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) to poke transactions into Peachtree from Excel, Access, VB, etc., but putting transactions into Peachtree in this manner isn't always reliable. Another solution is PawCOM, which allows read/write access to the underlying Peachtree Btrieve tables. Personally, I tend to opt for solutions that involve the user importing text files. It's a little more work on a daily basis for the user, but transactions go through a validation process that is sometimes bypassed via DDE or PawCOM.

Examples of recent projects are available on my web site, along with more information on PawCOM and DDE.

[jdncpa]

Thanks for the input. Let me tell you a little about my situation and maybe you can get me to the next step.

We process about 50 orders a day that would need freight entered on each invoice. Currently I enter the freight manually.

We use UPS Worldship software to calculate freight costs.

We already use PawCom for reporting but rarely use it for importing data into Peachtree. I have done this but not with freight and I cannot seem to find where this would be done.

We have PAW9.0

I have attempted importing from excel but it is an unreliable process.

Thanks again for your help

[dringstrom]

It's possible to close the loop on your process, and probably even link the UPS software into PawCOM and Peachtree. However, you're treading beyond the level of information that I'm willing to donate for free to the forum. I'll be glad to assist on a consulting basis if you're unable to find other resources.

Good luck!