With the sales container handling, it is possible to apply as well expenses to a sales container but also charges that a customer needs to pay so in this example if I’m entering a posted sell shipment on a specific container navigating into the entries further into the item ledger entries and looking at the value entry on this one, I can see that I have posted item charges on the purchase sign for, for instance, customs, insurance, and freight and I can see on the amount that it’s a negative amount of course.
Sales container handling in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central lets you apply charges to a container that the customer needs to pay, not just expenses on the purchase side. You assign a sales item charge to a container code, and the system distributes the charge across all the item ledger entries on that container as value entries.
This means your order statistics and gross profit calculations stay correct at the item ledger entry level. When you post the sales order, you get a separate posted sales invoice to send to the customer, and the charge applies in reverse to all the items in the container.
This approach works best when a container goes to a single customer. If a container is split across several customers, the logic becomes more complex and harder to apply meaningfully.
How sales charges differ from purchase charges on containers
On the purchase side, container handling lets you post item charges such as customs, insurance, and freight onto a container. If you open a posted purchase shipment for a specific container and drill into the item ledger entries, then into the value entry, you can see those costs posted as negative amounts.
The same mechanism works the other way for sales. You can apply sales charges to a container so that the customer pays them. The typical case is a container that has already been shipped and invoiced to a customer, and then extra charges come in afterwards.
When you would apply a sales charge to a container
Imagine you have shipped a container to a specific customer, sent the invoice, and closed everything off. Then additional costs arrive that you want the customer to cover, for example extra freight charges or harbor costs.
Instead of handling these outside the system, you create a new sales item charge and pass it on to the customer. You can set up as many different item charges as you need, so you can keep harbor costs, freight, and other charges separate and clearly labelled.
How to assign a sales item charge to a container
To apply the charge, you start a new sales order and select the relevant item charge, for instance one set up for harbor cost. You enter the amount you want the customer to pay, for example 5,000 in your local currency.
Next, you assign the container code that the charge relates to. This is the key step, because the container code is what lets the system tie the charge back to the right item ledger entries.
From there you can assign the item charge to the posted sales shipment line based on the container code, and the system suggests the item charges for you across the items in that container.
One detail worth noting: this is a sales charge, so you enter the value as a unit price on the sales line, not as a cost. It is easy to confuse the two fields, so check that you are charging the customer rather than recording a cost.
What happens when you post the sales order
When you post the sales order, two things happen.
- You get a posted sales invoice that the customer needs to pay.
- The charge is applied to all the item ledger entries on the container as value entries.
If you open one of the posted sales shipment entries and drill into the item ledger entries, then into the value entries, you can see the harbor sales amount applied to each entry. Because it comes from a sales invoice, it is applied the reverse way compared to a purchase item charge.
The result is that you have a separate invoice to send to the customer, and your statistics and gross profit on the sales order reflect the extra charge correctly at the item ledger entry level.
Q&A
Can you charge a customer for costs that arrive after a container is invoiced?
Yes. You create a new sales order with a sales item charge, assign it to the container code, and post it. This generates a separate posted sales invoice for the customer to pay and applies the charge across the container’s item ledger entries.
Does applying a sales charge to a container affect order statistics and gross profit?
Yes. The charge is distributed to all item ledger entries on the container as value entries, so your order statistics stay correct and the charge affects the gross profit on the sales order.
When is sales container handling harder to use?
It becomes more complex when a single container is split across several customers. The functionality works most cleanly when a container goes to one specific customer.
Do you enter the sales charge as a cost or a price?
You enter it as a unit price on the sales line, because you are charging the customer. Entering it as a cost is a common mistake, so confirm you are using the price field.