Overview
Manifest includes a Client Detail Excel file with each monthly invoice cycle.
This monthly file provides a complete level of detail for all charges for fulfillment and shipping with Manifest.
The sections below provide information on each section of your invoice which are broken out by the various tabs.
Invoice Totals
The Invoice Totals tab provides a brief summary of all types of charges included in this month's billing cycle.
For line items that have a specific per-unit rate and quantity, these appear as such where:
- Column C, Rate: reflects the $ rate at which the line item is assessed, and
- Column D, Quantity: reflects the # units for this cycle; finally
- Column E, Amount Invoiced: reflects the total $ amount invoiced for that line item/row
For line items that do not have a per-unit rate and quantity, Column C will simply appear as "1" to ensure the calculation within Column E for Amount Invoiced is accurately reflected as a total dollar amount. For example, each of the "Freight - Carrier" line items are always expressed as:
- Column C = 1
- Column D = the total $ amount charged for that carrier during this cycle
- Column E = (Column C x Column D), the same as the total in Column D
Bucketed Costs
The Bucketed Costs tab reflects a per-order charge basis that is all inclusive for outbound order fulfillment and shipping. This is a comprehensive tab meant to give you the fullest picture of the charges on a per-order basis. Below, we highlight the most common charges with more details here, as they appear in the columns on this tab:
- Order Number: the order number (from your store and/or as manually created within ShipHero)
- Tracking: the tracking number for that package
- Order Charge: your order fee per your rate card
- Item Charge: the per-unit fee per your rate card
- Packaging Cost: the packaging cost of the mailer or box used to ship the package
- Freight Charge: the shipping cost as levied by the carrier
- Total Order Charge: all columns added together
In addition to the above bullet points, any other line items will appear as individual columns on this tab. This is most common in B2B and FBA Prep fulfillment where there are, for example, line items for carton labels, unit-level barcoding/stickering, etc. These other columns are included in the Total Order Charge as described above.
As noted below, only packages invoiced by the carriers within that month will including shipping costs on this file. As a result, you will see some orders shipped that month with a Shipping Cost of $0.00, to be invoiced in a subsequent cycle once the carriers invoice Manifest for those packages.
Carrier (e.g. FedEx)
There is a separate tab for each shipping carriers used to ship your brand's orders. As the invoicing format varies from carrier to carrier, these tabs' columns will vary slightly as well.
The Amount Charged or Total Shipping Costs columns (depending on the carrier) are a direct reflection of all the shipping costs for each package shipped with that carrier.
Each row in these tabs are on a per-package basis. Orders that require multiple packages to ship the complete quantity within the order will appear as individual rows within these Carrier tabs.
How Carriers are Selected
At the time of generating a label for each package, Manifest's WMS, ShipHero, generates shipping labels based on the selected carrier and shipment method for each order. This transpires in one of two ways:
- A one-for-one match*: there's an explicit carrier and shipment method selected for that order
- Via rate shop*: the system selects the lowest cost options from the available carriers and services within a given rate shop method (see HERE for more information on rate shopping)
*The carrier and shipment method must be "available" to deliver to the address in question
How Are Shipping Costs Invoiced?
Manifest invoices our brands for the selected carrier and shipment method based on the billable weight and shipping zone of each individual package.
For example, if you're using a Core rate shop method and USPS Ground Advantage is selected for that order, you will be invoiced at the billable weight for the shipping zone as per your USPS Ground Advantage rate card for that order.
What's Included In the Rate On Your Rate Card?
The rates for each carrier and service appear as distinct tabs on your rate card. These rates include:
- Base shipping cost
- Fuel surcharges
- Residential delivery surcharges
What's Not Included In the Rate On Your Rate Card?
Carriers charge different accessorials and surcharges on individual packages. Because these are unpredictable in advance of generating labels for individual packages, these are not included in your rate card (as per the three bullet points immediately above) and are therefore assessed at the time of this Client Detail file once we receive those charges via the invoice from each carrier.
Common accessorials and surcharges include:
- Delivery Area Surcharge (DAS) or Extended Delivery Area Surcharge (EDAS): charges for deliveries to remote or rural areas
- Additional Handling (Weight or Dimensions), Oversize, Nonstandard Sizes: charges based on certain sizes, weights, or shapes of packages
- Duties, Customs Clearance, VAT, and Other International Fees: charges based on international commerce rules and regulations, often based in part on your products' tariff codes, declared value, and other product-level information
Invoice Timing
The Client Detail file you receive will contain the shipping costs explicitly for any packages that were invoiced, by the carrier, to Manifest within that month.
Orders that were not yet invoiced by the carriers in that month will not appear until a subsequent billing cycle and Client Detail file is sent.
For example, orders shipped late in the month will not appear on our invoices from the carrier until the following month. As a result, the shipping cost for those orders (shipped late in the month) will not appear until the following month's Client Detail page.*
*Fulfillment-related charges are included in the billing cycle and Client Detail file in the month in which they are shipped. Illustratively, an order shipped on the 30th of the month will be billed for order fees, picking, packing, and the package used whereas the shipping costs will appear in the following billing cycle.
Storage
The Storage tab reflects the amount of storage your brand used for the month multiplied by your monthly storage rate on a cubic feet basis.
This is generated systematically by our WMS, ShipHero, and is actually calculated pro rata on a daily basis and then added together to comprise a monthly total to account for regular fluctuations in inventory levels.
As a result, our brands are only invoiced for storage for what physically exists in our building throughout the month (contrasted with, for example, charging a flat rate for a nominal storage location regardless of the number of units within that location).
The multiple rows on this tab reflect different SKUs as well as different location IDs to produce a sum total of the cubic feet of storage in that month multiplied by the per cubic foot storage rate.
Here's an illustrative example:
Let's imagine you have a single SKU with us that is 10" x 10" x 10" and your storage rate is $0.80 per cubic foot per month.
10 x 10 x 10 = 1000 cu in, or 0.58 cubic feet
The pro rata daily amount for storage is $0.80 per cubic foot per month divided by 30 days = $0.026666667 per cubic foot per day.
If you had 1,000 units on hand every single day of a month, the rate we would charge you is:
0.58 cubic feet per unit x 1,000 units x $0.02666667 per cubic foot per day x 30 days = $464.00.
Returns
The Returns tab is a line itemized report of all returns processed within that month as exported from our returns platform, Two Boxes.
The Invoice Totals tab reflects the exact amount charged based on the per-order, per-unit, and VAS line itemized charges for processing your returns.
Inbound Arrival Form
The Inbound Arrival Form tab captures details of all Inbound POs are arrive within a given month.
Column G details the compliance status of that Inbound PO.
Column H provides additional details about the compliance status.
The Invoice Totals tab reflects the exact amount charged for inbound processing according to compliance statuses and the corresponding charges.
Fully Compliant POs are assessed at the rate on your rate card.
Non-Compliant POs are assessed based on the fee schedule within our Inbound Receiving Compliance documentation HERE.
Credit
The Credit tab reflects all credits approved within a given month. These are most often reported to your account manager, approved by department leadership, and then applied by our Finance team.
Each row in this tab reflects an individual credit.
Column C provides additional detail regarding that credit.
Column D reflects the credit amount.
FAI
The FAI tab is for First Article Inspection. This is a per-SKU charge for each individual PO where applicable. More information can be found in our guide on First Article Inspection (FAI) HERE.
Column C reflects the PO ID.
Column D details the number of SKUs FAI was performed on within that SKU.