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SystemContract Logistics & Warehousing

3PL Billing

3PL billing that counts the month's warehouse work under each rate the client signed, finds work never billed, and credits the 3PL's own errors before the invoice goes out.

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See one client's month-end close screen by screen ↓
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The problem

Kitting by email and floor-loaded containers never reach the invoice

A rate card is keyed into the warehouse system once, at contract start, and amendments get keyed when someone remembers. Kitting asked for in an email runs as a work order with no billing code, a weekend crew sits on the labor clock under a task code, and a container that arrived floor-loaded is billed as the shipping notice described it.

At close, an analyst exports the system's draft to a spreadsheet and adds what they happen to know. The provider's own mistakes, a misprinted label run or storage started on the notice date, go out on the invoice too, and the client's payables team finds them first and holds the whole invoice.

Built forBilling managersControllersAccount managersCFOs

The Problem Today

Rates sit in contracts, amendments and client emails, the work sits in scans and dock photos, and the two are matched by hand at month-end.

$72.7B
US value-added warehousing, revenue in 2025 per an analyst published

Lined up by hand at close

  • Contracts
  • Emails
  • Dock photos
  • Labor clock
  • Own errors on the invoiceThe client finds them and holds the payment
  • Work with no agreed rateDone free, or billed and lost in dispute

The Solution

  1. Every clause readSchedule rates, amendments and client emails, each tied to its clause
  2. The month counted by rateScans, labor hours, dock photos and floor notes under each rate
  3. Read as the client's AP wouldA challenger disputes each added line, and weak lines drop
  4. Maker, then controllerThe billing manager decides each line; large changes need a second signature

Built-in controls

  • Credits and large changes need the controller
  • Client emails are opened by a person first
  • No rate billed until agreed in writing

What You Get

Each invoice line carries its clause and its records, and the provider's own mistakes leave as credits.

  • Emailed work foundKits and crews asked by email, priced by contract
  • Unpriced work asked firstAsked of the client, answered field by field
  • Rulings kept as rulesApplied at the next close once approved
Features

3PL billing features, from the signed rate card to the controller's signature

Billing managers, account managers and controllers use them to close each client's month. The screens follow one outdoor apparel client's October.

demoThe warehouse provider, its client, the people, the contract terms and the figures here are sample data.

  1. 01Rate card

    Rate card by clause, with the month's warehouse work counted under each rate

    • Each rate with its clause one click away. The billing manager bills what the client signed, and any line opens on its contract wording.
    • Quantity from scans, labor clock, photos and floor notes. Work done sits beside work billed on the same line, so a gap shows before the invoice goes out.
    • Gaps named in plain labels. Rate not billed, overbilled, billed short and withdrawn print on the line itself, so the billing manager sees what kind of gap each one is.
  2. 02Client email

    Kitting priced by the signed amendment and requested in the client's email

    • Amendments read into the rate card. A rate signed in an amendment is on the card at close, even when nobody keyed it into the warehouse system.
    • Client emails read for work asked. Value-added work a client asked for by email is found and counted, while the email itself sets no price.
    • Email opened before the line is accepted. Free text from the client reaches a person before any line that rests on it can be billed.
  3. 03Dock photos

    Floor-loaded containers proven by dock photos when the ASN said palletized

    • Dock camera photos read per container. Each unload billable under the contract carries a photo, so the client's payables team sees the cartons on the floor.
    • Shipping notice set against what arrived. A notice that said palletized no longer decides the charge; the receiving log and the photo do.
  4. 04Storage check

    Split-month storage started at the custody scan, never at the ASN date

    • Storage month from the custody scan. Pallets keyed to an early shipping notice move to the half-month row, and the overbill goes out as a credit.
    • Calendar, split-month or anniversary storage by client. Each client's storage terms apply as signed, so one building can run several storage rules without manual recounts.
  5. 05AP review

    The draft invoice read the way the client's payables team will dispute it

    • Each added line met with the client's likely objection. The billing agents answer with clause and events or drop the line, so the dispute is settled before the invoice leaves.
    • The 3PL's own errors caught and cut. Work caused by the 3PL's own mistake, such as relabels after a label printer error, comes off the invoice before the client finds it.
    • Lines that would lose in dispute withdrawn. A count the contract already includes is withdrawn, so the invoice the client receives holds up line by line.
  6. 06Rate request

    Unpriced warehouse work sent to the client as a structured rate request

    • Work with no rate kept off the invoice. Storage done without an agreed rate is shown apart and billed only after a rate is agreed in writing.
    • Answers in fields through the client portal. The client approves, counters or rejects in fields, and any note goes to the account manager to read.
    • Sent by a person. The agent drafts the request; nothing reaches the client until the billing manager or account manager sends it.
  7. 07Crew-size call

    Weekend overtime the contract cannot settle, decided by the billing manager

    • Both readings priced side by side. Where the contract allows two readings, each is priced side by side, so the billing manager sees the dollar difference before choosing.
    • Reason code plus the manager's own note. The record says why the line was billed, so the account manager can explain it to the client.
  8. 08Second signature

    Maker and checker on the invoice, with each changed line's evidence opened

    • Billing manager signs as maker. Each line is decided before signing, and the reason code is what the controller reads first.
    • Controller opens each changed line's evidence. Approve stays disabled until the evidence behind each changed line is opened, so the second signature rests on a reading.
    • A threshold held in settings. Large changes and credits go to the controller and smaller ones to the account manager; changing that threshold needs the controller too.
  9. 09Rules

    Billing rulings kept as rules that apply only after the controller approves

    • Rules learned from repeated rulings. The billing manager's rulings become checks at the next close, so the same question is not argued twice.
    • Each rule shows where it was used. Uses this year and the last client it touched sit on the rule, so the controller sees what approving it changes.
    • Rules that can be declined. A rule built on a single ruling can be turned down with a reason, and the agents keep asking a person.

Billing manager, controller, account manager and CFO on one close

Four people answer for the same invoice: its lines, its signature, the client conversation and the margin.

Billing managers

Own the month-end close for every client and decide each invoice line

  • Unbilled work found under the clause that prices it
  • Own errors cut before the client sees them
  • Bulk work at close, signing one invoice at a time
Controllers

Sign second on large changes and credits; approve rules, rates and settings

  • Evidence for each changed line opened before signing
  • Learned rules waiting for approval
  • Threshold changes under their own signature
Account managers

Own the client relationship, rate requests and notes the client writes

  • Rate requests answered by the client in fields
  • Client notes routed to them unread by the agents
  • Held lines that wait for their logged call
CFOs

Read what was done and not billed across the close

  • Found and credited amounts summed line by line
  • The kinds of leakage found most often
  • Open rate requests counted apart

Seven agents count and challenge the month, and none of them sends an invoice

Work passes from one agent to the next, or to the billing manager by name.

Close coordinator

Opens each client's month, sets the clock, assigns the billing manager and watches the feeds.

  • Never signs or sends
Contract reader

Reads the agreement, the rate schedule, amendments and client emails into rate lines with clauses.

  • Never takes a rate from an email
Event counter

Counts the month under each rate from scans, the labor clock, dock photos and floor notes.

  • Counts no work without a source record
  • Never counts one event twice
Storage calculator

Applies calendar, split-month or anniversary storage from custody scans.

  • Never starts storage on a shipping-notice date
Invoice builder

Builds each line from its rate and events, adds credits and states who signs.

  • Never sends
  • Adds no line without a rate and events
Rate request agent

Drafts structured requests for unpriced work and reads the client's answers by field.

  • Never agrees to a rate
  • Leaves free text for the account manager
The client's AP review

Disputes each added line as the client's payables team would, so the billing agents answer or drop it.

  • Never contacts the client
  • Never suggests the client is avoiding payment
More screens

The agents' timeline, the floor note, cash timing and the close across clients

What the billing manager, the controller and the CFO open around one client's invoice.

How the agents read OctoberEach agent's lane, timed to the second with its sources, confidence and hand-off: 3 minutes 31 seconds of reading, replayed on screen in about 15 seconds.
The floor note behind a cut lineThe site's floor note records a label printer that printed the wrong store number on 1,150 cartons, so those relabels come off the invoice.
Send now or waitThree ways to send, played forward with dispute chance and expected cash by year-end. Billing the unpriced line is shown for its cost and cannot be chosen.
The card after sendingSent at 09:29 with each line pointing at its clause and its events, and the credit for the early-keyed pallets in the same column.
Month-end close, client by clientOctober across 63 clients: 49 sent, 2 signed and ready, 4 waiting for a second signature and 4 needing the billing manager, each invoice signed on its own.
Leakage for the CFOAcross 34 October invoices, $171,743.40 of work found unbilled and $12,990.50 billed too much and credited, with the kinds the agents found most.
Audit trail and evidence binderWho opened which record before signing, the reason behind each decision and the role each signature was made in, exportable as CSV or as an evidence binder per invoice.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Prices, credits and collections stay with the billing team

No price taken from an emailAn email can ask for work; only a signed amendment or an approved rate request sets a price.
No line billed without a personThe agents propose; the billing manager accepts, holds or drops every line, giving a coded reason.
No call to the client from the challengerThe payables reading stays in-house and never suggests the client is avoiding payment.
No liens, stops or collectionsThose belong to the controller and counsel, and the assistant gives no view on them.
No bulk signingAssigning and sending can run in bulk at close; each invoice is opened and signed on its own.

Seven systems the rate card reads, from the WMS to the client portal

Warehouse management systemReceipts, picks, shipments, returns and the system's own draft invoice.
Labor management systemTime-clock hours by task code, with employee IDs and never names.
Dock camera photo storeDoor-open photos showing how each container arrived.
Document managementClient agreements, rate schedules, amendments and floor notes.
Email, read onlyClient requests for work, opened by a person before they bill anything.
ERPInvoices and receivables once both signatures are on.
Client portalRate requests and line questions, answered in fields.

What billing managers ask about 3PL billing

What is 3PL billing?

3PL billing is invoicing a warehouse client for storage, handling and value-added work at the rates in its contract. Here agents read the client's rate card, amendments and emails, count the month's work under each rate from scans, labor hours and dock photos, and the billing manager decides each line.

How does split-month storage billing work?

Goods received in the first half of the month pay a full month and goods received later pay half, as the IWLA model terms set out and many contracts follow. The storage month starts when the warehouse accepts custody, so the agents date it from custody scans.

Where does warehouse billing revenue leak?

From work done outside the rules keyed into the warehouse system: kitting asked for by email, floor-loaded containers a shipping notice called palletized, weekend crews on the labor clock. The agents count that work under the contract and leave each line for a person to accept.

Does it bill work that has no agreed rate?

No. Unpriced work is shown apart and sent to the client as a structured rate request. Only a signed amendment or an approved request sets a price, and a new rate goes on the card only with the controller's approval.

Who signs the invoice?

The billing manager signs as maker. When the change against the warehouse system's draft is large or carries a credit, the controller opens each changed line's evidence and signs second; otherwise the account manager does.

Can the client question a line?

Yes, through the client portal, in fields. The question reaches the account manager in the client's exact words, and the portal says it was read only once a person has read it.

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Bring last month's
closed invoice.

Send one client's contract, its emails and the month's scans, and we will count the work under each rate.

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