Creating a shipment

Introduction

Shipping goods to your clients is pivotal for any business. Tracking those shipments and comparing them against the client orders is an important job as this is often the first step towards getting paid. Here, we'll walk you through how to manually create a shipment as well as how to create shipments from other transactions such as packing lists, orders, invoices and material picks.

The ship module is based on Paragon's standard transaction screen.

Open the ship module

Create a shipment manually

This is the list view of the shipment module. To add a new shipment, click the add new button.

Select the method you want to use to create the shipment. In this case, select manual
 
 

Add shipment information

Select the company from the drop-down menu. Once the company is selected, the bill-to and ship-to addresses will populate based on what is found in the company file.

Note that the shipment will not have a transaction number until it is saved. Once a transaction number is assigned, it will replace #####.

 

 
You can select a shipping date by clicking on the calendar  button   and selecting the appropriate date. If no date is selected, the current date is used as the default.


Select bill from and ship from addresses

If the bill-from address did not populate when you entered the company name or the address is incorrect, make sure bill from is selected and choose the appropriate address by clicking the drop-down arrow button and selecting it.

Bill from is highlighted when it appears in blue. If the address does not exist, you can create a new one. To enter or change the ship from address, make sure ship from is selected. It is highlighted when ship from appears in blue. If you need to create a new address you can read our article on creating new addresses.

Select bill to and ship to addresses

To add or change a bill-to or ship-to address, you can follow the same steps as above for bill-from and ship-from.

 

Enter information in the business terms

Every transaction in Paragon has a header section, called business terms, that includes up to six pre-configured attributes (this is determined in screen setup). Fill the business terms by clicking on the appropriate field and typing in the correct information or selecting it from the drop-down menu that appears when you click on the field. 

 

Add products to your shipments

To add a product or line item to your shipment, click the add product button in the upper left-hand side of the line item area.

Select all the items you would like to add to your shipment by checking off the boxes on the left and then clicking the accept button. You can always abort your item selection but clicking the  cancel button instead.
 

Line attributes and attachments 

After accepting your item selection, they will be added to your shipment. From here you have the option to add further detail by including attributes, discounts, and attachments on your individual items.
In edit mode, simply right-click on the item you would like to update and select an option from the list, in this case; attributes, discounts, notes, or attachments. 
If you need to add more options to your attributes and discounts, you can do this in screen set up. For a full walkthrough on configuring your shipment screen, you can read our guide on How to set up transaction screens.
 
 
After saving your changes you can inquire on each line of your transaction by right-clicking and viewing the details you added which will now show as view attributes, etc.
 

Shipment notes and attachments

You can also add notes and attachments to your overall transaction by using the notepad and the attachment button (both at the bottom of the screen). The attachment button will open the attachments modal where you can add images and files as uploads or link as a URL.

 

Don't forget to save after adding your notes and attachments!

 
Transit costs
As you create your shipment you may notice a button labeled transit costs at the bottom right of the screen. Before issuing, you can set up extra costs of your shipment such as freight or duty costs by using this modal, similar to how we added line attributes.

 

 
 

Issue the shipment

Click the default action button to issue the shipment.

 

Action Button

Once a shipment has been created you can proceed in a number of ways using the green action button in the bottom right-hand corner:
  1. Copy the shipment
  2. Email the shipment
  3. Print the shipment
  4. Put the shipment on hold
  5. Complete the shipment
  6. Void the shipment
  7. Create an event from a shipment

 

Creating a shipment from an invoice

Select how you would like to create the shipment. In this case, make sure the invoices tab is selected. It is selected when invoices is highlighted in green.
Select the invoice you want to use to create the shipment by checking the corresponding box on the left. To deselect an invoice, uncheck its box.
 
Confirm or cancel a shipment from an invoice
A shipment can be canceled at any point before it is saved by clicking the close button in the bottom left-hand corner.

To create and save a shipment from the invoice(s) you selected, click the accept button in the bottom right-hand corner.

Once you click the accept button, the shipment will be created. Note that once the shipment is created, it will automatically be assigned a shipment number and be assigned a temp status. Once you are satisfied with the shipment, click the default action button to issue it.

 

Creating a shipment from a packing list

Select how you would like to create the shipment. In this case, make sure the pack lists tab is selected. It is selected when pack lists is highlighted in orange. Select the packing lists you want to use to create the shipment by checking the corresponding box on the left and clicking accept. To deselect a packing list, uncheck its box.

 

Confirm or cancel shipment from a packing list

A shipment can be canceled at any point before it is saved by clicking the close button in the bottom left-hand corner.

To create and save a shipment from the packing list(s) you selected, click the accept button in the bottom right-hand corner.

Once you click the accept button, the shipment will be created. Note that once the shipment is created, it will automatically be assigned a shipment number and be assigned a temp status. When you are satisfied with the shipment, click the default action button to issue it.

 

Creating a shipment from an order 

Select how you would like to create the shipment. In this case, make sure the orders tab is selected. It is selected when orders is highlighted in orange.

Select the orders you want to use to create the shipment by checking the corresponding box on the left. To deselect an order, uncheck its box.

 

Confirm or cancel a shipment from an order

A shipment can be canceled at any point before it is saved by clicking the close button in the bottom left hand corner.

To create and save a shipment from the order(s) you selected, click the accept button in the bottom right hand corner.

Once you click the accept button, the shipment will be created. Note that once the shipment is created, it will automatically be assigned a shipment number and be assigned a temp status. If you are satisfied with the shipment that you created, click the default action button to issue it.

 

Creating a shipment from material picks

In case you need to ship out materials to a vendor or contractor location for manufacturing, Paragon allows you to ship from material picks.

Create a work order

First, we will be creating a work order. If you need help in doing that, you can read our article on  Creating a work order
 
 

The expectation is that a vendor will be making the goods for you to ship the material, so do not use my company as the company on the work order - use the vendor or contractor that you are sending the material to.

 
 
Since you want to be shipping out material, make sure the products selected have a custom bill of materials associated. To verify that they do, you can right click on the selected product(s), then click on view custom BoM.
 

If the button is not made available to click, it means the product does not have a custom bill of material attached. If you need help creating them, you can read our article on creating a Bill of Materials (BOM)

 
 
If the product has a bill of material attached, the modal will have them listed.
 
Save and issue your work order.
 
Take note of the work order number you just created.

Create a material pick from the work order

You can read our article on how to create a material pick for a full walkthrough. Select the work order number you noted in the material pick tab. Click the default action button to issue the material pick.
Take note of material pick number you just created.

Create a shipment from the material pick

Select how you would like to create the shipment. In this case, make sure the material picks tab is selected. It is selected when material picks is highlighted in pink. 
You can select the material pick you want to use to create the shipment by checking the corresponding box on the left. To deselect a material pick, uncheck its box. 
 
Select the material pick number you noted in the previous step.
 
A shipment can be canceled at any point before it is saved by clicking the close button in the bottom left hand corner.

To create and save a shipment from the material pick(s) you selected, click the accept button in the bottom right hand corner.

Once you click the accept button, the shipment will be created. Note that once the shipment is created, it will automatically be assigned a shipment number and be assigned a temp status.

 
Under the reference column, you should see the material pick number it was created from and the vendor as the company. 
Click the default action button to issue the shipment. A notification will let you know that the material pick you created for the shipment was auto-completed.
 
 
Click the more actions arrow, then complete the transaction. 
A notification will appear with the journal number that was created. 

Create a receipt from the work order

You can read our article on creating a receipt for a full walkthrough. Select the work order number you noted in the receive tab. Click the default action button to issue the receipt.

Click the more actions arrow, then, complete the transaction. Another notification will appear with the journal number that was created. 
 

I've created my shipment, what else can I do?

Once a shipment has been created you can proceed in a number of ways using the green action button in the bottom right hand corner:

  • Copy the shipment
  • Email the shipment
  • Print the shipment
  • Put the shipment on hold
  • Complete the shipment
  • Void the shipment
  • Box the shipment
  • Create and event from a shipment

  

 
 

What's next?

Here are two more articles related to shipments that you might find helpful:

Creating a shipment from multiple transactions

Creating a shipment from an invoice