Correcting Freight Charges

You can use a credit memo to get a credit from a carrier in a freight settlement when you have overpaid for transportation services. You use a freight order, freight booking, or service order as a reference when you create a freight credit memo.

A carrier could overcharge for transportation services in the following circumstances:

• The carrier demands an amount, which is over the current planned amount (and is above the tolerance).
• You demand a lower amount to be billed than what the carrier has billed you or is expecting.
• You expect credit from the carrier for the excess billing or the excess amount that you have paid the carrier.
• Reversal of the billing item/amount due to incorrect billing.

You create a credit memo for an individual freight order, freight booking, or service order with relationship to the respective freight settlement documents or FSD items, in case of a collective settlement, for these orders. You can access the credit memos from the freight settlement documents overview screen.

You can create a credit memo from a freight settlement document on the overview screen for the freight settlement documents.

The system creates the credit memo based on the data in the associated freight settlement documents and displays the amount that has already been invoiced.

When you use the automatic change process, the system uses the existing freight settlement document to create a credit memo. This enables the system to process a large-scale change to the freight document charges, for example, a change in the agreement or in the calculation sheet, or the addition or deletion of a charge line.

The change process "Reverse and Repost with new FSD" is used:

• In a freight order, the transportation charges are 2000 USD. The FO is completely invoiced with a FSD along with a PO and a SES in MM.
• Due to a granted discount from the carrier, the FO charges are reduced to 1800 USD. The FO is overinvoiced.
• The system creates a credit memo to reverse the current FSD and posts the CM to MM. Here, a new PO and a SES with returns indicator are created.
• In the last step, a new FSD for the updated amount of 1800 USD is created and posted to MM. A new PO and SES are created. The FO is in the status completely invoiced again.

As a result, the FO is linked to two FSDs, one CM and three SES in MM.

• Types of credit memo and credit memo reason codes
  • In customizing, chooseTransportation Management→Settlement→Freight Settlement→Define Credit Memo Reason Codes and Types for Freight SDs.
• Influence invoicing status
  • You can specify the Influence Invoicing Status setting in the relevant default credit memo type. When you create a credit memo, either manually or by using the background processing function, the credit memo has a role in determining the invoicing status of the freight orders, freight bookings, or service orders.
  • In customizing, choose Transportation Management→Settlement→Freight Settlement→Define Credit Memo Reason Codes and Types for Freight SDs.→Define Credit Memo Types Influence Invoicing Status.
• Automatically enter credit amount
  • When you specify that the system automatically enters the credit amount, the system automatically copies the remaining credit amount to the credit amount in a credit memo
  • In customizing, choose Transportation Management→Settlement→Freight Settlement→Define Credit Memo Reason Codes and Types for Freight SDs.→Define Credit Memo Types Automatically Propose Credit Amount.

For invoice verification, in transaction MIRO, select Credit Memo. Then enter the freight order for which the credit memo was created. Enter the amount of the freight order and post the invoice. The credit memo is now verified. The status of the credit memo is in SAP TM.

In this section, we look at examples of common disputes that arise between shipper and carrier.