Table of Contents

Contacts, Customers, and Vendors in FMS

Introduction

Forwarding Management System (FMS) utilizes the standard Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central entities for managing Contacts, Customers, and Vendors. This page outlines how these standard entities are used within FMS and highlights specific functionalities added by the module to enhance party management for forwarding operations.

For detailed instructions on creating and managing the basic data for these entities, refer to the standard Business Central documentation linked at the end of this page.

Contacts

Contacts represent individuals associated with companies (Customers or Vendors) or independent persons. They are primarily used for communication purposes (email, phone) and can be assigned specific roles on forwarding documents.

  • Management: Use the standard Contacts list page.

Customers

Customers represent the parties you bill for your forwarding services (e.g., shippers, consignees, or third-party billing parties). Standard customer information (address, payment terms, credit limits) is used alongside FMS-specific additions.

FMS Functionality for Customers

  • Create Address from Customer:
    1. From the Customer Card, choose the Create as (Address) action.
    2. Confirm to open the newly created Address Card (linked automatically to the customer).
    3. Adjust details and assign relevant address Types (e.g., Shipper, Consignee, Ship-To).
  • Default Addresses: Set up default addresses for specific roles to streamline document creation:
    1. Choose the Cust./Vendor Address Setup action from the Customer card.
    2. Add links to existing Address records.
    3. Enable flags like Default Shipper Export, Default Consignee Import, etc., as needed.
  • Margin Rules: Define customer-specific margin rules on the Customer card. These rules can be applied during the Quotation process to automatically calculate selling prices based on estimated costs.

Vendors

Vendors represent the parties who provide services to you, such as carriers, handling agents, or customs brokers, and whom you pay for these services.

FMS Functionality for Vendors

  • Link to Carriers/Agents: Vendor cards can be linked to Carrier or Handling Agent records if these parties also act as vendors.
  • Mapping Method: Define a Mapping Method on the Vendor card. This method is copied to purchase invoices created for the vendor and is used to help reconcile vendor invoice lines with cost lines registered on Shipments, particularly for specific scenarios like IATA Cass Settlement.
    • Configuration Note: For IATA Cass reconciliation, set the Mapping Method Object ID to 11172776 (3PL FMS Purch. Mapp. Functions).

See Also

Parties in Forwarding Addresses Shipments Quotations (Spot Offers) IATA Cass Settlement

Standard Business Central Documentation:

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