Summary: If rating changes a prepaid shipment to Bill Consignee by Account, or you get an error like "provide a valid 9-digit FedEx account number," a third-party billing rule is firing on prepaid orders because their third-party account field is blank. Add a check that excludes prepaid.
Problem
During rating or shipping, the billing changes from Prepaid to Bill Consignee by Account on its own, or the shipment is rejected. With FedEx the message reads:
provide a valid 9-digit FedEx account number
Other carriers word this a little differently, and some show a missing bill-receiver account instead.
Cause
A business rule says: if the third-party account field is blank, set Bill Consignee by Account. It runs during rating. Prepaid shipments never carry a third-party account, so that field is blank, the rule matches them, and the terms flip. The carrier then rejects the shipment or the terms change quietly.
How to check: open the third-party billing rule (often a global rule) and look at its criteria. If it only checks whether the third-party account field is blank, it will match prepaid orders.
Fix
- Open the third-party-account Business Rule. It is often a global rule.
- Add a criterion that excludes Prepaid shipments, or limit the rule to the carrier it is meant for (for example, only when the carrier name is that carrier).
- Click Save.
- Rate a prepaid shipment and check that the terms stay Prepaid before you process it.
What you should see
A prepaid shipment keeps Prepaid terms through rating and shipping. Shipments that should use third-party billing still get Bill Consignee by Account.
Related articles
- Set up a profile for third-party (TPBILL) billing
- Third-party billing reverts to prepaid: recreate the _BILLTO entry