How-ToAdministration

Configure Shipping Agents in Business Central

Set up shipping agents and services in Business Central to track carriers, transit times, and shipment date calculations on sales orders.

Stein Sæstad
7 min read

Shipping agents in Business Central represent the carriers you use to deliver goods, freight companies, postal services, or internal logistics. Configuring them allows you to track which carrier handles each shipment, apply transit times to shipment date calculations, and attach tracking URLs so warehouse staff can look up parcels directly from a posted shipment.

Setting Up a Shipping Agent

  1. Search for Shipping Agents using Alt + Q.
  2. Select New.
  3. Fill in the following fields:
    • Code: a short identifier for the carrier, for example DHL or FEDEX.
    • Name: the full carrier name, for example DHL Express.
    • Internet Address: the base URL of the carrier’s website, for example https://www.dhl.com. This is used for reference but is separate from the tracking URL.
  4. Select Save or close the card.

Repeat this for each carrier you work with.

Adding Shipping Agent Services

Each shipping agent can have multiple service levels, for example, standard delivery, express delivery, or overnight. These are called Shipping Agent Services.

  1. From the Shipping Agents list, open the agent you want to configure.
  2. Select Navigate > Shipping Agent Services (or look for the Services action in the ribbon or related menu).
  3. Select New to add a service.
  4. Fill in:
    • Code: a short identifier, for example EXPRESS or STANDARD.
    • Description: for example DHL Express 24h.
    • Shipping Time: enter a date formula that represents the transit time. For example, 1D means one calendar day, 3D means three days, 1W means one week. This field controls how Business Central calculates the Planned Delivery Date on sales orders.
  1. Optionally, fill in the Tracking URL field with the carrier’s parcel tracking URL. Include the package number placeholder if the carrier supports it, for example https://www.dhl.com/track?trackingNumber=%1 where %1 will be replaced by the shipment tracking number entered on the sales order.

Assigning a Default Shipping Agent to a Customer

You can set a preferred carrier directly on the customer record so it populates automatically on new sales orders.

  1. Open the Customer Card for the customer.
  2. Navigate to the Shipping section.
  3. In the Shipping Agent Code field, select the carrier.
  4. In the Shipping Agent Service Code field, select the service level.

When you create a new sales order for this customer, Business Central copies the shipping agent and service code to the order header automatically.

Shipping Agent on a Sales Order

On a Sales Order, the shipping agent fields appear on the Shipping tab of the header:

  • Shipping Agent Code: the carrier for this order.
  • Shipping Agent Service Code: the service level.
  • Package Tracking No.: a field where warehouse staff can enter the carrier’s tracking reference after the shipment is packed.

You can change the shipping agent or service on any individual order without affecting the customer’s default.

How Transit Time Affects Shipment Date Calculation

Business Central uses the Shipping Time from the shipping agent service when calculating dates on the sales order.

The calculation works as follows:

  • Planned Delivery Date = Shipment Date + Shipping Time

If a customer requires delivery by a specific date, Business Central can work backwards from the Requested Delivery Date to suggest a Shipment Date based on the transit time of the selected service.

For example, if the service has a Shipping Time of 3D and the customer needs delivery on 20 September, Business Central suggests a shipment date of 17 September.

This calculation also takes the Shipping Calendar into account if one is configured for the shipping agent or location, so weekends and holidays can be excluded from transit time.

Looking Up Tracking Information

Once a Package Tracking No. is entered on a posted shipment, users can open the tracking URL directly:

  1. Open the Posted Sales Shipment.
  2. Select Navigate > Track Package (or look for the tracking action in the ribbon).

Business Central constructs the tracking URL using the carrier’s configured URL and the package number, then opens it in a browser.

If no tracking URL is configured for the shipping agent service, this action is not available.

For guidance on managing customer-specific delivery settings such as ship-to addresses and shipping instructions, see How to Use Blanket Orders in Business Central.