Billing

Review expenses, statements, and Stripe Connect payouts as a shipper.

The Billing area of chrt is where shippers see what they owe, what’s been billed, and how payments settle. For a shipper, billing mostly means expenses — money flowing out to forwarders and couriers for completed shipments — plus the ledgers that group those expenses into billable periods.

Before you start

  • Line items on a shipment are generated from rate sheets attached at the order or task-group level. If a shipment ran without a matching rate sheet, no line items will appear; talk to the provider to confirm rate-sheet setup.
  • To pay through chrt’s payment processor (rather than off-platform), you need a Stripe Connect account. Set one up before the first invoice.

1. Open Billing

Open chrt.com/billing. The billing hub gives you direct links to each sub-section.

SectionWhat’s thereShipper-relevant?
ExpensesStatements of money you owe to forwarders or couriersYes — this is your main view
EarningsStatements of money owed to your orgOnly if you’re billing customers through chrt
LedgersAgreement-backed billing periodsYes — for rolling invoices
Rate sheetsPricing templatesSee Rate sheets

2. Review an expense statement

Expenses are statements grouping the costs for one or more shipments. Open chrt.com/billing/expenses and click any row to see the statement detail.

The detail page shows:

  • Statement total and current status (staged, open, paid, uncollectible).
  • The line item groups — one per task group, each containing the base rate, mileage charges, surcharges, and any adjustments.
  • Messages and attachments between you and the provider for this statement (receipts, dispute notes).
  • The Stripe invoice when one has been issued.

3. Adjust a line item

If a charge looks wrong — wait time recorded that didn’t happen, a surcharge that shouldn’t apply — you can adjust it before the statement is invoiced.

  1. Open the statement detail page.
  2. Find the line item to adjust and open its Adjust dialog.
  3. Enter the adjustment amount (the delta, positive or negative) and a short comment explaining why.
  4. Save. The adjustment appears as an annotation on the line item — the original quantity and rate stay intact, with the new total reflecting the adjustment.

Adjustments leave an audit trail. Use the comment field to explain the change — providers and your finance team will both see it. Adjust before the statement is sent for payment; once paid, statements are immutable.

4. Manage ledgers

A ledger groups statements over a defined billing period for one connection. Use ledgers when you and a provider have an ongoing relationship and want to settle on a cadence (weekly, monthly) instead of one statement at a time.

Open chrt.com/billing/ledgers to see all active and open ledgers. From a ledger detail page you can:

  • See the statements that fall into the current period.
  • Close the period to roll outstanding statements into a single consolidated invoice.
  • See historical periods and what was paid against each.

5. Set up Stripe Connect

To pay or receive payments through chrt’s payment processor (Stripe Connect), each org needs a Stripe Connect account. As a shipper paying providers through chrt, you typically don’t need a Stripe Connect account to pay — chrt handles the payment side via Stripe Checkout when a provider sends you an invoice. You only need a Stripe Connect account if your shipper org is also receiving payments (e.g., you’re a 3PL passing costs through).

When you do need it:

  1. Open Stripe Connect settings.
  2. Click Set up Stripe Connect to open Stripe’s onboarding in a new window.
  3. Complete Stripe’s KYC, banking, and tax information.
  4. Return to chrt — the settings page reflects the account’s status (account ID, payouts enabled, etc.) once Stripe finishes onboarding.

6. Pay an outstanding statement

When a provider opens an expense statement against you, chrt creates a Stripe invoice (if you’ve enabled Stripe settlement on the connection) or marks the statement as off-platform (you pay directly and mark the statement paid in chrt).

  • Stripe settlement — click the Pay invoice link on the statement to open the Stripe-hosted payment page. The statement marks itself paid automatically after Stripe confirms.
  • Off-platform settlement — pay the provider however you’ve agreed, then click Mark paid on the statement and add a note (check number, ACH reference, etc.).

How to know it worked

  • Expense statements move from Staged → Open → Paid.
  • A paid statement shows the paid_at timestamp and who marked it paid.
  • Stripe-settled statements link out to the Stripe invoice with the same status.

If something looks different

  • A statement shows no line items. The task group ran without a matching rate sheet. Ask your provider to attach the right rate sheet, or set one up yourself if you maintain shipper-side sheets.
  • You can’t adjust a line item. The statement is already paid or has moved past the adjustable state. Adjustments only apply pre-payment.
  • Stripe Connect setup doesn’t complete. Check that you completed every step of Stripe’s onboarding (KYC, bank, tax). The settings page won’t show payouts as enabled until Stripe confirms.
  • Pay invoice button missing. The connection isn’t configured for Stripe settlement — settle off-platform and mark the statement paid manually.
  • Contact hi@chrt.com if you have issues.