🔶 Overview

E-shipments in Business Central are electronic documents used to record and track the delivery of goods from the seller to the customer. They enable standardized and secure data exchange between the company and its customers through a digital format. The system integrates information about the goods, quantity, carrier, driver, and delivery address, allowing real-time transport tracking. E-shipments are created directly from the sales document and can be updated before sending, and the system also supports automatic status retrieval from the E-shipment Portal. This way, the delivery process becomes more efficient, transparent, and compliant with the applicable regulations of the Republic of Serbia.

🔶 Setting up E-shipments

By installing the E-shipment extension in a company, the basic and foundational—but crucial—settings required for its operation are automatically configured. These settings are already available in the system, and the user does not need to configure them manually. In the following documentation, we will go through these settings to familiarize users with what the installed extension includes and how the settings are organized, for a better understanding of its functionality.

🔹 E-document Services

On the E-document Services page, a service for E-shipment has been created. By clicking the New action, it is possible to create a new service. Within the service, the basic parameters are defined: Code, Description, Document Format, and Service Integration.

• Code – A unique identifier for the service in the system.

• Description – The name of the service that describes its purpose (E-shipment).

• Document Format – Specifies the format and structure of the electronic document used when generating the E-shipment (NPS E-shipment).

• Service Integration – Defines the method of exchanging the E-shipment with external systems or services (NPS E-shipment).

🔹 Workflow

In the context of E-shipments, the Workflow in Business Central is configured so that an E-shipment is created automatically but not sent automatically. This setup comes with the extension installation, so the user does not need to configure the workflow manually, and the documents will be ready for review or sending as needed by the user.

On the E-document Services page, there is a service with the code ESHIPMENT, which will appear on the Workflow page in the E-document Service field.

🔶 Retrieving the API Key

After the extension has been installed, the next step is to configure E-shipments within Business Central. In the search field, enter E-shipment Setup to open the page where the necessary settings are applied. The API key must be retrieved from the E-shipment Portal, then copied and entered Business Central.

On this page, E-shipments are configured in three steps. The first step is entering the API key, then by running the Set URLs to Default action, the appropriate URLs are configured, and finally, by checking the Enabled option, the E-shipment functionality is activated.

🔶 Document Sending Profile

By installing the extension, a sending profile will be created in your company. Sending profiles for documents needs to be assigned on the Customer card. This profile will be used for all customers to whom E-shipments are sent, allowing the electronic document to be generated and subsequently exchanged with the customer.

🔶 Ship-to Addresses

It is necessary to define a delivery address on the customer if the customer has multiple addresses. A delivery address directory must be defined. The delivery address directory can be set up on the customer card, within the Ship-to Addresses action.

🔶 Shipment Methods

Shipment methods are also defined on the e-shipment portal, where the shipment method type is created in accordance with the applicable standard. It is now possible to select the desired shipment method from the drop-down list in the Shipment Method Type field.

🔹 Shipping Agents

It is necessary to define the shipping agent, i.e. the carrier responsible for transporting your goods. In the search field, enter Shipping Agents to open the list where the shipping agent must be defined. Be sure to also enter the vendor number.

In this way, the shipping agent’s vendor’s details such as the tax ID, company registration number, and address—will be transmitted when sending the e-shipment, so it is clear which party is performing the transport on your behalf.

🔹 Own Transport – Drivers

Drivers are defined in Contacts. In the Type field, select Person, then enter the first and last name in the Name field. In the E-mail field, enter the e-mail address with which the driver is registered on the E-shipment portal.

In the Fax No. field, you can enter the registration number of the vehicle assigned to the driver. On the E-shipment itself, via the Update Document action (explained later in the text), it is possible to change the default vehicle registration.

🔶 Locations on Sales Documents

Selecting the location from which the shipment starts is an important step, as it determines the shipping address on the e-shipment. In the search field, enter Locations and select the appropriate warehouse – selecting the warehouse opens the location card. On the Address and Contacts tab, you need to enter all relevant information, such as address, postal code, city, country, and contact person.

🔶 Posted Sales Shipment

When you create a sales document from which the sales shipment originates and for which the shipment has been created and posted, you can access the e-documents. In the search field, enter E-documents.

When the list opens and you select your e-shipment, the Actions menu offers the following options:

1. Update Document

2. Validate Document

3. Download PDF

4. Get Changes

5. Delete E-document

🔹 Update Document

Update Document allows you to enter data that has not been transferred to the e-shipment and add it before sending. For example, you can change the delivery method.

In the Update Document action, you can enter the ID from the portal in the following cases: • when the document was sent directly from the portal, • or when the document was sent, but the ID has not yet been transferred to the BC system. In these situations, the ID can be entered later using the Update Document action. The ID is essential as it allows: • tracking and retrieving the document’s status, • as well as potentially canceling the document.

🔹 Hazardous Materials

To activate the Hazardous Materials action on the list and enable further data entry for hazardous materials, the Contains Hazardous Materials option must first be selected using the Update Document action.

🔹 Validate Document

This action checks the validity of the e-document before it is sent. Validation includes verifying all required structures and formats needed for electronic exchange, ensuring that the document complies with both the system and external service rules.

After selecting the checkbox, the action will become visible and enabled for further data entry.

🔹 Download PDF

The Download PDF action allows the e-shipment to be printed, if needed.

🔹 Get Changes

The Get Changes action allows you to download information about the customer’s receipt and review all e-documents associated with this e-shipment. This way, you can see the customer’s receipt, i.e., their response to your shipment, including the confirmed quantities and items.

After that, the customer’s receipt can be either accepted or rejected using the Accept or Reject actions.

🔹 Delete E-document

This action allows you to delete the selected E-document from the system. Deletion is used when a document was created by mistake or does not need to be sent. After deletion, it is possible to create a new E-document for the same original document, ensuring process continuity and data accuracy.

🔹 Send Document

The action Send Document is used to send the document to the e-Shipment portal.

After sending the document, the fields are populated on the Electronic Shipments Integration tab.

🔹 Get Approval

Status can be retrieved using the Get Approval action, either from the e-Document list or directly on the document.

Statuses are visible both on the e-Document list and on the document itself, in the Electronic Shipments Integration tab.

🔹 Completely Invoiced

Completely Invoiced is a field that is visible on the e-documents list and specifically refers to e-shipments. It enables the user to see from the list which delivery has been fully invoiced, that is, for which the sales process has been completed.