Settlement Process¶

A settlement is a payment you make to a carrier for completed loads. Every time a carrier finishes hauling a leg, they are owed money. A settlement collects one or more completed legs together, applies any deductions, and tracks the payment from start to finish.

Overview¶

Settlements follow a simple lifecycle:

Status	What It Means
Draft	The settlement is open for editing. You can add or remove legs, adjust deductions, and change payment info.
Approved	Locked and ready for payment. No more changes to legs or deductions.
Paid	Payment has been sent to the carrier. The settlement is complete.
Void	Cancelled. The legs are released and can be settled again. A void reason is always recorded.

You can void a settlement at any stage (draft, approved, or paid). You can also reset a voided settlement back to draft if it was voided by mistake.

Getting There¶

From the main menu, click Settlements in the top navigation bar. You will see three options:

Settlements -- The main list of all settlements
Unsettled Legs -- Completed legs that have not been settled yet
Deductions -- Recurring deductions set up for carriers, trucks, and drivers

The settlement list opens filtered to Not Void by default, so voided settlements are hidden unless you remove the filter.

How It Works¶

How Settlements Are Created¶

There are three ways to create a settlement:

1. Automatic (when a leg is completed)

When auto-settlement creation is enabled (the default setting in TMS Settings), the system automatically creates a draft settlement when a dispatcher marks a leg as completed. One settlement is created per leg. The carrier, payment info, and any recurring deductions are all applied automatically.

2. Bulk creation with the Create Settlements wizard

If you need to settle multiple legs at once (for example, all loads a carrier completed this week):

Open Settlements > Settlements and click the Create Settlements button in the list header.
A wizard opens. Optionally narrow your search:
Carrier -- Select a specific carrier, or leave blank to find all carriers
Completed From / Completed To -- Date range for when legs were completed
Click Search Legs. The system finds all completed, unsettled legs matching your filters.
Review the list of legs found. The Legs Found count shows how many matched.
Click Create Settlements. The system groups the legs by carrier and creates one settlement per carrier.
You are taken to the list of newly created settlements.

3. From the Unsettled Legs view

Open Settlements > Unsettled Legs. This view shows all completed legs that do not have a settlement yet, grouped by carrier.
Select the legs you want to settle by checking the boxes.
Click the Create Settlement button in the list header.
The system creates settlements (one per carrier) and opens them.

The Settlement Form¶

When you open a settlement, the form shows everything about the payment in organized tabs.

Header area:

Settlement # -- Auto-generated number (e.g., STL/2026/0042). You cannot change this.
Status bar -- Shows Draft, Approved, or Paid with action buttons.

Settlement Info (left column):

Settlement Date -- When the settlement was created. Used for year-to-date calculations and aging reports.
Carrier -- Automatically detected from the legs. All legs on a settlement must belong to the same carrier.
Types -- Optional tags for categorizing settlements (e.g., "Weekly", "Final"). Set these up in Settings.
PRO # -- Reference numbers from all legs, shown for quick identification.
# Legs -- How many legs are on this settlement.

Payment Info (right column):

Pay To -- Name on the check or ACH transfer. Copied from the carrier's payment details when the settlement is created.
Payment Method -- ACH, Cash, Check, Wire, QuickPay, Factoring, Fuel Advance, or Other.
Payment Detail -- The specific payment detail record from the carrier's profile. This dropdown shows only active payment details for the settlement's carrier. It defaults to the carrier's default payment detail when the settlement is created. You can change it while the settlement is in Draft status. The selected payment detail determines how the payment is routed (bank account, address, etc.).
Remit To -- Where to send the payment notification.
Remittance Email -- Email address for sending the settlement statement.

Form Tabs¶

Loads Tab¶

Shows all legs included in this settlement. Each row displays:

PRO # -- The leg's reference number
Status -- Should always be "Completed"
Truck and Driver -- Who hauled the load
Dispatch Date and Completion Date
Service Pay -- What the carrier earned for this leg

The total service pay is shown at the bottom of the column.

Below the legs list, you will also see Shipment Details with the customer name, customer rate, and linked shipments. This helps you compare what the customer is paying versus what you are paying the carrier.

While the settlement is in Draft, you can add or remove legs. Only completed, unsettled legs for the same carrier can be added.

Note: When you add or remove legs from a draft settlement, the system automatically recalculates all recurring, carry-over, and accessorial deductions. Manual one-time deductions you added are preserved, but everything else is wiped and rebuilt based on the updated leg list. This ensures deduction amounts always match the current set of legs.

Deductions Tab¶

Lists all amounts being subtracted from the carrier's payment. Each deduction shows:

Description -- What the deduction is for
Type -- One-Time, Recurring, Carry-over, or Accessorial
Tags -- Category labels like "Fuel Advance" or "Insurance"
Date -- When the deduction was recorded
Amount -- Dollar amount to deduct

Negative amounts (shown in green) represent credits or reimbursements to the carrier.

While the settlement is in Draft, you can add, edit, or remove deductions. See Deductions for full details.

Financial Tab¶

Shows the settlement math at a glance:

Service Pay -- Total earned from all legs
Total Deductions -- Sum of all deductions
Net Pay -- Service pay minus deductions (what the carrier actually receives)
Carry-over to Next Settlement -- If deductions exceed service pay, the overflow carries to the next settlement
YTD Income -- Total net pay for this carrier across all paid settlements in the current calendar year

Payment Tab¶

Visible when the settlement is not in Draft status (appears for Approved, Paid, and Void states). Shows:

Approved Date and Approved By -- When and who approved it
ACH/Check # -- The payment reference number (required for ACH payments)
Paid Date and Paid By -- When and who recorded the payment
Payment Notes -- Any additional notes about the payment

Void Tab¶

Appears only when a settlement is voided. Shows the void date, who voided it, and the reason.

Notes Tab¶

Free-text area for internal notes and the remittance address.

Approving a Settlement¶

When a draft settlement is ready:

Open the settlement and review the legs, deductions, and totals.
Click the Approve button in the header bar.
The status changes to Approved, the approved date and your name are recorded, and the settlement is locked -- you can no longer change legs or deductions.

Only users with the TMS Admin role can approve settlements.

Recording Payment¶

After a settlement is approved:

Click Mark as Paid in the header bar.
If the payment method is ACH and no reference number has been entered yet, a pop-up will ask for the ACH/Check #. Enter the transaction ID or check number and click Mark as Paid.
The status changes to Paid and the paid date is recorded.

Only users with the TMS Admin role can record payments.

Voiding a Settlement¶

You can void a settlement at any stage (draft, approved, or paid):

Click the Void button in the header bar.
A pop-up asks for the reason. Type a clear explanation of why you are voiding this settlement.
Click Void Settlement.
The status changes to Void. The legs are released and their "settled" flag is cleared, so they appear in the Unsettled Legs view again.

Voiding also reverses any recurring deduction tracking. If a recurring deduction was marked as applied on this settlement, the system recalculates when it was last applied so it will be picked up correctly on the next settlement.

Deleting a Settlement¶

You can delete a settlement that is in Draft or Void status. Approved and paid settlements cannot be deleted -- void them first if needed.

To delete a settlement, open it and use the Actions > Delete menu (or select it in the list view and click Delete).

When a settlement is deleted:

All legs on the settlement are released -- their "settled" flag is cleared and they return to the Unsettled Legs view.
The carrier's carry-over balance is recalculated.
Recurring deduction tracking dates are recalculated (same as voiding).
A summary of the deleted deductions is logged to the settlement's chatter history before deletion.

In most cases, voiding is preferred over deleting because it preserves the record for audit purposes. Use deletion only when the settlement was created by mistake and has no value as a historical record.

Resetting to Draft¶

If a settlement was voided by mistake:

Open the voided settlement.
Click Reset to Draft.
The void information is cleared, the settlement returns to Draft status, and the legs are re-linked.

Printing and Emailing¶

For approved or paid settlements:

Print PDF -- Click the print icon button in the header. A PDF settlement statement is generated showing the settlement info, loads table, deductions, and financial summary. This is suitable for sending to the carrier or keeping on file.
Send by Email -- Click the email icon button. The system opens an email compose window pre-filled with the carrier's remittance email and the settlement PDF attached. Review and send. If no email address is configured (neither a remittance email on the settlement nor an email on the carrier record), the system will display an error. Set a remittance email on the settlement or an email on the carrier before sending.

Both options are only available when the settlement is in Approved or Paid status.

Settlement Types¶

Types are color-coded tags you can assign to settlements for organization and filtering. Common examples: "Weekly", "Monthly", "Final", "Bonus".

To manage types, go to Settings > TMS > Settlements and click Manage Settlement Types. You can add, rename, or archive types from there.

To assign a type, open any draft settlement and select types in the Types field on the form.

The Unsettled Legs View¶

The Unsettled Legs view under Settlements > Unsettled Legs is your go-to screen for finding completed work that has not been paid yet. It shows only legs that are completed and not yet on an active settlement.

The list is grouped by carrier by default, so you can quickly see how many loads each carrier is owed for. You can filter by:

Brokered / Direct -- Whether the leg was brokered to an outside carrier or hauled by your own fleet
Completion Date -- When the leg was finished
Carrier, Truck -- Narrow to a specific carrier or truck

Select legs and click Create Settlement to settle them.

Tips & Common Questions¶

Q: A settlement shows a "Carry-over to Next Settlement" amount. What does that mean? When deductions on a settlement exceed the service pay, the carrier's net pay would go negative. Instead of paying the carrier nothing and losing the extra deduction, the system carries the overflow to the carrier's next settlement as a carry-over deduction. The carrier's profile also tracks this carry-over balance.

Q: I voided a settlement, but the legs still show as settled. What happened? This should not happen -- voiding automatically clears the settled flag on all legs. If you see this, check whether the legs are on a different active settlement. A leg can only be on one non-void settlement at a time.

Q: Can I change the carrier on a settlement? The carrier is automatically determined from the legs. All legs on a settlement must belong to the same carrier. To change the carrier, you would need to remove the legs and add legs from a different carrier, or void the settlement and create a new one.

Q: What is the "Age" column in the settlement list? It shows the number of days since the settlement date. This helps you identify settlements that have been sitting in Draft or Approved status too long without being paid. A high age on an approved settlement means the carrier is waiting for payment.

Q: Who can approve and pay settlements? Only users with the TMS Admin role can approve, pay, void, or reset settlements to draft. Regular TMS users can view settlements and the unsettled legs list but cannot change the settlement status.

Deductions -- Managing one-time and recurring deductions on settlements
Carrier Setup -- Setting up carrier payment details and recurring deductions