How to Set Up Rate Cards and Generate Invoices

Set up rate cards and invoice settings in SmartRoutes to calculate what you owe third‑party delivery partners and generate invoices from selected orders.

Caroline Hassett
Caroline Hassett
• 2 min read

Rate cards and invoice settings work together to help you pay third‑party partners for deliveries or collections they complete on your behalf.

You define how each partner should be paid (rate cards based on capacity, such as weight), then use invoice settings and the Orders screen to generate invoices from those rates.

Step 1: Create a capacity for your rate card

Rate cards need a capacity to work from, for example, weight in kilograms.

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Open Capacities.
  3. Click Add Capacity.
  4. Give it a name (for example Weight).
  5. Set the unit (for example kgs).
  6. Click Save.

This capacity will be used when you create your rate card (for example “pay per kg”).

Step 2: Create a rate card for a third‑party partner

Rate cards define how much a partner gets paid for delivering an order, based on the capacity you set up.

  1. Go to Settings > Rate Cards.
  2. Click Add Rate Card.
  3. Name the rate card, for example 3rd Party Standard Rate.
  4. Choose the capacity it is based on (for example Weight (kgs)).
  5. Add pricing tiers. For each tier, fill in:
    • From value (for example 0)
    • To value (for example 100)
    • Price for that band (for example $45)

Step 3: Apply a rate card to an order

Once your rate cards are set up, you can apply them to orders so SmartRoutes calculates how much the partner should be paid.

  1. Go to Orders.
  2. Open the order you want to price.
  3. In the Pricing section: Select a Rate Card from the dropdown & enter the capacity value (for example set Weight = 50).
  4. The price from the rate card (for example $45 for 50 kg) will appear automatically.
  5. Click Save.

You can assign rate cards as you create orders, or update existing orders later so they are included in invoicing.

Step 4: Configure invoice settings

Invoice settings control how invoices look and what information they include when you generate them for partners.

  1. Go to Settings > Invoice Settings.
  2. Fill out your invoice details, such as:
    • Your company name and address
    • Tax details (for example VAT number)
    • Bank account or payment details
    • Invoice numbering format and starting number
    • Any header or footer text you want on the invoice

These settings are reused each time you generate an invoice, so you only need to configure them once.

Step 5: Generate an invoice from orders

Once orders have customers, rate cards, and pricing, you can generate invoices from the Orders screen.

  1. Go to Orders.
  2. Select one or more orders that should be invoiced together.
  3. Click Generate Invoice.
  4. Confirm the invoice details, including the total amount due.
  5. Generate the invoice, then download it as a file, or view it in the browser to check the line items.

You can then send this invoice to your third‑party partner as the record of what they are owed for the selected orders.

Didn’t answer your question?

You can see our other guides here or contact support at support@smartroutes.io.

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