You work in purchasing and want your purchase orders to reflect the full cost of an order. This includes additional charges from a supplier or third party. You learned how to enter general costs like insurance via a G/L Account. However, there are also costs like freight charges which also need to be reflected. For example, if you receive an invoice of sea freight charges from a different company then the one you purchased the goods from. This should also be reflected in Business Central.
Let’s see how you can improve your knowledge regarding purchase elements!
Open Purchase Calculate Element Types.
Click + New in the top menu.
Enter SEAFREIGHT in Code and Description.
Choose Charge (Item) in the Element Type column.
In Cost Account No. open the drop-down list and press + New.
Create a new Item Charge by entering SEAFREIGHT for No. and Description.
Choose the relevant Gen. Prod. Posting Group, e.g. Services.
In VAT Prod. Posting Group, enter the correct code like 19, in case you receive an Invoice with 19 % VAT.
Click OK to close the Item Charges overview.
Finalize the setup of the Purchase Element by choosing Volume PE in the column Element Charge Type.
Try out the setup and create a new Purchase Order.
On the General FastTab, fill in the mandatory fields. On the Lines FastTab, add at least one Item line with a Quantity.
In the top menu, choose Prepare > Purchase Elements.
In Element Code, select the created code SEAFREIGHT. Columns such as Cost Type, Cost Account No., and Allocation/Calculation Type are filled automatically.
In the column Vendor Name, enter the freight company you will receive a transport invoice from.
In the column Value, enter the freight costs per Volume, which will be invoiced, e.g. 10.
Post the Purchase Order. A new Purchase Order for the freight company will be created and posted in the background.
After setting up and using purchase elements for freight, your purchase orders reflect the full cost of the goods, including additional charges such as sea freight. Freight costs are recorded separately, assigned to the correct vendor, and automatically included in the total purchase cost. This gives you a clearer and more accurate overview of what you spend on an order, without manual corrections or follow‑up postings.
