In this guide 6 sections
A client file works when one client code sits on every record, from the booking and consignment note to the trip, delivery proof, stock movement and invoice line. Each record keeps its own reference and points back to the client and the previous step, so a billing question opens one file instead of four folders.
Why four folders become four versions of the truth
A business that moves freight and stores stock keeps consignment notes in dispatch, trip sheets and fuel slips in the yard, and a stock register in the warehouse. Driver advances sit in a ledger book. Accounts keep the invoice.
Names drift between teams: one writes the short form, another the legal name, a third the consignee’s name, and nobody can say what happened last month. Finding out takes an hour.
The cost shows up at invoicing. A detention charge has no trip sheet behind it, a storage line has no inward receipt, and the client disputes the bill while your accounts clerk goes hunting.
Start with one client master and one reference chain
Give every client a single code, a legal name, billing address, credit terms, contact roles and the rate card agreed with them. Everything else hangs from that code. Aliases map back to it. One code, one client.
Then define the chain. A booking becomes a consignment note, the note becomes a trip leg, the leg ends in a delivery proof, and storage runs from goods receipt to dispatch order.
Each document stores the reference of the one before it, and that single habit lets you walk backwards from any invoice line to the original request.
- Client code, legal name and billing entity
- Rate card with validity dates
- Booking number carried onto the consignment note
- Trip or lorry receipt number on each leg
- Goods receipt number on every inward pallet or carton
What the file holds for freight, transport and storage
For freight the file shows the consignment note, packing list, declared weight or volume, and any amendment made to the booking after the client first confirmed it. For transport it shows the vehicle, driver, trip dates, tolls, hire charges to an outside operator, the signed delivery proof and, when weight is billed, the weighbridge slip.
For storage it shows the goods receipt, putaway location, stock movements by batch or lot, cycle counts and the outward dispatch, which is where handling charges come from. Memory plays no part.
Nothing waits in a drawer. Scans and phone photos attach to the record, and a damaged-carton photo taken at unloading sits on the goods receipt, where a later claim will find it.
Billing from the file instead of from memory
A bill becomes a query. Pull every delivered consignment for the period, add storage days from the movement ledger and accessorial lines such as detention or re-delivery, then apply the rate card.
Unproven legs stay flagged. A leg with no signed delivery proof is held back or billed with a note, which is a decision your team makes rather than a surprise the client discovers.
Credit notes, short-payment remarks and claim letters attach to the same file, so six months on you can see why a line was reduced and who agreed it.
- Delivered consignments with proof attached
- Storage days computed from stock movements
- Detention, waiting and re-delivery lines with timestamps
- Outside hire charges matched to the client job
- Credit notes linked to the line they changed
A small first step this month
Test it without new software. Pick your three largest clients and create a folder or sheet for each, with one tab apiece for consignments, trips, stock movements and invoices.
Add the reference columns and fill in one month per client, and the gaps appear fast: missing proofs, unlogged moves, untraceable charges and consignments booked under odd names. That list is your requirement.
Bring that list to a software conversation. A feature wish list helps far less.
Client file layout sheet
Put a header block at the top of one page holding client code, legal name, rate card date and credit terms. Four columns sit underneath, one each for booking and consignment, trip legs, stock movements and invoice lines, and every row carries a reference field pointing to the previous step. A tick box marks proof attached.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
What is a client file in a logistics business?
It is one record per client that links every booking, consignment note, trip, delivery proof, stock movement and invoice line, with each item holding the previous step’s reference. Any bill can then be traced back.
Do freight and warehouse records really need to sit together?
Yes, if the same client buys both. Storage and handling charges rest on stock movements while freight charges rest on trips, and disputes often cross both, so one file saves you asking two departments.
Can this work in a spreadsheet?
Yes, for a handful of clients. The reference columns matter more than the tool, though spreadsheets struggle once several people edit one sheet or attachments such as photos and scanned notes pile up.
Which records should come first?
Begin with two documents. The delivery proof and goods receipt are the documents clients challenge most, and the rest of the chain is easier to trace once they sit under the client code.