Accounting software for 3PL operators
Per-SKU billback, multi-client warehouse, e-way bills, IGST on inter-state moves, and a full accounting ledger — so your 3PL operation runs without a separate WMS and accounting juggle.
Running a 3PL business in India means billing dozens of clients for storage, pick-and-pack, and outward freight — each with their own SKU catalogue, GSTIN, inbound PO, and SLA — while also reconciling your own GST liability across multiple warehouse GSTINs. Most 3PL operators run a WMS on one screen and Tally on another, copy-pasting numbers at month-end. HelloBooks combines the WMS and the books in one platform: every receipt, put-away, pick wave and dispatch posts to the client's inventory ledger and your own AR in the same transaction. Clients dispute invoices when billback data comes from a different system than the stock report; multi-GSTIN across warehouses triggers IGST on inter-state transfers that need e-way bills; per-client SLA tracking is usually a spreadsheet. HelloBooks closes all three gaps without bolting together separate software.
Per-SKU billing and client reconciliation
Each 3PL client brings its own SKU catalogue, its own agreed storage rates (per-pallet, per-CBM, per-sqft or per-SKU per day), and its own pick-and-pack charge schedule. When these rates live in a WMS that is separate from the accounting ledger, month-end billing becomes a manual exercise: export from WMS, pivot in Excel, import to Tally. Every copy-paste is a dispute waiting to happen. HelloBooks posts every inbound receipt, put-away, pick-wave and outbound dispatch to two ledgers simultaneously — the client's inventory partition and your own AR — from the same transaction record. The invoice that goes to the client carries the same line-item detail as the stock report they received, so the unit counts, weights, and activity timestamps match by construction rather than by reconciliation.
Freight billback is the second common dispute trigger. Outward freight charged to the client at an agreed markup over actual carrier cost has to be backed by a carrier invoice and a matching pickup record. HelloBooks captures the carrier's invoice against the same dispatch record that generated the client's outbound activity, so the freight line on the client invoice is traceable back to the carrier bill without a separate spreadsheet. Credit notes for short-picks, damages and missing scans are raised directly against the client AR ledger with the exception ticket as the backing document — the client sees a credit note that references the exact SKU, batch, quantity and reason, not a generic adjustment.
GST on 3PL services: multi-GSTIN, IGST, e-way bills
A 3PL operator in India typically holds one GSTIN per warehouse state — a Mumbai warehouse carries a Maharashtra GSTIN, a Bhiwandi extension carries the same GSTIN or a separate one, and a Bangalore fulfilment centre carries a Karnataka GSTIN. Services billed from the Mumbai warehouse to a client whose registered place of business is in Karnataka attract IGST at 18% (logistics and warehousing services under SAC 9967). Services billed to a client in the same state attract CGST + SGST. HelloBooks derives the place of supply from the client's GSTIN and applies the right tax head per invoice line — inter-state IGST or intra-state CGST+SGST — without manual intervention, and generates a separate GSTR-1 per warehouse GSTIN at filing time.
Inter-warehouse stock transfers — moving a client's inventory from a Chennai hub to a Hyderabad spoke — are inter-state supplies under GST even though ownership does not change. Each such transfer needs an e-way bill if the consignment value exceeds ₹50,000, and if the movement crosses a state line the IGST treatment applies on the delivery challan. HelloBooks generates the delivery challan and e-way bill inline, calculates the IGST liability on the warehouse-to-warehouse transfer value, and reconciles the transfer back to the client's inventory at the destination location in the same motion. Multi-GSTIN GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filing runs per warehouse GSTIN at month-end without CSV juggling.
SLA tracking, damage claims and RMA
SLA compliance is the metric that 3PL clients cite first in contract reviews. OTIF (on-time-in-full), put-away turnaround time from dock-receipt to bin-confirmation, and dispatch accuracy (order lines shipped without error as a percentage of total lines) are the three headline KPIs. HelloBooks tracks all three per client in real time: put-away TAT from the receipt scan to the bin-confirm timestamp, dispatch accuracy from the pick-confirm to the AWB-scan event, and OTIF from the customer's requested delivery date to the carrier's POD timestamp. Exceptions — short-picks, scan mismatches, damaged goods found at inspection — land in a shared exceptions queue with the actor, time, location and SKU captured so client dispute resolution has a timestamped audit trail instead of a he-said-she-said.
Damage claims and RMAs (return merchandise authorisations) have their own accounting treatment in a 3PL context. When a client's stock is found damaged in the warehouse, a damage claim reduces the client's storage-fee liability for that SKU and may trigger a write-off in the client's inventory ledger. HelloBooks runs the RMA workflow end-to-end: receive the return from the carrier, inspect and classify (restock, rework, or destroy), post the inventory journal at the correct location, raise a credit note against the client's AR for the agreed damage value, and update the SLA dashboard to reflect the disposition. Destruction records for damaged or expired client goods are stored with actor, date and reason for client-auditable disposal proof.
Key features for 3PL operators
Multi-client warehouse with per-SKU billback
Each client gets their own inventory partition, storage-fee rules (per-pallet, per-SKU, per-sqft), and pick-and-pack rates. Invoices generate from the same transaction that records the pick — no spreadsheet reconciliation.
3PL GST — multi-GSTIN, IGST, e-way bills
Each warehouse carries its own GSTIN. Inter-state client stock moves auto-treat IGST, e-way bills generate inline, and per-GSTIN GSTR-1/3B filing runs without CSV juggling.
SLA dashboard and exceptions queue
OTIF, put-away TAT, and dispatch accuracy tracked per client. Short-picks, damage, and mismatched scans land in the exceptions queue with actor and time-stamp for client billing dispute resolution.
RMA and reverse logistics accounting
Returns flow into an RMA workflow — receive, inspect, restock or destroy — with credit notes raised against the client AR and the inventory journal updated in the same motion.
Questions 3PL operators ask about HelloBooks
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