Finance

# Have extra charges approved by the customer

Send charges added after a quote was accepted, such as waiting time, to the customer for approval before they are invoiced.

Updated 13 October 2026

**Who can do this:** The chargeApproval platform feature. Sending a charge to the customer and marking it invoiced externally needs the approve:charge permission.

An extra charge is a quote line added after the customer accepted the price, for example waiting time or an extra stop. With charge approval, such a line only counts once it is approved: until then it is left out of the quote total, the expected revenue and invoices. The customer approves or rejects it in the customer portal or through the quote link.

## Decide which lines need approval

* **Per pricing category**: in **Settings** \> **Variables** \> **Pricing Category**, switch on **Extra charges need customer approval** for a category, such as waiting time. New lines in that category that are added after the quote was accepted need approval.
* **Per line**: tick **Customer approval** on a quote line, in a quote or in the spot quote of a transport order.

Lines ticked before the customer accepted the quote are agreed together with the quote.

## Set up the approval flow

1. Open **Settings** \> **Environment** and expand **Financial**.
2. Under **Approval of extra charges**, set the switches:  
  * **Approve internally before the customer sees a charge** (off by default).
  * **Hold automatic invoicing of the whole order while a charge waits** (off by default: the order is invoiced without the waiting charges).
  * **Put charges approved after invoicing on a new concept invoice** (on by default).
  * **A rejection needs a reason** (on by default).
3. Click **Save**.

## Add a charge

1. Open the accepted quote, or the transport order with its spot quote, and edit it.
2. Add a line with the description, quantity and price.
3. Tick **Customer approval**, or choose a pricing category that needs approval.
4. Save. The line gets the status **Awaiting customer approval**, or **Awaiting internal approval** when you approve internally first.
5. For a charge awaiting internal approval, open the quote and click **Send to customer** on the line.

Message automations can notify people with the triggers **After a charge needs internal approval**, **After a charge is sent to the customer for approval**, **After a charge is approved** and **After a charge is rejected**. See [Message automations](/en/help/message-automations).

## How the customer answers

In the customer portal, the order shows **Extra charges** with each waiting charge and the buttons **Approve** and **Reject**. The same buttons appear on the public quote page. The customer confirms the answer in a dialog, and a rejection asks for a reason when required. Customers never see charges that wait for internal approval.

Your own users can also click **Approve** or **Reject** on the line in the quote, with the permission to accept or decline quotes. **Approve** is not offered when only the customer may accept quotes (**Only the customer can accept quotes (link or portal)** under **Quote acceptance**).

## Charges invoiced elsewhere

Click **Invoiced externally** on a charge you billed outside Transportial. It is then left out of the totals, revenue and invoices here. This is not possible for a rejected charge or a charge already on an invoice.

## Statuses

| Status                         | Counts in totals and invoices                                                             |
| ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Awaiting internal approval** | No. Not visible to the customer.                                                          |
| **Awaiting customer approval** | No.                                                                                       |
| **Charge approved**            | Yes. Approved after the order was invoiced: on a new draft invoice, if that switch is on. |
| **Charge rejected**            | No. You can send it to the customer again with **Send to customer**.                      |
| **Invoiced externally**        | No.                                                                                       |

## Related articles

* [Create and send quotes](/en/help/quotes)
* [Prices, costs and invoices of a transport order](/en/help/transport-order-financials)
* [Pricing categories and cost elements](/en/help/pricing-categories)
* [Use the customer portal](/en/help/use-the-customer-portal)

## Still need help?

Our support team is happy to answer any question about Transportial.

[Contact support](/en/contact)[Report an issue](/en/report-issue)

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Canonical page: https://transportial.com/en/help/customer-charge-approval