CargoWise Value Packs Frequently Asked Questions

CargoWise Value Pack Transaction Fees are calculated per job, aligning cost directly to when and where operational value is delivered. The CargoWise Value Pack Transaction Fee is only triggered when the shipment billing tab is accessed after the job or shipment has been fully registered and saved. Under the default setting in CargoWise, these fees will then appear on your customer’s invoice as the ‘CargoWise Automation Fee’.

Rates are published and standardized globally and apply by shipment direction (import, export, domestic, transshipment) and by freight mode (LCL/LTL/AIR/NON‑FCL versus FCL/FTL). For stand‑alone formal customs procedures, there is a single charge for an Export Entry and a single charge for an Import Entry. Where formal customs declarations are attached to forwarding shipments, those declarations are included at no additional cost within the Forwarding Value Pack. If a job changes mode, the mode at the time of billing dictates the fee that is applied.

To keep things fair and predictable, a minimum monthly charge applies only in cases of near‑zero usage, consistent with prior STL practice. In plain terms, “extremely low usage” means your invoice would otherwise fall below a specified threshold for the month. There are no other minimums or thresholds.

Operational safeguards prevent inadvertent over‑charging. For example, the following actions will not trigger additional charges:

• Internal activity within a company which falls under the same transaction. This means that multiple CargoWise users within an organization may touch different legs of the same physical shipment, and this will not incur any additional charges.
• Declarations attached to forwarding shipments under the Forwarding Value Pack will be covered at no additional cost.
• If a shipment is cancelled with no billing job, it is not invoiced.
• Sub-house bills will not have CargoWise Value Pack Transaction Fees added to them. Only the master House Bill of Lading will have CargoWise Value Pack Transaction Fees applied.  Please note that in some cases, sub-house bills may temporarily show CargoWise Value Pack Transaction Fees due to a known issue; this is being resolved and impacted data will be corrected. Customers will not be billed for these incorrect charges.

Under the default configuration, the CargoWise Value Pack Transaction Fee is added to your customer’s invoice as a pass‑through disbursement for two packs: Forwarding and Stand‑Alone Customs Formal Entry/Customs Broker. It appears as a clearly labeled line (“CargoWise Automation Fee”), making recovery simple, transparent, and aligned to the point where value is delivered in each shipment. Because disbursements post to balance‑sheet accounts rather than directly through the P&L, this default treatment can reduce your direct CargoWise costs and positively impact margins. This approach reflects the CargoWise Value Pack’s goal of keeping pricing simpler, more predictable, and tightly linked to operational value.

You retain the ability to modify this disbursement to align with your organization’s billing practices should you wish.  Doing so will mean these expenses are booked through your P&L as an expense and will not be disbursed to your customers.

Note that the CargoWise Value Packs for Contract Warehouse Manager and Land Transport do not push charges to the customer invoice by default.

From an accounting perspective, the CargoWise Automation Fee is treated as a disbursement with the following key configurations:

• The CargoWise Automation Fee charge codes are created with the ‘Disbursement’ charge code type
  
  
• The general ledger accounts that are used in this disbursement charge code are placed in the balance sheet and are not automatically recorded as revenues or costs
  
  
• When a job is recorded in CargoWise, the cost accrual is automatically posted into a disbursement accrual account (using a Job Revenue Journal transaction) and the expected invoice value is defaulted to the same values as the cost accrual
  
  
• The net impact of the Cost Accrual posting is as follows:

o   DR CW Automation Fee Clearing (Clearing Account)

o   CR CW Automation Fee Payable (Accrual Account)

• When receiving the CargoWise invoice, your payable invoice will post as follows:

o   DR CW Automation Fee Payable (Accrual Account cleared)

o   CR Payables Control

• When posting the receivables invoice to your customer, the posting will occur as follows:

o   DR Receivables Control

o   CR CW Automation Fee Clearing

• The estimated sell accrual is also reversed as part of the AR Invoice posting.

Please refer to the update note for further information which can be found here.

Under the CargoWise Value Pack model, the community price list is public and applies equally to all customers. Current prices are published on the Community Pricing page which can be found here.

The CargoWise Value Pack model replaces the prior STL model and prior STL model discounts do not carry over. That said, there will be a longer-term requirement to have reasonable CargoWise training for operators and line managers, but this will be introduced gradually.

If you’re on an existing commitment contract, there are no changes to those commitments from 1 December 2025. WiseTech will contact commitment customers to discuss the advantages of moving to the new commercial model in due course. In short, the model is designed to be fair and straightforward—one published rate card, consistent rules, and broad feature access included.

Community pricing is published in USD, reflecting WiseTech’s global reporting approach. Your invoices convert to local currency using your system configuration, and customers may see both USD and local amounts on their statements. For the Warehouse and Land Transport Value Packs, fees are shown in USD and converted into your preferred currency just as other USD A/P costs are handled.

Tax application (such as GST) is configurable and should be set to match your customer arrangements and applicable laws. Please refer to the update note for further information which can be found here.

In the default pass‑through configuration, recovering the CargoWise Automation Fee from the logistics customer typically makes CargoWise significantly lower cost in P&L terms than under the STL model, and in some circumstances effectively cost‑neutral to your P&L. You retain the ability to modify this disbursement to align with your organization’s billing practices should you wish.  Doing so will mean these expenses are booked through your P&L as an expense and will not be disbursed to your customers.

You also gain access to hundreds of features and modules at no additional feature charge, with Agentic AI capabilities rolling out progressively to further streamline workflows. Internal modeling indicates meaningful efficiency and labor savings over time, though actual outcomes will vary with your volumes, operational mix, and recovery practices.

To help you visualize the change, pro forma invoice views on Forwarding and Customs jobs show how the Automation Fee appears on the customer invoice, and the CargoWise Value Pack billing engine automates the pass‑through disbursement.

At present, no price rises are planned, however, WiseTech reserves the right to adjust pricing in future. Where pricing changes occur, these will be communicated via the Community Pricing pages and our normal customer update channels.

In terms of scope, the CargoWise Value Packs are intentionally inclusive, but there is a small list of Excluded Items and Optional/Premium Services that are billed separately—these are summarized at the bottom of the features CargoWise Value Pack features page which can be found here.

Conversely, several cost lines that previously applied to the STL model disappear under the CargoWise Value Pack model: standard CargoWise Cloud hosting fees are now included, and there are no device licence charges for RF or forklift‑mounted devices in Warehouse or Land Transport, reinforcing the shift to charging for delivered value rather than inputs.

The majority of updates and new features released that relate to the CargoWise Value Packs will be included at no extra cost. We will take an inclusive view of these features, meaning that some features will span all CargoWise Value Packs, and some features will relate to a particular CargoWise Value Pack.

Yes. You can select the CargoWise Value Packs that suit your operations.

However, you cannot operate on a blended STL model / CargoWise Value Pack model. Once you have transitioned to the CargoWise Value Pack model, the previous STL model (including seat fees) will no longer apply – in other words, running both models side‑by‑side is not technically or commercially possible.

Yes. Most WiseTech Academy courses, including the well-regarded Diploma of Customs Broking, Diploma of International Forwarding, and the Black Belt in Thinking management program, are included in the CargoWise Value Packs.

Some third-party courses, such as IATA Dangerous Goods, may have extra fees. These charges come directly from the third-party provider and are passed on to the student at cost, with no markup.

All languages are now included under the CargoWise Value Packs; the former “Bundled Language Pack” is no longer relevant.

The modules, functions and features which are included in the CargoWise Value Packs can be found on the CargoWise Value Pack features page which can be found here.

No. The CargoWise Value Pack model reflects industry‑wide change driven by the AI revolution. To deliver modern automation safely and at scale, WiseTech is retiring the previous STL model in favor of a simpler, more predictable framework with bundled features and AI capabilities that will roll out progressively.

During the transition, WiseTech’s established accounting and billing controls will act to prevent customers from being double‑charged and any overlap between STL and CargoWise Value Pack charges. At the same time, any prepaid or unused subscription balances from the STL model are credited toward upcoming invoices under the CargoWise Value Pack model. 

If you’re on a commitment contract, there are no changes to those commitments on 1 December 2025 - WiseTech will reach out to you shortly to discuss the advantages of the CargoWise Value Pack model.

To keep the commercial treatment straightforward, a date‑based rule governs when CargoWise Value Pack Transaction Fees apply: the model applies to jobs whose invoices are opened for the first time on or after 1 December 2025. Practically, that means if the export leg of a shipment was opened in November 2025 and the import side is opened in December 2025, the CargoWise Value Pack Transaction Fee applies to the import side because its first invoice is raised on or after the 1 December 2025.

This approach aligns charging with the point where value is delivered, supports cleaner reconciliation, and reinforces the broader aim of making billing simpler, more predictable, and tightly linked to operational activity.

No. In fact, most customers will experience an increase in available functions and modules—designed to improve capability and productivity. As part of the transition, you may also see the CargoWise Next home screen - this was rolled out to the vast majority of customers in 2025, and for many was simply enabled during the switch.

Under the CargoWise Value Packs, updates and patches are rolled out automatically. This change is necessary to ensure strong security, reduced defect profiles, and access to all features now included (including for select CargoWise Value Packs, the ability to recover the CargoWise Automation Fee as a disbursement from your customers).

• Patches (critical fixes/security hardening) may be applied urgently and cannot be deferred without unnecessary risk.
  
  
• Upgrades (new features/performance) follow WiseTech’s DPR/STD/GPR release rings.

From December 2025, WiseTech will publish an upgrade/patch schedule on the CargoWise website and, where practical, email update notices. Updates are timed outside main operating hours wherever possible. Daily update notes appear in My Account as soon as new features land in DPR. Regardless of patch timing—or whether you choose to recover the CargoWise Automation Fee—the CargoWise Value Pack pricing model applies from 1 December 2025.

While how you communicate with customers is ultimately your decision, a practical approach is to frame the CargoWise Automation Fee as a relative, minor cost within the landed cost of goods, akin to other industry standard service fees.

Presenting it transparently as a passthrough disbursement aligned to the shipment where value is delivered helps customers understand the efficiency gains and compliance benefits that CargoWise automation brings to their supply chain.

The CargoWise Next experience was rolled out to most customers during 2025. As part of the CargoWise Value Pack transition, anyone still on CargoWise One was automatically updated to CargoWise Next - in many cases the changes had already been deployed and are now simply enabled.

The vast majority (~95%) of customers are now on the CargoWise Value Pack model. Some customers (~5%) remain to be transitioned due to contract or other circumstances.

The mode at the time of billing will determine the CargoWise Value Pack Transaction Fee which is applied.

Yes. Now that seat fees have been removed, whether you have 1 user or 1,000, users can be added at no additional cost. It will be a longer-term requirement to have CargoWise trained operators and line managers but this will be introduced gradually.

Yes.