Before the latest ShipStation upgrade, my user could print labels without having the Permission to "Purchase Postage". The user would tell me when they were running low, and I added funds. Easy. Now the user must have the Purchase Postage Permission, or they cannot print labels.
The alternatives now: ShipStation has a feature to allow an automated purchase of the same amount of postage each time the amount of postage reduces to a specified level. Another feature allows the user to purchase postage when they run out. The first feature is a nightmare for accounting (me) to reconcile due to the same amount being purchased repeatedly. It is prone to human error. The second feature allows a user, who does not have a stake in the well-being of the company, to over purchase postage. This may cause delays in business operation while obtaining a refund from Stamps.com. Those are the issues as I see them. I'm hoping that someone else out there, in a similar situation as me, has implemented an SOP that bypasses these issues.
My current SOP's/thoughts: I opened an extra credit card on my business account with a specific limit, to mitigate accidental (or on purpose) over purchase of postage. However, now I must also add the extra step to pay down that card purchase each time my user is ready to purchase postage again. I've also been told that I can purchase postage before my user runs out, however that adds an extra step to my day and/or my users day, that wasn't there before. Further, I've not found a way around the "same postage purchase amount" each time. It is prone to error, (1) if a postage purchase wasn't entered into accounting, or (2) the dates were entered incorrectly; the reconciliation will then require an extensive and time consuming review between Stamps.com purchases and what is recorded in accounting. It's just easier to keep the amounts unique.
I look forward to any suggestions.
Thank you for your time,
Karri
