Generate a Freight Invoice

The Generate a Freight Invoice action enables automated creation of freight invoices based on bills of lading linked to a selected voyage.

The action is available from the toolbar and operates independently of the active directory, including both Bills of Lading and Freight Invoices folders.

Process Overview

The freight invoice generation process is organized as a multi-step interface:

  1. Voyage selection and preliminary invoice generation.

  2. Invoice validation and selection for creation.

  3. Optional email submission configuration.

  4. Invoice generation and distribution.

Step-by-Step Interface

Step 1: Freight Invoice Generation Setup

Clicking opens a configuration window containing voyage parameters, invoice lists, and actions for resolving missing client or payer data.

  1. Window Header

    • Voyage: Defines the voyage used for freight invoice generation.

    • Load F. Invoices: Generates preliminary freight invoices and populates the lists below based on available bills of lading.

  2. List Sections

    • Freight Invoices to Generate: Invoices prepared for further processing and creation (proceed by clicking ).

    • Existing Freight Invoices: Previously created freight invoices related to the selected voyage.

    • Bills of Lading Without Client / Payer: Bills missing client and/or payer information.

  3. Action Buttons

    • Cargo Settings — Opens configuration for BAF calculation, cargo handling, and client or payer assignment (also available from the toolbar).

    • Find Payer — Attempts to identify missing client and payer information for bills of lading in the third list.

      Find Payer Matching Logic

      The system applies Client Detect rules in the following order:

      1. Exact match by Cargo + Shipper + Consignee + Notify.

        • If found, both Payer and Client are assigned to the bill of lading.

      2. Fallback matching (evaluated sequentially):

        • Cargo + Shipper, with ‘Consignee’ and ‘Notify’ left empty;

        • Cargo + Consignee, with ‘Shipper’ and ‘Notify’ left empty;

        • Cargo + Notify, with ‘Shipper’ and ‘Consignee’ left empty.

      3. If a Payer is found but no Client, the client is taken from the payer’s contact card in the Accounting Module.

      4. When at least one bill is updated, freight invoices for those bills are regenerated automatically.

Freight Invoice Generation Logic

  1. Grouping Bills of Lading

    All bills of lading related to the selected voyage are grouped by:

    • Payer

    • Client

    • Port of Discharge

    • Week

  2. Invoice Creation

    • One freight invoice is generated for each group.

    • The following fields are populated automatically:

      • Payer, Client, Voyage, Week;

      • Bills of Lading (included list);

      • Invoice Date — Current date;

      • Currency — USD (fixed);

      • Own POL, Own POD, Own Cargo.

    • ‘Due Date’ calculated as follows:

      • If a voyage is assigned:
        — Transitions with Port = POD are evaluated.
        — The latest ETA is selected (fallback: latest ETA overall).

        — Credit Program Days from the payer’s contact settings are then added.

      • If no voyage is assigned:
        — Due Date = Invoice Date + 21 days.

  3. Pallet Handling

    • BLs with cargo type Pallets are grouped into a single invoice regardless of week.

    • Grouping by Payer, Client, and POD remains applicable.

    • The earliest week is used.

  4. Additional Data from Contact Settings

    • Show BLs — Taken from the client’s contact card.

    • Show As Agent Only, Show Ship Owner — From the ‘Issued By’ field.

    • Client BAF, BAF Delta, BAF Type, Rates Currency — From client settings.

  5. Fuel Data

    • Fuel Date Rate — First day of the selected week;

    • Fuel Price — Average fuel price (weekly or monthly), retrieved from MABUX.

  6. Amount Calculation by Cargo Type

    Cargo Type

    Amount Formula

    Boxes (bulk), Boxes (40), Boxes (pallets), Boxes (mini), Boxes (208), M2, Colli, M3, Lumpsum

    Sum of Packages Count

    Pallets, Pallets (mini)

    Sum of Pallet Count

    Containers

    Count of Unique Containers

    • If the client has port-based additional rates in their contact settings:

      • Extra packaging types are added with the Port flag;

      • POL and POD are taken from the bill of lading;

      • Amounts are calculated accordingly.

  7. Rate Assignment

    • Default rates are applied from client rate settings.

    • Rates marked with Port are taken from additional rate configurations matching POL and POD.

  8. Rate & BAF Calculation

    • If Client BAF = 0 → Rate & BAF = 0.

    • For Tons and M2 → Rate & BAF = Rate.

    • For other types: Rate & BAF = Rate + (Fuel BAF × BAF Coef), where:

      • BAF Coef — BAF coefficient from client settings;

      • Fuel BAF = Fuel Price – (Client BAF ± BAF Delta)
        (operation depends on BAF Delta direction).

  9. BAF Calculation

    • BAF = Amount × (Rate & BAF – Rate).

    • If Client BAF = 0, BAF is set to zero.

  10. Total Calculation

    • Total = Amount × Rate & BAF.

  11. Total in Rates Currency

    • Total Rates Currency = Sum of all Totals – Commission Amount from Misc Charges.

Step 2: Invoice Selection and Validation

The interface displays the following sections:

  1. Freight Invoices to Create

    • Invoices ready for creation;

    • Selection is performed via checkboxes;

    • Double-click opens an invoice for editing.

  2. Incomplete Invoices

    Invoices blocked due to validation errors, including:

    • Missing Issued By data;

    • Missing Bank Account;

    • Cargo items with rate type set to None.

    After correction, invoices automatically move to the creation list.

  3. Preview Panel

    Displays detailed information for the selected invoice.

Step 3: Invoice Finalization and Email Selection

This step determines whether invoices will be distributed via email.

Interface Behavior

  1. No invoices selected for email:

    • is replaced with .

    • Invoices are generated without email distribution.

  2. Invoices selected for email:

    • remains available to proceed.

Step 4: Email Distribution Configuration

This step is available only if email distribution is selected.

  1. Distribution Options

    • Do not group — One email per invoice. The recipient address will be automatically taken from the payer's contact card.

    • Group by payer — One email per payer. The email will be addressed to the payer's contact address.

    • Group by client — One email per client. The email will use the client's contact address.

    • All in one — One email with all invoices attached; recipient address must be specified manually.

  2. Finalization

    • Clicking :

      • Generates all freight invoices;

      • Creates corresponding email messages;

      • Prepares emails according to the selected distribution method.