Trade documents
A Trade Document is one shipping or trade document of a trade, draft or final: an invoice, a bill of lading, a surveyor's certificate, a debit note, a bill of exchange. It records what the document shows, so the app can check it against the credit, the contract and the other documents, and it keeps each corrected version.
To open the list: Documents › Document Sets › Trade Document.
1. Document types
Commercial Invoice, Bill of Lading, Certificate of Sampling and Analysis, Certificate of Weight, Draft Survey Report, Certificate of Hold Cleanliness, Certificate of Origin, Beneficiary's Certificate, Insurance Certificate, Packing List, Phytosanitary Certificate, Inspection Certificate, Debit Note, Credit Note, Draft (Bill of Exchange), Other.
2. Record a document
New, then:
| Section | Fields |
|---|---|
| Header | Title, Type, Number, Dated, Issued By, Trade, Leg (Purchase, Sale or Both, for the shared B/L), Letter of Credit, Document Instruction, Stage (Draft or Final), Version |
| Shipment Data on the Document | Vessel Named, B/L No. Shown, B/L Date Shown, Quantity Shown, Load Port Shown, Discharge Port Shown, Currency, Amount Shown |
| Wording (checked against 47A) | Shows LC Number, Shows Issuing Bank, Shows Unit Price or Value, Shows Consignee, Shows Notify Party, Photocopy, Language |
| Bill of lading set | Originals presented, Originals issued (set), Endorsement (Blank Endorsed, To Order of Shipper, To Named Consignee), Signed as (Master, Agent for the Master, Carrier, Agent for the Carrier), Shows transhipment, Freight clause |
| Certificate identity | Issuer's accreditation (for example ISO/IEC 17020 body and number), QR / verification code, Verified with the issuer, Origin (Preferential or Non-Preferential) |
| Draft survey | Initial net displacement (MT), Final net displacement (MT), Cargo by draft survey (MT) (final − initial) |
| Draft (bill of exchange) | Drawee (42A), Tenor (42C) |
| Analysis Results | One row per parameter: Parameter, Basis, Result, Unit, Standard |
| File | File (the scan or PDF), Text Read from the File, Remarks |
Write what the document actually shows, not what it should show: the checks compare these values. Fill from a document on the form reads the attached PDF, scan or photo into the fields for you to confirm.
Example: the purchase leg's certificate of sampling and analysis, number COA-JO-0101-PUR, issued by the purchase leg's surveyor, with results VM 38.1%, FC 34.1%, GCV (ARB) 4,036 kcal/kg, HGI 50, size 0-50 mm 90.29%, AFT-IDT 1,170 °C, not showing the consignee or the notify party.
3. The document workflow
| Step | Action | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Received | Check | Documentation Executive |
| Checked | Approve (not the requester) / Reject | Trade Finance Executive, Trade Finance Manager |
| Approved or Rejected | Supersede | Documentation Executive (and Trade Finance Executive from Approved) |
4. Versions
A corrected document is a new record, never an edit of the approved one:
- Open the document (or copy it) and save a new Trade Document of the same trade, leg, type and number (a suffix such as /V2 is fine).
- Its Version is set to the next number (2, 3…).
- On save, every earlier version is Superseded, with a comment Superseded by version 2 (…); its approval no longer stands. The new version is checked and approved on its own.
- Superseded versions are ignored by the document checks.
Example: the sale leg's certificate of origin was presented as a photocopy (a 47A discrepancy). The surveyor issues the original; recorded as version 2, it supersedes version 1, and the next check finds no discrepancy.
5. Documents the app creates
| Document | Created by |
|---|---|
| Debit Note (laytime) | Laytime Calculation › Actions › Raise the debit / credit note |
| Our Commercial Invoice and Beneficiary's Certificate | Document Instruction › Actions › Prepare our invoice and certificate |
| Draft (Bill of Exchange) | Document Instruction › Actions › Draw the bill of exchange |
6. Printing
Print › Trade Document prints any document with its data: an invoice with its line build-up and amount in words, a beneficiary's certificate with its statement, a bill of exchange with its tenor and drawee, a laytime debit note with its calculation.