Accounts Receivable Documents

Given below are the documents generated during the I2C Process:

Purchase Order

A purchase order (PO) is a commercial document and first official offer issued by a buyer to a seller, indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the seller will provide to the buyer. Sending a purchase order to a supplier constitutes a legal offer to buy products or services. Acceptance of a purchase order by a seller usually forms a contract between the buyer and seller, so no contract exists until the purchase order is accepted. It is used to control the purchasing of products and services from external suppliers. Creating a purchase order is typically the first step of the Purchase to pay process in an ERP system. In case of order to cash or accounts receivable process, a purchase order is received from the customer that triggers the entire invoice to cash process.

Customer Invoice

An invoice or bill is a commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer, indicating the products, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services the seller has provided the buyer. An invoice indicates the sale transaction only. Payment terms are independent of the invoice and are negotiated by the buyer and the seller. Payment terms are usually included on the invoice. From the point of view of a seller, an invoice is a sales invoice.

Performance Bank Guarantee

The seller issues a Performance Guarantee to ensure or give concrete commitment to the buyer through its bank. This method ensures the buyer the timely execution of an agreement to have the goods exported or delivered or services performed. In case the seller defaults on execution of the terms agreed upon, the Performance Bank Guarantee ensures the buyer the payment of the guarantee amount by the issuing bank. In case of large projects, buyers generally demand from seller to provide a performance guarantee to ensure that the conditions of their purchase order will be fulfilled.

Packing List

In Exports/Imports Packing list is also a commercial document. Packing list shows how the material was packed. It is an itemized list of articles usually included in each shipping package, giving the quantity, description, and weight of the contents. Prepared by the shipper and sent to the consignee for accurate tallying of the delivered goods.  A shipping list, packing list, waybill, packing slip (also known as a bill of parcel, unpacking note, packaging slip, (delivery) docket, delivery list, manifest or customer receipt), is a shipping document that accompanies delivery packages, usually inside an attached shipping pouch or inside the package itself. It commonly includes an itemized detail of the package contents and does not include customer pricing. It serves to inform all parties, including transport agencies, government authorities, and customers, about the contents of the package. It helps them deal with the package accordingly.

Certificate of Origin

A Certificate of Origin (often abbreviated to C/O or COO) is a document used in international trade. It is a printed form, completed by the exporter or its agent and certified by an issuing body, attesting that the goods in a particular export shipment have been wholly produced, manufactured or processed in a particular country. The “origin” does not refer to the country where the goods were shipped from but to the country where they were made. The certificate of origin must be signed by the exporter, and, for many countries, also validated by a Chamber of Commerce, and in the case of certain destination countries by a consulate. Chambers of Commerce offer certificate of origin services, amongst other organizations. Companies may consult the Chamber Directory on the World Chambers Network, the official global portal of Chambers of Commerce dedicated to electronic international trade, to find their nearest chamber who may offer this service.

Certificate of Quality and Quantity / Pre Shipment Inspection

Pre-shipment inspection, also called pre-shipment inspection or PSI, is a part of supply chain management and an important and reliable quality control method for checking goods' quality while clients buy from the suppliers. After ordering a number of articles, the buyer lets a third party control the ordered goods before they are dispatched to him. Normally an independent inspection company is assigned with the task of the PSI, as it is in the interest of the buyer that somebody not connected with the deal in any way verifies the amount and quality. This way the buyer makes sure, he gets the goods he paid for. The process involves, checking the total amount of goods and packing, controlling the quality and/or consistency of goods, checking of all documentation, including test reports, packaging list, and verifying compliance with the standards of the destination country (e.g. ASME or CE mark). After the inspection, a certificate of quality and quantity is issued.

Certificate of Insurance

Certificate of insurance is a document issued by an insurance company. It certifies that an insurance policy has been bought, and shows an abstract of the most important provisions of the insurance contract. In marine insurance (where cargo is insured against a floating insurance policy), COI serves to assure the consignee that insurance is in effect for the goods in transit and a proper policy will follow. This is also called insurance certificate. This might be required from the buyer before the shipping of the goods take place.

Airway Bill

Air Waybill (AWB) or air consignment note refers to a receipt issued by an international airline for goods and an evidence of the contract of carriage. There are several purposes that can be served by an airway bill, but its main functions are Contract of Carriage; Evidence of Receipt of Goods; Freight Bill; Certificate of Insurance and aids Customs Declaration. International air waybills that contain consolidated cargo are called master air waybills (MAWB). MAWBs have additional papers called house air waybills (HAWB). Each HAWB contains information of each individual shipment (consignee, contents, etc.) within the consolidation. International AWBs that are not consolidated (only one shipment in one bill) are called simple AWBs. A house air waybill can also be created by a freight forwarder. When the shipment is booked, the airline issues a MAWB to the forwarder, who in turn issues his or her own house air waybill to the customer.

Bill of Lading

A bill of lading (sometimes abbreviated as B/L or BOL) is a document used in the transport of goods. It serves several purposes in domestic and international trade. A bill of lading is generated by a shipper, details a shipment of merchandise, gives title to the goods, and requires the carrier to deliver the merchandise to the appropriate party. Because the bill of lading represents title to the goods detailed upon it, it can be traded in much the same way as the goods may be, and even borrowed upon if desired. This is a very important and common document used in export and import trade globally and for letter of credit and Documentary Collection transactions, it is important to retain title to the goods until the transaction is complete. This means that the bill of lading remains a vital part of international trade.

Proof of Delivery

Proof of delivery is a method to establish the fact that the recipient received the contents sent by the sender. Proof of delivery becomes very important when legal and financial documents are to be exchanged between two parties. In the United States, DHL, UPS and FedEx as well as the US postal service (USPS) provide proof of delivery. Commercial fleet operators also need to be able to confirm proof of delivery of goods to their customers. Proof of delivery is generally used when different courier services are used to deliver the product to the customer.

Lorry Receipt /Truck Receipt

When a person deposits the goods with any transporter for the purpose of transport to a given destination, the transporter issues a lorry receipt (LR) or consignment note to the person depositing the goods. The original LR/consignment note is sent either by the person booking the goods to the consignee directly or through bank. The consignee can collect the goods from the transporter by presenting the LR/consignment note.  As per trade parlance, the ‘lorry receipt’ or ‘consignment note’ is a ‘document of title’ and ownership of goods passes by delivery of the LR/consignment note.

Installation Report

Installation report is used to report the successful installation of any equipment, machinery or project at customer site. This report details the installation, training and support details of that particular machine/product. This reports generally contains information like machine/product details, serial number, date of installation, customer name etc. The report is primarily for the benefit of the person ordering the work and of persons subsequently involved in additional or remedial work, or further inspections.

Warranty Certificate

In contract law, a warranty has various meanings but generally means a guarantee or promise, which provides assurance by one party to the other party that facts or conditions are true or will happen. This factual guarantee may be enforced and it allows for a legal remedy if that promise is not true or followed.  Warranties provided in the sale of goods (tangible products) vary according to jurisdiction, but commonly new goods are sold with implied warranty that the goods are as advertised. In the United States, various laws apply, including provisions in the Uniform Commercial Code, which provide for implied warranties. A certificate specifying the implied warranty is known as Warranty Certificate.