THE REGISTER

Notes from the match desk.

Practical writing for the payable side of forwarding — the three-way match without a PO, D&D disputes that actually win, the cost that arrives after your invoice went out, agent SOA settlement. FMC and Ardent Partners data cited; buzzwords omitted.

THREE-WAY MATCH·5 MIN READ

How does three-way matching work when forwarding has no purchase order?

The textbook match is invoice against PO against goods receipt — and forwarding issues no PO. What stands in for each leg, what the forwarder version catches, and why the match is worth running on every line before money leaves.

D&D DISPUTES·6 MIN READ

How do you dispute a demurrage or detention invoice — and win?

Nine carriers billed ~$15.4B in D&D over five years, and roughly 22% of billed D&D was never collected — disputing works. The evidence that wins, the FMC choreography that still applies, and what a federal court set aside in December 2025.

AP→AR LEAK·5 MIN READ

The cost that arrives after your invoice went out

Your customer was invoiced Tuesday; the carrier's amendment fee arrived Thursday; nobody re-billed it. The AP-to-AR leak named and explained — why it hides between two teams, and why on ~3–4% net margins it is not a rounding error.

AGENT SOA·6 MIN READ

What is an agent SOA — and why is settling it so painful?

Statements, not invoices; netting, not payment; currencies, plural. What an overseas agent's statement of account actually contains, why the industry built protection programs around settling them, and what a clean netted settlement looks like.