This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Check GOV.UK or ask an accountant about your own situation.
A freight forwarder sells a service but spends heavily on carriers, handling and duties on behalf of customers. Margins are thin and invoices cross borders, so your books need to be exact.
What to look for
- Multicurrency. Carriers and customers bill in dollars, euros and pounds. You need invoices and bills in each currency, daily rates and a way to revalue open balances. See foreign currency gains and losses.
- Job profitability. Each shipment has income and costs. Tag both to the job so you can see margin per shipment, per customer or per lane.
- Pass-through costs. Duty and freight you pay for a customer should be recorded so they are not mistaken for your own income or expense. Ask your accountant how to treat disbursements.
- VAT on international services. Place-of-supply rules decide whether UK VAT applies. Make sure you can set different tax rates and run VAT reports.
- Ageing and credit control. Large invoices and long payment terms make cash flow the main risk. See how to read an aged receivables report.
How AvrioBooks fits
Multicurrency, segments and VAT returns with Making Tax Digital are on the Standard plan and above. Use a segment per shipment, customer or trade lane and run profit and loss by segment. See multicurrency accounting software.
What AvrioBooks does not do: it is accounting software, not a payroll, time-tracking or job-scheduling system, and it has no automatic bank feeds (it imports CSV, OFX, QFX and QIF statements). Use specialist tools for those jobs and bring the figures into your books.
Frequently asked questions
Can I invoice in several currencies?
Yes, on the Standard plan and above, with daily exchange rates and revaluation of open balances.
Can I see profit per shipment?
Yes. Tag income and costs with a segment per shipment or customer and report by segment on Standard and above.
Does AvrioBooks manage shipments or customs?
No. It is accounting software, so keep shipments in your operations system and record the money in AvrioBooks.
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