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CASS Reconciliation

CASS reconciliation that writes out the airline's working and yours for each air waybill, so finance disputes only what the quote, the weight and the notices support.

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See one airline billing line corrected screen by screen ↓
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The problem

Billed at the general rate, on a pallet height our packing list never held

Each half-month an airline bills hundreds of air waybills through CASS, and any line can differ from what was agreed in three places: the rate, the chargeable weight and the surcharges. The spot quote sits in an email, the dimensions on a shipper's packing list, the airline's own measurement in an acceptance record finance never sees.

Matching by hand is slow, so differences surface late or not at all. A correction raised without its quote attached comes back rejected, and one raised after the remittance date becomes a claim. When the airline turns out to be right on weight, nobody tells sales the client was invoiced on the lighter figure.

Built forAir freight finance analystsFinance directorsAir pricing managersAir export operations leads

The Problem Today

Airlines bill air forwarders through CASS each half-month, while the proof behind each rate and weight sits in other systems.

$50B+
collected each year through CASS, as IATA states it published
20,000+
industry participants CASS serves, in 90+ countries published

Matched line by line at period end

  • Spot quote
  • Dimensions
  • Fuel notice
  • Client bill
  • Corrections sent without proofWithout the quote attached, the airline rejects them
  • Shippers invoiced on the lighter weightWhen the airline's scan is right, sales is not told

The Solution

  1. Both workings on one sheetRate, weight and surcharges written out, each input cited
  2. The airline's case made firstA challenger argues revenue accounting's side and finds weak points
  3. Missing facts asked in fieldsThe airline sends its measured dimensions, record and scan image
  4. Raised, then countersignedLarge corrections wait for the finance director's signature

Built-in controls

  • Requests reach an airline only when a person sends them
  • A countersigner opens the quote and the scan first
  • An airline's note is read by finance, not used in a sum

What You Get

Finance pays what was agreed, answers each airline with the documents attached, and warns sales when a shipper was undercharged.

  • Undercharged shippers caughtA rebill note to sales whenever the decided weight differs
  • Earlier rulings beside each callEarlier calls on the same airline shown before a new one
  • An evidence file per waybillWorking, sources, challenger points and signatures together
Features

CASS reconciliation features, from the daily billing view to a countersign

Air freight finance works the airline's billing with them, pricing and operations answer what only they know, and the finance director countersigns. The screens follow one Atlanta to Frankfurt air waybill billed at the general rate.

demoAirlines, forwarder, shipper, staff, air waybills and amounts shown here are invented sample data; billing period and remittance dates are sample values too.

  1. 01Billing period

    Air waybill reconciliation for the whole CASS billing period, overnight

    • Each billing line matched to booking and agreed rate. Spot quote, contract rate or weight-break rate is found through the booking, so analysts open only the exceptions.
    • Small differences accepted under a set tolerance. Lines inside the tolerance are logged as accepted with the rule cited, so analysts work only the differences worth raising.
    • Work-by dates and owners per exception. Each exception carries a work-by date and a named owner, so the queue is worked ahead of the remittance date.
  2. 02Working sheet

    Airline billing line and our own working side by side, every input cited

    • Volume weight written out, divisor shown. Pieces, length, width and height are multiplied in plain sight, so the analyst sees which figure drives the chargeable weight.
    • Rate, fuel and security priced line by line. Each surcharge is checked against the notice in force on the flight date, per kilogram of chargeable weight.
    • Each agent named on the line it worked. Step, confidence and hand-off sit beside each line, so a reviewer knows who produced which number.
  3. 03Airline request

    Acceptance record requested from the airline in fixed fields

    • Six facts asked, each with its reason. Revenue accounting sees what is needed and why, and its answer lands field by field on the working sheet.
    • Facts only, no dispute in the wording. The airline is asked for its evidence before anyone tells it the bill is wrong.
    • Sent under the analyst's own name. Agents draft; the analyst presses send, and the run waits for the answer.
  4. 04Airline's record

    Chargeable weight reworked from the airline's acceptance scan

    • Measured dimensions read from the answer's fields. Whatever height the airline sends is what the weight checker uses, so the sheet follows the airline's own record.
    • Packing list or airline scan, previewed. Toggling between the two shows what each would mean for the correction before anyone decides.
    • Remarks outside the fields go to the analyst. Anything the airline writes outside its fields reaches the analyst word for word and changes no figure on the sheet.
  5. 05What-if

    Dispute both, dispute the rate or accept as billed, priced before deciding

    • Three paths with the expected credit. Finance sees what each path is likely to recover when one weak part can sink a whole correction.
    • Client billing beside each path. What the shipper was invoiced is shown next to each option, so a rebill question is not forgotten.
    • Rejection chances set by the analyst. The odds are labeled assumptions, never findings, and the fixed inputs link to their documents.
  6. 06Decision

    Analyst decides the weight with past rulings on the same airline in view

    • Only paths the evidence still supports. The dialog says which option survives the challenger and which one the airline's record contradicts.
    • Earlier rulings linked at the moment of choice. How the finance director ruled on the same kind of scan before is one click away, so decisions stay consistent.
    • Note marked read before raising. No correction can be raised until the analyst has read what the airline wrote outside its fields.
  7. 07Correction raised

    Online correction drafted from the decision, and the client billing gap found

    • Correction written from the decided working. The spot quote and the booking go with it, so each correction reaches the airline with its source attached.
    • Client invoice compared with the decided weight. Kilograms the shipper was not billed for are priced at its own rate and sent to sales as a note.
    • Period ledger updated as it lands. Corrections asked and their running total move at once, so the period's position is current all day.
  8. 08Countersign

    Large corrections countersigned only after the quote and the scan are opened

    • Approval locked until quote and scan are opened. A countersignature means the director read the evidence, and the dialog records which documents were opened.
    • Agree and send-back codes together. Sending back clears the preparer's signature and returns the line with a reason.
    • Submitted to the airline only after both signatures. Nobody approves their own correction, and a large one reaches the airline only after the second signature.

Four people between an airline's CASS invoice and the forwarder's payment

Finance owns the decision; pricing and operations own the facts behind it.

Air freight finance analysts

Work each airline's billing, decide every difference and raise corrections

  • Only the exceptions, each with both workings
  • Weak corrections dropped before an airline sees them
  • Airline facts in fields, not email threads
Finance directors

Countersign large corrections, approve rules and settings, and close periods

  • Quote and scan opened before signing
  • No learned rule acts before the director signs
  • A period close with credits counted apart
Air pricing managers

Hold spot quotes, contract rates and surcharge notices, and answer rate questions

  • Questions only pricing can answer, in one list
  • Each quote's lane, validity and weight limit
  • Notices with the flights they cover
Air export operations leads

Build and measure pallets at the dock and answer dimension questions

  • Dimension questions tied to the air waybill
  • Pallet bases settled before a dispute
  • Answers that close the case in fields
More screens

Billing files, the airline's side, pricing questions and the rebill note

More of what finance, pricing and sales open around one billing period.

Each airline's file countedOne airline's file holds 176 records where its trailer says 177, so nothing from it is matched until the missing record is found.
Revenue accounting's side, period wideOf 27 corrections read from the airline's side, 23 survived and 4 were dropped, each with what the airline would have said.
Questions for pricingTwo lines wait on the pricing manager: a quote whose flight moved and a delayed departure straddling two fuel notices.
Rebill note for salesSales sees what the shipper was invoiced, the decided weight and the gap, then asks finance to rebill or recommends none.
Rules from rulingsA rule proposed from today's decision waits for operations' answer or the director's explicit acceptance; rules in force show how often each was used.
Two periods, side by sideThis period's corrections asked and credited so far, and last period ready to close with 16 credits, 2 rejections and 1 still open.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Seven agents check airline billing, and two people sign each large correction

Each works a part of the air waybill and hands it on by name.

Billing reader

Reads each airline's daily view and period file and checks record counts against the trailer.

  • Changes no billed amount
Rate matcher

Finds the agreed rate through the booking and checks the quote's dates, lane and weight limit.

  • Applies no quote outside its dates, lane or limit
Weight checker

Works volume and chargeable weight with the formula written out, and reworks it when the airline's record arrives.

  • Guesses no dimension the documents leave out
Airline's revenue accounting

Argues the airline's side of each line before a correction goes out, including against the agents' own working.

  • Calls nobody wrong or dishonest
Airline query

Drafts structured requests and reads back the answer's fields and files.

  • Sends only when the analyst does
  • Keeps notes out of the case
Correction drafter

Writes the online correction from the decided working with its sources, and submits it after the signatures.

  • Submits nothing large without the finance director
Client billing checker

Compares the client invoice with the decided weight and writes a note to sales.

  • Rebills no client

Payment, rebilling and anything said about an airline stay with finance

Which part of a bill to fightThe analyst chooses between disputing the weight, the rate or nothing, with the challenger's points and past rulings in view.
Large correctionsAbove the threshold the finance director reviews the working, the quote and the scan, and signs as second person.
Whether to rebill a shipperSales decides from the client's agreement, and the finance director approves; no agent weighs in on a rebill.
Carrier relationships and legal stepsAsked about blocking an airline or pursuing a claim, the assistant names who decides instead of answering.
Rules and settingsTolerance, thresholds and learned rules change only after the finance director approves the change.

What air forwarders ask about CASS reconciliation

What is CASS reconciliation?

CASS reconciliation is checking each air waybill an airline bills through IATA's cargo accounts settlement system against what was agreed: the rate, the chargeable weight and the surcharges. Here agents work out both sides for each line, and finance decides which differences become online corrections before the remittance date.

How does IATA CASS billing work for a forwarder?

Airlines upload their billing to CASS, the forwarder sees it in a daily view and a period report, and pays through CASS on the remittance date. Differences are raised as online corrections, and the airline accepts or rejects them through the same channel.

What is a cargo charges correction advice?

It is the document an airline issues when it accepts a correction to an air waybill's charges, so the forwarder is credited. Here each correction is tracked from asked to accepted or rejected, and credits are counted apart from amounts asked.

Does it work out chargeable weight the way the airline does?

Yes. Volume weight is pieces times length, width and height divided by the airline's divisor, and the greater of actual and volume weight is charged. The divisor is held per airline in settings, and the sheet shows the sum.

What happens when the airline's acceptance scan is right?

The analyst accepts the airline's weight and disputes only what the documents still support, often the rate. The client invoice is then checked against the decided weight, and sales gets a note if the shipper was billed short.

Can an agent submit a correction or rebill a client?

No. The analyst raises each correction under their own name and the finance director countersigns large ones before it is submitted. Rebilling is a decision for sales and the finance director.

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