# bmsWebTreePages

bmsPageTreeText:
12-APR-2003 Sat 13:00 JNB DJM


Subject - Does the system support publishing data to the website?



Yes. Bishopsgate recommend that their users have a website, even if it is a hosted website initially. If the customer is concerned about or incapable of building the website, this is something that Bishopsgate can construct for a modest charge. Part of the website can be configured in line with Bishopsgate's standards so that the user's Boffin/Open installation can publish data to the website, making this available to the user's ebusiness partners. All of the user's data that comprises the Boffin/Open Oracle database is 'available' for automatic, realtime extraction and publishing to the website, without any involvement by the user's staff. As of to-day's date, customer statements, shipment tracking and tracing shipment lists are available. Over the next couple of months the Boffin/Open application will be capable of publsihing many more data elements and reports. A Thought, imagine publishing export groupage manifests (etc) to the website and letting the destination agent/partners download what they want, at their convenience.


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13-APR-2003 Sun 11:00 JNB DJM


Subject - Can the application be supplied in any other language?



Yes. All new application software is initially written with English language screen texts. All existing application programs and all new programs that become available are upgraded in a standard manner, so that they can be made to run with 'screen languages' other than English. Where the user is the first to require Boffin/Open in a new language, Bishopsgate supply the software and extracted English screen texts and the user is responsible for the transalations. The transalations are added to the Boffin/Open database and are then available for use in the application programs. Each Boffin/Open user logon is able to be annotated with the preferred screen language and this preference may be changed within a logon session; so as to make it possible to run one client Window in one language and another in another language, both working freely with the same operational and accounting data etc. Notice that a multi-language installation still only requirtes a single Boffin/Open runtime program library; not one for each supported language. In terms of the reports; these are run using HP PCL5e printer macros; within which the static text of the report is stored. These printer macros are delivered to each site as part of the initial setup and then are under the control of the user. The text within these printer macros can be edited from the default English to whatever the user desires. Users should expect an new translations to involve a competant (freight enabled) translator to effect the transaltions within perhaps 6 working days.


bmsPageTreeText:
13-APR-2003 Sun 12:00 JNB DJM


Subject - Does Boffin/Open stop any Oracle facility being used?



No, as far as Bishopsgate are aware, none of the programming contained within the Boffin/Open application would in any way inhibit the adoption and/or use of any feature of the Oracle RDBMS and associated software tools and accessories. Although it is never totally true, Bishopsgate do think that keeping such a large system 'simple and make it work' is a good maxim, which in turn, keeps the application away from the more complex Oracle features where there might be a conflict.


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13-APR-2003 Sun 12:05 JNB DJM


Subject - Are all of Oracles features available in a Boffin/Open installation?



Yes, as far as Bishopsgate are aware and from the technical perspective all Oracle features are available to be used within a Boffin/Open application site. The normal Oracle content of a Boffin/Open installation is that Bishopsgate only include those Oracle software elements that are required to make the Boffin/Open installation perform fully, leaving the user free to obtain and install other Oracle features as he sees fit, either obtaining these through Bishopsgate, another Oracle partner or Oracle directly.


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Future software - near term



The introduction of broadband-telephony makes it possible to include some exciting developments to the already extensive Boffin/Open application. It is worth highlighting that the standing monthly payment for broadband communications includes a practically unlimited facility for uploading information from the Oracle Database to the website without extra charges. The telephone link from the user's server to the website is permanently open and costs no more than the fixed monthly rental to use continuously. Not only does this facility offer a link to the website but to all other suitable configured machines in the world.


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South African Customs CCA1, Export Declarations



For several years Boffin/Open has been used to prepare South African Customs CCA1 Export Declarations in printed format. From the last quarter of 2003, the South African customs are promoting an extension to their CCA1 processing where freight forwarders and/or transport companies will be able to transmit EDIFACT CUSDEC Electronic Declarations to customs ahead of the printed Manifest arriving at the border crossing point with the truck and the cargo. South African Customs expect this new modern facility to dramatically reduce the time taken to clear groupage traffic through the border. Bishopsgate expect to have this facility running in beta test mode before the end of 2003.


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COMESA compliance in customs software



Boffin/Open includes a very large suite of software designed to provide customs and excise with the computer processing facilities they need to fulfill their obligations. In East Africa the customs and excise departments of 20 governments have grouped together under the COMESA banner and are discussing changes and additions to their procedures to make each participating department more efficient and better equipped to do their work. In November 2003 COMESA participants expect to receive the first set of agreed changes to their systems, many of which will effect their computer systems. Bishopsgate has agreed that it will program these changes and additions free of cost in order to maintain the "COMESA compliance" that they have promised. It is not possible at this time to provide a deadline for these new computer facilities until the extent of the changes is part published.



(Africa's first free trade zone - Angola, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Visit COMESA's website for more information.)


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.93.03




Initial hardware and applications software delivery

Boffin/Open core system

Boffin/Open multi-currency accounts receivable

Boffin/Open multi-currenct accounts payable

Boffin/Open open-item general ledger

Boffin/Open accrual and closed cost file accounting system

Boffin/Open open-item job costing suite

Boffin/Open airfreight exports including consolidations

Boffin/Open airfreight imports including Breakbulk

Boffin/Open surface exports including groupages

Boffin/Open sales and marketing reporting

Boffin/Open profit-by suite

Boffin/Open Sco-Unix remote site access

WordPerfect for Unix on the system server

United Kingdom customs tariff support


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Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.93.04




Worldwide multizip postcode directory

Boffin/Open MultiDist - Postcode/Postcode distance tables

Five digit unified German postcode directory

Marketing company for each live company

Surface export SuperRates

Surface import SuperRates

Surface export shipment CMR

Surface export groupage CMR

EEC Proof of Export

Non-EEC Proof of Export

International surface import support for shipment CMR

Collection notes available from surface export pre-bookings

Support for German postcode/postcode distances

Utility postcode/postcode distance calculator


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.94.01




Expanded surface import SuperRates live

Expanded surface export SuperRates live

German national distribution system live

Reallocation cost centre support in open-item general ledger

P&L per cost centre available in management month-end

General ledger sales invoicing

Modified surface import advices of arrival

Deep-sea import vessel report released

Deap-sea import Related-account vessel report released


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.94.02




Deep-sea imports support for voyage Exchange rates

Re-design of the German national distribution statistics

Lead installation increases to 4 disk drives & 3 Gigabytes

Dynamic (by logon) multi language menus available

German language support for entire system, initial release

Direct air export and air export consolidations live at LHR

Matrix printing of Master & House Air Waybills available


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Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.94.03




Deep-sea imports for Voyage Exchange rates

Electronic transmission of Surface Import bookings, live

Initial release of Surface Export Standard Shipping Note

Availability of Surface Export Standard Shipping Notes

Availability of Surface Import Standard Shipping Notes

EDI receipt of surface import bookings, Electronic Advices

Cleaner control of Customer-copy invoices

Initial release of EDI automatic advice of arrival

German screen language runtime, initial release


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.94.04




Initial BMS 10 Megabit Ethernet connecting PCS to Server

Introduction of Intel 80586 Pentium 100 MHZ option

Bishopsgate testing Boffin/Open on Pentium based system

Boffin/Open available under single and/or twin Pentium(s)

M+F Spedition upgrade DX2 66 MHZ to Pentium 100 MHZ


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Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.95.01




Initial new release for 1995

Phase III of surface import cargo booking EDI Messaging

Introduction of upgraded (AACRCLST) Trading accrual auditing

Introduction of upgraded (AACRSUP) Trading accrual auditing

Introduction random, real-time trading accruals write-offs

Introduction of real-time trading accruals write-off

Boffin/Open tested under IBM OS/2 Warp operating system

Boffin/AS testing under IBM AS/400 Client/Server system

Contract with CSS-UK for Global Network Services (GNS)

Testing of new United Kingdom ERTS software option

Openfile high-speed General Ledger key for Pentium systems

Testing of Airline EDI link application(s)

Expansion of Unix/TCP-IP connnectivity beyond 5 addresses

Belleville UK install second installation in London City


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.95.02




Transworld Cargo Johannesburg install Boffin/Open

South African postcodes added to worldwide Multizip

South African, Botswana, Swaziland & Namibian Customs Tariff

1st parallel Pentium 80586 100 MHZ Boffin/Open installation

1st parallel (dual) processor Sco-Unix MPX Oracle installation

1st live system based mainly on matrix printers

Bishopsgate become worldwide Oracle VAR in freight systems

United Kingdom Import SAD available

Financial year-end trading accruals audit software available

South African Inland Distribution system available

South African CCA1 export customs entry available

South African import customs entry available

Namibian (NAMSAD) import customs entry available

Botswana import CCA1 customs entry available

Swaziland import CCA1 customs entry available


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.95.03




Transworld Cargo JNB, first Sco-Unix MPX installation

Lesotho Customs tariff available

Mozambique customs tariff

Namibian NAMSAD support

JetForm adoption for open laser printer and outgoing facsimile support

Introduction of Unix/Unix cu/cu telecommunications

1st parallel Pentium 80586 133 MHZ Boffin/Open, Europa Express


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Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.95.04




First live system based only on matrix printers

Boffin/VS interface with Fred Olsen shipping line

ASG (Norge) A.S. link in Stavanger agent to Inland Network

Welcome to Transworld Cargo Cross-border (Pty) Ltd in Johannesburg

Welcome to Belleville Air Limited at London Heathrow

European door-door auto-pricing additions for Europa pilot scheme

Bishopsgate start migration of Boffin/Open to Oracle 7


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Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.96.01




Bishopsgate testing (4x Pentium) motherboard, parallel processing

Bishopsgate testing RSA export customs entries in addition to CCA1

Expansion of postcode directory, 16 European countries

Boffin/Open Sales lead processing option under test


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Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.96.02




Boffin/Open testing under Microsoft NT V 4.0 & Oracle V 7.3

1st live installation Microsoft NT 4 / Oracle7 / Boffin/Open

Welcome to Walford Meadows, Harare

First live installation Boffin/Open Client/Server under Oracle 7

Initial release of Boffin/Open sales-lead tracking system

1st release Microsoft NT/Oracle7/Boffin-Open on Laptop computer

1st Boffin/Open installation with Internet connection and email


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Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.97.01




Increase in magnitude of financial postings to 9,999,999,999,999,999.99-

Issuance of new amended Boffin/Open software over the internet

Sco-Unix/Oracle 6.2 to MicrosoftNT/Oracle 7.3, in situ delivered


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.97.03




Support for HP PCL5e and PCL6 printer programming

Bank statement: Cashbook reconciliation live

Sco-Unix / Oracle 7.3 direct link to e-mail using send-mail

Support for LAN networked laser printers

1st release of A4 landscape multi-month profit/loss report


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.97.04




Expansion of South African National Distribution system

Expansion of surface import and export tracking and tracing functions

Hand-held barcode readers for direct tracking input at gates for cars


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.98.01



First installation using networked HP4000TN networked printers, full-duplex printing and including user company logo image in the Boffin/Open printer macros. This development save substantial amounts of overheads as only plain A4 stationery is required. User-company Terms and conditions of trade can now be printed by Boffin/Open on the reverse side of A4 documents and the company logo can be printed on the front face.



Major development in the setup and maintenance of Boffin/Open laser printers and the printer macros and/or drivers. This development allows the Boffin/Open printers to be used for spreadsheet and/or word-processing printing without the requirement to re-load Boffin/Open printer macros after such printing. A major appendix has been added to the chapter of the manual that discusses hardware and operating system issues.


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Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.99.01




Introduction of the Port Container Control system

Full container storage invoicing

Empty container storage invoicing

Full stock reporting by various parameters

Introduction of Stevedoring operations

Labour gang maintenance and scheduling

Analysis of gang performance


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Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.99.02




Expansion of dual currency general ledger accounting

Upgrade of the accounting system for very large values (15,2)

Welcome to Speedy Overborder Services (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.99.03




Mocambique Value Added Tax Reports

Completion of Container Control reporting functions


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.99.04




Fat and Thin Client-PC support under Microsoft NT

Retrospective customer/supplier statements introduced


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 06.99.05




Introduction of Port container control operations

Full duplex printing available on potentially large A4 Landscape reports


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2000.01




Monthly re-valuation of outstanding foreign currency transactions

Y2K transition completed and live on time

Introduction of new grey-scale screen design/colour standards

Largest Microsoft NT V4.0 site exceeds 50 fat-client-PCs


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2000.05




Introduction of Oracle 8i running under Microsoft NT V4.0

Examination of Microsoft Windows 2000 Server with Oracle 8i

Major increase in detail for Value Added Tax Control in General Ledger


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2000.06




Introduction of Personal accounts monthly currency re-valuations

Completion of the Grey-screen upgrade throughout Boffin/Open

Testing of Oracle 8i, in general terms

Conversion of all Boffin/Open programs to new Oracle 8i standards

Testing Oracle 8i, Remote Thin Client-PC access to the application


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2001.01




Availability of Boffin/Open 8i to existing customer sites

Bank reconciliation upgrade completed, includes nominal journals

Upgrade to all reports and displays, very large numbers capability

All money values now shown with commas for clarity

Asset Register application live

Cascading tracking feature available in Surface Imports

Cascading tracking feature available in Surface Exports

Cascading tracking feature available in Direct Air Exports

Cascading tracking feature available in Direct Air Imports

Cascading tracking feature available in Breakbulk Air Imports

Cascading tracking feature available in South African Inland System


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2001.02




Automatic general ledger year-end journal program (NOPENGTB)

Welcome to Danzas/AEI Harare, Zimbabwe

Surface exports, Proof-of-Delivery monitor live

First Surface Export system running exclusively on SuperRates

Speedy, first customer with HP PCL5e Logo embedded A4 portrait forms

Oracle 7.3 based systems, automated midnight backup live


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2001.03




Surface export Proof-of-Delivery monitor live in South Africa/Swaziland

Asset Register suite available, integrates directly with General Ledger

Variable Weight/Cube freight ratios available in SuperRates

Surface export Proof-of-Delivery software tuned for speed

Development of Surface Export manifest header information

Welcome to Phoenix Freight Intl. - Paris, Boffin/Open 8 in French!

Welcome to Phoenix Freight Intl. - London, Boffin/Open 8


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2001.04




Expansion of exports Goods Receipt Number (GRN) as search reference

Exchange rate expansion from 4 to 8 decimal places for Euro(€) support

Inclusion of a 'data-migration' chapter from Boffin/VS to Boffin/Open

Introduction of separate VAT accounting month for French installations

Start of testing of Boffin/Open for Oracle 9i with Portals support

Surface imports, groupage unit building direct from cargo booking


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2001.05




Surface import AMETA profit share control function implemented

Surface export AMETA profit share control function implemented

Surface imports process flow revised to make one process throughout

Surface import master booking process reduced booking fields

Surface import detail booking of Loading Metres refined

Surface export detail booking of Loading Metres refined

Surface export statistics upgraded


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2001.06




PSDATA control suite introduced, to control customer runtime contents

Surface import bordereau report introduced to support 'invoice back'

Initial version of surface imp/exp AMETA profit sharing introduced

The Wang VS based Boffin/VS migration tool updated to current release

The Boffin/Open Oracle 7.3 migration import sqlldr control files built

The Bishopsgate CASE PSSUITE, PSDATA, PSFUNCTN introduced

French language introduction for application screens (SPLANG)

Welcome to Phoenix International Freight Ltd in London, England

Welcome to Phoenix Freight in Paris migrating from Boffin/VS

Introduction of outgoing facsimile from within Boffin/Open

Introduction of outgoing e-mail from within Boffin/Open

Auto-migration from Boffin/VS Wang VS computers to Boffin/Open

Ability to extract Oracle Database logical records to Excel spreadsheets


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2001.07




Boffin/Open Multiple-Language option available

First live installation in France with French language option selected

Sales invoicing style 3, twin financial columns, taxable and non-taxable

Automatic e-mail transmissions of surface export manifests

Surface import Delivery Note self-adhesive label printing

New multi-part set printing of combined collection and delivery notes

Remote FAT-Clients supported on Virtual Private Networks (VPN)

Remote FAT-Clients supported on VPN using satellite link

HP4000TN printers supported with French character set support

Microsoft Windows XP Client supported

Conversion of a local general ledger currenct to another currency

First FAT-Clients operating over satellite link Virtual Private Network

First FAT-Clients operating over France Telcom Virtual Private Network


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2002.01




Development of Scanning and automatic archiving of bar-coded PODs

French version of the accounting daybook program (ADAYBKFR)

Introduction of the Trailer Profits job costing report (NTRITPFT)

Introduction of optional 'Value Added Tax Control by Payment date'


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2002.02




Introduction of the Boffin/Open table maintenace (PSTABLES)

Norwegian Inland door/door system updated for Language Option

German Inland door/door system updated for Language Option

South Africa Inland door/door system updated for Language Option

Air import Breakbulk system updated for Language Option

Air import direct shipments system updated for Language Option

Container Control systems updated for Language Option

Start of Boffin/Open testing with Oracle 9i for Microsoft NT

Country directory EXCHANGE updated, EU Membership identification

VAT Analysis summary reports per EU country uses EXCHANGE

VAT reporting by Payment and Accounting month

Old-year / New Year General Ledger Trading account (NLISTALM) rec.

Customer company registration numbers now part of account details

Introduction of PSEVENTS user application run log


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2002.03




Introduction of advanced worldwide sales VAT decision processing

Start on SCO Unixware and Oracle 9i development

Single user Oracle 7.3 server running under Windows XP Home edition

Archiving logically 'deleted' customer personal accounts (ANAMARCH)

Archiving logically 'deleted; supplier accounts (ANAMARCH)

Start of the electronic operational cost file development

Start of the SUSE Linex / Oracle 9i conversion

Start of the Windows NT/2000 Server Oracle 9i conversion

Last release of Boffin/Open 08.2002.03 for Oracle 7.3

Release 2 of Boffin/Open sales lead processing

Enhanced credit limit and credit status checking during cargo booking


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 08.2002.04




Final version of Boffin/Open for Oracle 7.3

Start of Boffin/Open for Oracle 9i for Windows NT/2000 upgrade

Completion of Laptop5, SUSE Linux, Oracle 9i and Speedy database

Testing of inbound ships manifests using EDIFACT protocol


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 09.2002.05




Completion of the SUSE Linux 8.0 Laptop demonstrator upgrade

Completion and delivery of Boffin/Open on Oracle 9i for Windows NT4

Completion and delivery of Boffin/Open on Oracle 9i for Windows 2000

Availability of Create new personal account in (ANAMFROM)

Introduction of standard directory 'bmswpa' Marketing Records

Availability of direct link between Boffin/Open Marketing to Wordperfect

Introduction of Language Option completes 1600 or 1803 Forms

(PSEVENTS) logging of all Form 'Initiates' and 'Exits'

Speedy Overborder Services live on Windows NT/Oracle9i/Boffin/Open

Phoenix London live on Windows2000-Server/Oracle9i/Boffin/Open

Phoenix Paris live on Windows2000-Server/Oracle9i/Boffin/Open

Support for 'intelligent communications routers' for spooled printing

(SSLCOPY) no longer required at use sites, Oracle 9i compile referencing

Totally redesigned method of archiving the printed sales invoices etc

Ability to recall copy sales invoices & credit notes from account enquiry

Introduction of colour into financial screen 'reports', credits in red etc

Introduction of Oracle pull-down menus at top of all screen images

Ability to change screed languages in mid-logon session

Ability to send some Boffin/Open reports by email, as attachments

Ability for a program to auto-send an email, without human involvement


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 09.2002.06




First stable release of Boffin/Open for Oracle 9i database, client/server

Mouse navigation being gently introduced

Pull down menu upgrade for sending emails

Ability to receive and process incoming EDIFACT Ships Manifests

New Unix based installations Print Queue Monitor installed

Copy sales invoices and credit notes can be called from Account Enquiry

Mouse navigation introduced on all menus

All application programs capable of sending automatic emails

Managing director Laptop support regularised

Screen language option upgrade completed

Event logging upgrade completed

Completion of SUSE Linux 8.0 server development completed

First 'Managing Director' Laptop delivered to Speedy, Johannesburg


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 09.2002.07




Introduction of Boffin/Open Standard and Enterprise editions

Availability of Botswana SED Customs Entries for ASYCUDA

ASYCUDA++ realtime interface for Botswana Customs and Excise

New method of producing A4 Remittance Advices with attached cheques

New method of gathering intelligence on personal accounts

New online documentation from the drop-down menus

New multi-language Help text per screen field, by mouse alignment

Ability to create EXCEL spreadsheets directly from Boffin/Open database

Testing of Oracle 9iAS Web Application Server


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 09.2002.08




Automatic and instant logoff/logon at change of accounting month

Automatic and instant logoff/logon at change of calendar date


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 09.2003.01




New year-end personal account 'finalisation' journals (AYEAREND)

First use of Oracle database trigger in the application (DTSCODQU)

Shipper's COD control suite activated in Surface Export suite

Upgraded Value Added Tax control suite and a grand reconciliation

New surface export 'Ameta Manifest' to support Ameta cost prices

New surface import 'Ameta Manifest' to support Ameta cost prices

(PSDATA) software authorisation suite per server live

Expansion of the automatic document archiving suite (ISURCODY)

First release EDIFACT - CUSDEC automatic decoding/booking software

First iteration of www.bishopstrade.com website

Completion of the screen cursor alignment variable field help facility

Surface export electronic cost file, first release

Notepad facilities attached to integrated accounting records, throughout

Java visitor registration software added to website www.bishopstrade.com

Java logon/password software added to website www.bishopstrade.com

Ability to print client screen image from Boffin/Open drop-down menu

Customer statements, copy invoices and POD 'package'

Publishing customer statements on the user's website in realtime

Ability to place tracking information on user's website, auto and realtime


bmsPageTreeText:
Major Additions and Ammendments - Edition 10.2003.01



Formal application update from Release 09 to Release 10 includes:

Online help notes for each screen variable, all programs

Online description of program by aligning screen cursor to Title-Line

Introduction of mouse navigation/selection of PF'Keys in all programs

Rationalisation of application screen sizes W78,L22

Introduction of Red for credit values and black for debit values

Removal of any old Oracle 'echo' commands

Rationalisation of commas in large value fields 9,999.00 style

Rationalisation of CONDENSE on all short-name entries

Rationalisation of Language replies Y/N = J/N in German etc

Rationalisation of drop down menus in all programs

Print screen function added to drop down menu

Rationalisation of (PSEVENTS) into all application programs

SSLCOPY sub-routines accessed using 'reference copy'

Tightened date validation throughout 01-JAN-1980 to now




Java language (only) introduction for EAA-322 Young Eagles project

Java prototype running correctly under SUSE Linux Professional 8

Java prototype running correctly under Red-Hat Linux 9

Java prototype running correctly under Microsoft Windows XP Prof.

Java prototype printing functions running correctly

Boffin/Open made available on Red-Hat Linux 9.0 Professional Enterprise

Boffin/Open made available on SUSE Linux 8 Professional

Application made to SUSE Linux for United Linux Beta Release

Expansion of the Database/Website 'close-coupling' logic

Live installation (Speedy, JNB) of the Database/Website 'close coupling'

Large upgrade and expansion of www.bishopstrade.com

Start of South African Customs EDIFACT support for CCA1 Entries

Start of testing with an Oracle database located alongside the website


bmsPageTreeText:
Recursive Program Calling



In modern applications, it is common that application programs call one another to allow fairly complex actions to be performed with having to complete and exit the first program. Recursive program calling is the name given to the situation where a program calls itself to perform a similar operation on other data than is currently being used. It could be the case that the original calling program calls several other programs before one of those calls the original 



program once more. Boffin/Open includes a great deal of recursive program calling; using the technique to make it possible for an operator to ‘drill-down’ into the data architecture for more detailed information without exiting the original application program he/she was using; all Boffin/Open application software is re-entrant. This feature makes the Boffin/Open application very rich in available searching facilities.


bmsPageTreeText:
Burrowing Down



Boffin/Open is the third iteration of the software and each time the system has been re-written, the opportunity has been taken to take advantage of all of the new techniques that have become available. This iteration is designed to run with the powerful Oracle Relational Database. The Boffin/Open data structure has been heavily normalised; any given piece of the user’s data is only stored in a single location and then made available to all qualified operators. The Boffin/Open designers have taken notice of the users likely wishes in that when any data is displayed to the user, the opportunity is also included to provide links usually to greater detail on the data that is already being displayed. This technique of digging deeper into the data architecture is now commonly known as ‘burrowing down’ or drilling down into the data.


bmsPageTreeText:
Shadow Marketing and Training Company



Boffin/Open is designed so that the user is able to support the data from a large number of user-companies; which can be any mixture of ‘sister’ and/or ‘daughter’ companies. It is possible to setup the system so that the application programs will function for each authorised user-company in the same manner. It is worth highlighting that for each authorised user-company there is a ‘shadow’ marketing company where details of potential future customers can be stored in the format in which it will be needed when the potential customer ships the first real consignment. There is also a single TRAINING company where the user-staff can use the application software without the worry of damaging the user-company’s live data. In terms of integrated accounting, the system supports sales, bought and general (nominal) ledgers; where a financial posting to any account is, by definition, a posting to the whole integrated accounting system. There is no double or multiple keying of data. Each financial posting is COMPLETELY processed at the time of initial data-entry. There is no practical limit to the number or selection of currencies that can be used simultaneously; all currency conversions are automatic, but with manual override where this is desirable. There is never a requirement for the application to be vacated for accounting month and year-ends; it is designed from the outset for continuous running. Financial data, entered into the system is heavily validated at data-entry time. All data extending is effected at data-entry time and financial detail is never lost or summarised.


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Full Management Information



Boffin/Open has a heavily normalised data structure; data is stored only in a single location and there is no multi-keying of input information. Data that cannot pass the validation checks at data-entry time, is not permitted to be stored in the database; the time to address missing information is before the data is entered. Input data is extended, where required, at data-entry time and data accepted into the database is never summarised.  This approach to the input of detail information means that the quality of data stored in the user’s Boffin/Open database is very good and it is available for any number os uses. The way in which the Boffin/Open designers have arranged to store the users data makes it possible to provide Management with a virtually unlimited number of reports that, once thoroughly tested, will all cross-cast. The Boffin/Open application contains a multitude of Management Reports which have been developed over the years in light of constructive comments from existing users; many of whom are experts in their field. Additional Management Reports can be written and developed in light of user’s requirements. The application can be thought of as providing the user with  computer resources covering the whole operation of his work, from original cargo booking through to Profit/Loss and Balance sheet product and on to extensive Full Management Information.


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Multi-Company, Integrated Currency Accounting



The design of the system includes full open-item, multi-currency, multi-company personal accounting. There is no practical limit to the number of personal accounts that can be supported simultaneously; the largest installation that Boffin has been used for, contained about 150,000 personal accounts of which about 54,000 had active balances at any one time. Personal accounts, both sales and bought ledger, can be opened at anytime the application is available; new personal accounts are immediately usable. The system includes facilities for allocating unique Short Names (nicknames) and/or sort codes to all personal accounts to facilitate alphabetic searching. When searching to determine if an outside party has an account; seeing that he does not means that a new account can be created from within the search software, immediately. There is no requirement to have list(s) of customers and suppliers and their account numbers; powerful, standardised, quick methods of ‘account lookup’ exist. Accounts can be linked together into families so that an overall balance of the family can be readily seen. The system supports Alternate Accounts, where financial postings to a given account can be immediately and automatically redirected to another account. All new personal accounts are automatically annotated with details of where, when and who they were created by. The system design includes extensive facilities to help monitor and manage partner or agents accounts.


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Introduction



The introduction of any new system to a new reader, unfortunately, requires that the reader be given an initial grounding of the basic rules and concepts under which the ensuing design is based. The object of this introduction is to provide the reader with the basic background knowledge to allow him to make sense of what follows. This introduction has been kept purposely fairly short, the story will unravel as we continue.


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Bishopsgate : Oracle relationship



Bishopsgate's original agreement with the Oracle Corporation goes back to June 1988, the time when Bishopsgate selected the Oracle RDBMS and related 4GL products as the vehicle for the proposed ‘hardware and operating system independent’ Boffin/Open. A new Agreement was consummated in May 1995, that authorises Bishopsgate to supply Oracle installations worldwide in it's Boffin applications; unless the target country is covered by a United Nations trade embargo; irrespective of whether other Oracle dealers and/or distributors exist in the target territory and irrespective of the Hardware/Operating system environment to be used. In February 2002, Bishopsgate joined the Oracle Partner Program and under this program entered into an ASFU  Distributor Agreement; under which Bishopsgate now operate.



Bishopsgate are pleased to be able to confirm that they are in a position to supply all Oracle tools and products; provided that Boffin/Open has been expanded/upgraded to incorporate and support the product(s) in question.



Bishopsgate will normally be the supplier of the Oracle runtime and/or full Development License(s) for installations which select Boffin/Open as their integrated real-time freight system. Where potential Boffin/Open customers already hold appropriate Oracle licenses, Bishopsgate will be happy to supply Boffin/Open without new Oracle licenses.


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Background to the design



Boffin is the third re-write of an original system developed since 1975 for several freight forwarders and/or customs agents in the United Kingdom. During the time when the initial version was being developed, the designers were able to gain experience and knowledge on how the industry worked, how it needed to know about its' margins and what the real value of Job Costing was, as a management tool for monitoring the overall company performance and obtaining early warning(s) of possible future problems.



All of the lessons learned in the continuing development have been included in this offering; many such developments have been made possible by the increase in power and/or storage of commercially available computers.


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Database technology



Boffin/VS (Wang based Boffin) is not a true database implementation, although it exhibits many of the attributes of such a system. At the time of initial design, hierarchical and relational databases were not readily available on the chosen hardware and the offerings which were available were not commercially stable. Both Boffin/Open and Boffin/AS are true Relational Database systems; using Oracle RDBMS and OS/400 respectively for data storage functions.



Boffin/Open and Boffin/AS have both been upgraded, so as to take advantage of the Database technology, in that the amount of data set housekeeping is very reduced, so that it almost does not exist; it is the Boffin/Open application that we discuss here.


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Normalisation and Low Redundancy of Data

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Normalisation and low redundancy of data



The structure of the system is very relational, in so much as the designers have taken the opportunity to establish and maintain a design rule that requires that any one data element is stored only once on the system and in a way which allows direct access to it by the use of a number of logical data pointers. Data stored in more than a single location will eventually get out of synchronisation, in a large, active installation it would be very difficult to retain synchronisation of data.



The user can consider the data contained within the Boffin system as a logical pyramid, or rather a pair of pyramids in which increasingly more detail becomes available as the system moves from the apex to the base of the pyramid. Boffin is quite special in the way it allows the user to jump from level to level, including practically unlimited recursive program-calling, within the pyramid structure. The two pyramid structures used in arranging the data within Boffin/Open, are shown in the Schematic diagrams at the start of this manual.


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User corporate structure



Bishopsgate wished to attempt to build the system around a theoretical user company structure, which would allow maximum flexibility in the future and provide for all future user-companies without imposing any overhead structures onto those companies. This software system was designed to be continually upgraded, without the user having to discard existing data and/or existing systems. New updates are made available to the users, they are not imposed on the users.



The reader should view the two System Structure Schematics at the front of the manual. The user's business activities cannot be shown a single simple structure, but must be described in two structures, one aligned to the Group/Company/Route/Groupage/Job view-point and one aligned to a more geographic layout, namely, Group/Division/Branch/Section/Company/Route/Job. In practice, both structures work alongside one another simultaneously (without human operator knowledge and/or intervention) and provide powerful reporting structures.


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User group



It has always been obvious to Bishopsgate that each user of the system would require specialist modifications and/or upgrades to the software and an easy way was required to be able to tune the software to accommodate a given user's idiosyncrasies; without forcing these changes and/or additions on other users.



Bishopsgate decided that each customer would be considered as a group of companies which would have an agreed, unique, non-transferable, non-reusable Group-short-name and Group-number by which it could be referred to within the application.



There is no practical limit to the number of User-groups that can be simultaneously supported; the actual limit is more than the number of all companies in the world; let alone freight companies. In short a user-Group is a Boffin customer, rarely, one customer might require the use of more than one Group-name and number.


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User companies



A User-group may be comprised of practically any number of user-companies including 'sister' and/or ‘daughter’ companies; there is no practical limit to either the total number of User-companies in one User-group or to the total number of User-companies in all User-groups.



Each User-company may require the support of a sales, purchase and general ledger or may share the sales, bought and general ledger of a ‘sister’ user-company.



Additional user-companies can be added to an installation, without any requirement for re-programming; although Bishopsgate must be consulted to obtain a unique, non-transferable, non-reusable company number from a central registry of numbers - these too are used, occasionally, to modify the way in which some of the Boffin application software performs.



Every user-group will include a software training company, whose agreed short-name will be TRAINING. All of the application software runs for the TRAINING company as with any other company and so represents a way of using the application without being able to harm anything.


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Marketing user-company



For each ‘front-line’ user-company, including the TRAINING company, there will be a ‘Marketing Company’ which will act as a shadow user-company within which details of potential customers  of the live company are recorded; in readiness for the first shipment from the new customer. Notice: by placing details of potential customers in a ‘different place’, we do not ‘clutter-up’ the accountant’s sales ledger with inactive accounts and that the details of potential customers are recorded in required technical format to allow for them to be simply and quickly copied across to the live sales ledger when they are required.



When a cargo booking clerk searches the customer master file for a customers account, he/she is actually seeing an alphabetic ‘merge’ of the live sales accounts and the applicable Marketing company potential accounts. When the cargo booking clerks selects the account for a booking, the system assesses whether the selected account is from the ‘shadow’ marketing company of not; if it is, then the account is effectively transferred to the live company, with the same unique account number and the potential account in the marketing company is physically dropped. Notice there is no change in account number and that any/all sales rates, tracking etc that had been appended to the account in the marketing company ‘go with’ the account into the new live company; actually nothing moves, the company code on the potential account is changed from that of the marketing company to that of the live company!



It is not possible to accidentally or intentionally post financial information to a Marketing Company. Use of the appropriate Marketing company is totally transparent to the human operators, who do not know that they are writing to it. It is expected that the user’s sales-people will obtain name and address etc details of potential accounts and be responsible for keying these into the Marketing Company of their Boffin/Open installation. Once the details of potential companies has been keyed into the marketing company, the sales rates and special rates can also be setup in readiness for the first live cargo shipment. Notice that the first live use of a potential customer record causes a reaction by the application system that could be used as a trigger for anything; maybe an email to the Sales Department that XYZ Co Limited is passing through their first live cargo shipment - this is a Boffin/Open wishlist item.


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Geographical divisions



The User-group is thought of as being split into a number of discrete geographical divisions, within which all supported User-companies may operate. There is really no practical reason for suggesting that Divisions are geographical splits, they might be corporate splits defined in some other way. New Divisions may be created in realtime without reference to Bishopsgate and irrespective of what other regular system users are doing; once created the new Division element is immediately usable. There is no practical limit to the number of Divisions that can be used in any given installation (apart from the ultimate limit of physical disk storage (division control records are small), the actual limit is about 37 to the power 12 divisions) because each has a unique 12 byte, left-justified, uppercase short name that must be unique.. 



Many users do not have an effective geographic divisional split, so the standard way to accommodate the system is to introduce a single Division into a user's structure. In practice, this 'dummy' structure represents no overhead and does not make the software cumbersome or awkward to use. There is no practical limit to the number of Divisions which may be accommodated. Additional Divisions may be added in real-time and during normal working hours, without the need for re-programming or reference to Bishopsgate.


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Operational branches



Freight forwarders and customs brokers are very often built as a series of branch offices, situated in or near to industrial centres, ports and airports. The system assumes that each Division of the user's organisation is comprised of an un-limited number of Branch Offices, out of which all User-companies can operate, sharing the resources of the Branch.



Operational Branches are denoted by Two uppercase letters, each in the inclusive range ‘A’ through ‘Z’, with the one operational branch prefix of ‘ZZ’ traditionally reserved for the Training Company. The two uppercase letters assigned to the operational branch are used as the two high-order characters of the job numbers issued by the Branch. The user has free choice to make up the list of his operational branches. As an example operational Branch prefix, one might be ‘LE’ (which might be read as London Surface Exports). 



In simplistic terms and as an example only, one branch should be considered as a building, but technically, there is no reason that a building should not be established as several logical or 'computer branches', if this suits the needs. There is no practical limit to the number of Branches which may be accommodated in total within one user-group. Additional Branches may be added in real-time and during normal working hours, without the need for re-programming or reference to Bishopsgate and irrespective of what the other regular system users are doing.


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Operational sections



A Branch is considered to be comprised of several Operational Sections, who actually operate the services offered by the user-companies of the user-group. The people who operate in any given operational section can and often do answer the telephone with any one of several Group Company names. The mental picture of an operational-section, is one comprising of a couple of desks situated in a room, from which specialist freight services are offered - perhaps Deep Sea Exports to North America. The operational-section would be occupied by a few staff members who are the user's experts in that service or traffic type. Typically, an operational section will operate two or three traffic services.



Operational sections are denoted by Three uppercase letters, each in the inclusive range ‘A’ through ‘Z’, with the one operational section prefix of ‘ZZZ’ traditionally reserved for the Training Company. The user has free choice to make up the list of his operational sections. Each Section Prefix is allocated to a particular General ledger Cost Centre and it is a fact that every trading voucher authorised by the staff of the operational section prefix will be annotated automatically to the nominated general ledger cost centre. As an example operational Section prefix, one might be ‘LEF’ (which might be read as London Surface Exports to France). 



There is no practical limit to the number of Sections which may be accommodated, although a maximum of twenty six sections per Branch is the first logical 'break point'. Additional Sections may be added in real-time and during normal working hours, without the need for re-programming or reference to Bishopsgate.


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Routes or services



Within Boffin, the words "Route" and "Service" are inter-changeable. The reader should not make the mistake of feeling that he is being forced into a 'Route System", when that is not the requirement. In addition, a Route/Service can be as wide or narrow a definition of traffic, as is required.



Within an Operational Branch (say LE)/Section (say LEF) the user might wish to setup a number of routes/services, each of which will normally be operated with a partner agent (although there is a way around this). Without updating the application software at all and without reference to Bishopsgate, the user can setup as many as 26 to the power 3 (26x26x26) Routes within any given Operational Branch/Section. A couple of examples in the line of our examples in this chapter might be:-



LEFPAR
-
London Surface Exports to France, Paris
LEFLYN
-
London Surface Exports to France, Lyon



Notice: The important point to pick up about a Route or Service, is that it is allocated to a particular user-company for the purposes of financial accounting and management control. All of the sales invoices (and all trading vouchers) printed for a given Route/Service, be printed on particular company invoice stationery; unless the Boffin Plain Paper office function is being used, in which case; the intelligent laser print will include the appropriate user-company letterhead on all printed forms. Another thing to remember is that each Route/Service is not only part of a valid user-company, but is part of a particular user-group general ledger Cost-Centre.



here is no practical limit to the number of Route/Services which may be accommodated. Additional Routes may be added in real-time and during normal working hours, without the need for re-programming or reference to Bishopsgate and irrespective of what the other regular application users are doing.


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General ledger cost-centres



The powerful open-item general accounting of the system (integrated sales, bought and general ledgers), provides the user with the facilities to allow the periodisation and/or reallocation of the user-group's and/or user-company's overhead expenses by 'department' (Cost Centre).



For this discussion, a general ledger cost-centre, in simple terms, might be a branch or particular operation (eg. car pool). In the more complex practical world, a Cost Centre can be a grouping of Branches or Sections or Services, depending on how the user wishes to aggregate the departments of his business. Cost centre numbers are four numeric digits in length, providing the user with great scope for current analysis and flexibility for the future. There are some system standards on the use of cost centre numbers, which are recommended to new users introducing the concept for the first time.



Briefly. Cost Centre 0000 is not used. Cost-centres below 1000 are used as specialist re-allocation cost centres. 1000 is the used solely for the Balance Sheet. Cost Centres in the inclusive range 1100 - 1999 are used for other specialist operations. The remaining numbers 2000 - 9998 are used for operating departments, sales departments etc and cost centre 9999 is usually used by Bishopsgate for the integral Training Department.



Notice: The application has been upgraded to includes support for the notion of ‘Families of Cost Centres’ and the management accounting is enabled to allow the user to produce Trial Balances by Cost Centre Families. As an example of the use of this, a port might operate many cranes; each crane could be setup as a cost centre and all cranes cost centres might be part of the ‘Cranes’ Cost Centre Family. If this were the case, then it would be possible to obtain a Trial Balance for each Crane and for all cranes aggregated together.



Additional Cost-centres may be added in real-time and during normal working hours, without the need for re-programming or reference to Bishopsgate and irrespective of what other regular system users are doing.


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Reallocation Cost Centres



The system supports the periodisation and reallocation of overhead costs. The user is able to setup and to maintain special cost centres (normally in the range 0001 to 0999) to which overhead costs can be posted. Against each of these Reallocation Cost Centres the user is able to have a (practically) unlimited list of Cost Centres to which a variable percentage (under the user’s control) of the overheads posted to the Reallocation Cost Centre. Cost Centre 0777 might be called the Car Pool, where it might be the case that all overheads posted to 0777 are to be split 60:40 to cost centres 1301 and 1762. It is possible to obtain a Trial Balance for the Reallocation Cost Centre and for each of the two recipient cost centres.



The system supports multi-layered overhead reallocations, provided there is no logical loop (infinite loop back) in the setup. Cost Centre 0777 might be reallocated to 1301 and 1762 and 0779. The 0779 Cost Centre might be Reallocated to 1942 and to 1943. 



All actual reallocation of overhead expenses is effected as a controlled exercise as part of the accounting month-end process. The system automatically builds and posts general ledger vouchers that provide the expected results.



The reallocation percentages can be changed in realtime and irrespective of what other regular system users are doing. The revised percentages for each given cost centre are active as part of the  next accounting month-end. The system ensures that the sum of the reallocation percentages for any given reallocation cost centre aggregate to 100%.


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Cost centre/route relationship



Whatever the relationship between cost-centre and route within a given user corporate structure, the cost-centre concept allows the computer system to bring together the optionally periodised (e.g. telephone equipment rental from JAN03 to MAR03) and reallocated (spread across cost-centres) overhead costs with the trading revenues and trading costs. This, in turn, allows for the preparation of Net profit before tax by cost-centre (and families of cost centres) and company and then optionally by type of traffic and/or Branch.



The reader should consider this for a moment - Net Profit before tax by cost-centre, in effect a P&L Statement per cost-centre. For the active and inquisitive minds that are racing ahead; the system only supports a single Balance Sheet per user-company; hence the need for the use of a single cost-centre - 1000.


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Jobs or consignments



In Boffin, the words 'Jobs' and 'Consignments' are generally inter-changeable. Operating staff in the 'Air' departments talk of consignments and similar staff of the surface departments talk of jobs.



The system caters for single shipments and/or groupage/consolidation traffic in both the surface and air aspects and both import and export modes. Once again, and from the computer system point of view, the words Groupage and Consolidation are interchangeable. In general Bishopsgate talk of air consolidations and surface groupage traffic.



There is no limit to the number of detail cargo bookings that can be part of a given groupage or consolidation. There is no limit to the number of groupages/consolidations that can be in process at any time. All groupages/consolidations will include a Master Booking, which is used to control the overall movement of the unit. Tracking and Tracing records recorded against groupage/consolidation master files are copied to each detail booking within the unit, so as to save time and effort and to make sure that an observer viewing the tracking and tracing of a detail booking will see all of the tracking and tracing of the detail booking and the master, in one chronological list.


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Concept of imports and exports



The Boffin software was designed and developed by a team of software specialists, whose home customer base was located on an island; the United Kingdom. This situation exerted a bias on to the way that cargo movements are considered; they are either imports from across the sea or exports to the outside world; hence we talk of 'imports' and 'exports'.



The development of the software to allow it to be installed in other less geographically remote countries introduced the concept or requirement of 'exporting' without the cargo being involved with 'movement by ship' etc. The reader would be well advised to grasp the idea that 'exports' is now a much looser term and can be thought of as describing cargo movements out of the user's cargo-terminal(s) and similarly, 'imports' as describing the receiving of incoming cargo to the user's cargo-terminal(s).


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Job numbers - general



Job Numbers are issued automatically by the system at the appropriate time; they are check-digit and have a printed format of "LEF12345D6". Hindsight, shows that the introduction of check-digits into the job number has improved the quality of job-cost reporting dramatically, to the extent that users do not talk of errors in imputing job numbers, merely of staff mis-allocating costs. See Appendix A to this chapter for a detailed discussion on the Boffin job number.



All cargo bookings are allocated check-digit job numbers (in the form LEF12345D6) either at the point of original booking or as the groupage unit is despatched, depending on the type of Route/Service. The high-order three characters of the Job Number show the operational Branch and Section that controls the shipment, the middle five digits is an incrementing rotation number, the ‘D’ character denotes the calendar month in which the shipment was ‘shipped’ and the low-order digit is the check-digit. 



Notice: That ALL trading vouchers (sales invoices and credit notes, authorised supplier invoices and credit notes etc) are either printed with the appropriate job number or authorised against an unlimited list of job numbers. Notice: furthermore that ALL Non-Trading postings cannot have job numbers.



Notice: It is a fact that all Trading income and expenses posted to the integrated ledgers will be annotated with Job Numbers and all non-trading vouchers (overhead and balance sheet items) will not have job numbers. It follows if one aggregates the general ledger postings with job numbers for a ‘time slice’; one will arrive at the company’s gross profit. It is appreciated that there is more than it than this, but this is the basis. It also means that Job Costing reports can be written that will aggregate to the same financial totals as the Profit/Loss report(s).


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Job number - structure



Boffin was designed from the outset to be a complete and fully integrated computerised system for freight forwarders, agents transport companies and customs brokers. Traditionally, these industries have controlled their work, using job-files and job numbers and have attempted to introduce production line techniques into the workflow. The use of a job number for control purposes was and is very important; reporting and control functions are effected by consignment job number.



Bishopsgate wish to provide the users with powerful and accurate job costing on a real-time basis, using then-current computer technology; this caused consideration of the following points.


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Fast processing times



Firstly, the job number used within the system should have a powerful hierarchical structure; this provides for fast computer searching and therefore improved response/processing times during regular management report production.


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Check digit verification



If job costing is to be regularly used; it must be as accurate as possible; the system should be able to detect bad job numbers at the very earliest stages, when original documents are still at hand and correction can be made easily and before less than perfect data is allowed into the application system. Correcting bad and/or inaccurate input can be very time consuming, boring and expensive.


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Automated job number issuance



The system should allocate the numbers automatically, as required. There should be no practical limit to the number of job number series being used simultaneously by the various operating sections of the user's business.


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Informative numbering



Printed job number should provide the reader or the operational clerk receiving a query with enough information to enable the query to be immediately allocated or passed to the correct operational section for processing.


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Structured job numbers



The reader should consult the two schematic diagrams included at the start of this manual, when reading the following section. It will be remembered from the introduction to this manual, that the Boffin system is hierarchical, providing Bishopsgate with automated and natural ways of associating one piece of data with another on a higher level of the structure. Knowledge of the consignment operational section, automatically provides the a link to General Ledger Cost Centre, Branch, Division, User-Group and User-company. In Boffin, it is impossible for a user to establish a data structure in which this 'linkage' is not formally present and correct.



Using the example job number from the preceding paragraphs, ABC12345D6, it is possible to break the complete job number into a number of elements. The terms Branch and Section are as flexible as the user wishes to make them, what is described here is the Recommended-method in which Bishopsgate see the usage of Job Numbers.


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Branch prefix



The two letters at the high-order end of the Job Number "AB", are used to indicate the operational Branch that was responsible for effecting the shipment transaction. Remember that a Branch can be as large or as small as the user wishes to make it; several "Branches" can occupy a single building and often do. A Branch can operate on behalf of any number of 'sister/daughter' user-companies and can be composed of any number of general ledger cost-centres. Boffin contains a unique data set, in which there is stored a single record for each "Branch", on which all of the Branch so-called static information is held, including the two letter code to be used for job number issuance.



The user is able to create additional branches in a system, without recourse to Bishopsgate. In the event that a Branch becomes inactive, the use of it's job number series etc can be 'switched off' by (logically) deleting the relevant records. This delete function does not, in fact, delete anything, it merely flags the data as being unavailable for further cargo bookings.


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Section code identifier



The third high order letter of the job number provides for a sub-split of the operational branch into operational section. In our example, the Branch defined by the Code "AB" can typically be split into up to twenty six operational sections, each allocated a single letter of the alphabet A - Z. Where the user will require a larger split of operational sections, then the geographic Branch would be defined as two branches, providing for the possibility of fifty-two operational sections. This arbitrary splitting of the branch, does not complicate any analyses downstream.



The user is able to create additional sections in an installation, without recourse to Bishopsgate. In the event that a Section becomes inactive, the use of it's job number series etc can be 'switched off' by (logically) deleting the relevant records. This delete function does not, in fact, delete anything, it merely flags the data as being unavailable for further cargo bookings.


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Rotation number



The next five numeric digits, in our example, constitute a rotation number, which is incremented by one as each consignment is allocated a job number. Where the five digit number would naturally have 'leading zeroes, these need not be entered into the system, ABC00012D4 is just as acceptable as ABC12D4; this saves some keying; internally the full ten characters are used.



The application software system therefore has a practical limit of being capable of processing 99999 jobs in one operational section in one calendar month. The designers have installed only one system in which this limitation would have been of any concern, an airfreight export department at London Heathrow. In this case, the way in which the operational sections were defined, was changed to 'split' the physical operational section into two sensible components to double the effective limit.



It is worth mentioning that Rotation Number '00000' in each operational Section/Month is reserved for the Section Accruals Reference. Also, if Internal Debiting between departments is to be supported; Rotation Number '00001' in each Section Month is reserved for the control of as-yet unauthorised, incoming internal debits to each section.


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Operational month letter



The ninth character, "D" in our example, denotes the operational or calendar month in which the shipment cost-file was issued with it's job number. (Notice: in deep-sea import traffic, it is possible to have the month letter allocated according to the expected date of arrival of the ocean vessel, which might be some time in the future). The reader will remember that operational, calendar and statistical months are EXACTLY equal in Boffin. Cargo booked and allocated a job number on the last day of a calendar month (the computer IPL or system date is used) and shipped on the first day of the following or any subsequent month, statistically belongs to the month indicated by the job number month letter.



There are twenty six letters in the alphabet and therefore a job number could repeat in each two year cycle; this does not pose a practical problem either in the operational or accounting systems.



The system will allocate a month letter of "A" to January consignments booked in an EVEN year, 2000, 2002, 2004. The month letters "A - L" are used to denote the month January to December of the even year. The letter "M" is never used. The letters "N - Y" are used for the months of January to December of the 'odd years, 2001, 2003, 2005. The letter "Z" is never used. Technical Note: because it is possible that Job Numbers can duplicate in the two year cycle, the month-letter allocated to any given cargo booking is interpreted into a full (DD-MON-YYYY format) date at the time of the cargo booking and this date is added to the cargo booking details and used internally to avoid confusion.



Notice: Boffin accounting is designed around the fact that a job cost-file is 'opened' when the first financial posting bearing the job number appears in the general ledger. Where no sales invoice is required for any given job (perhaps all sales charges are ‘forward’) Bishopsgate can arrange that a 'zero value' sales invoice record is written to the general ledger to 'seemingly' make the cost file active for later further processing where the cost-file would not naturally appear. Such zero-value invoices are issued in a personal account ‘matched state’ (paid) and do not appear on customer statements; but simply act as a trigger within the system.



However, the system is based on the concept that the user will not activate job numbers for 'future' operational months, beyond the month following the current operational month. In July 2004, (operational letter 'G'), there will be no financial activity on cost-files bearing job number month letters 'H' to 'L'. In the honest world, this would be illogical, but the situation has been experienced in some specialist departments (for example, Fairs departments who process their work far in advance of the then-current month).


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Check digit



The low order digit, the "6" in our example, is the check digit. This number is the number arrived at when a mathematical exercise is effected on the Job Number, excluding the operational month letter. It enables the system to 'sense' a badly keyed job number, merely by expanding and repeating the mathematical exercise on the job number presented. Hindsight shows this facility has provided for exceptionally accurate job costing.


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Consistent numbering



When a consignment is allocated a job number, that number will never be changed. Only in the case of the accrual accounting aspects of the system will the computer post financial items directed at one job to another. Even then, the system effects this automatic transfer in a proper double-entry book-keeping manner, reversing out the original posting and making an equal and opposite contra on the relevant accruals job number; thereby leaving an 'audit-trail'.


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Missing job numbers



The subject of missing job numbers in the accounting system is less important with a system such as Boffin, as operational control is effected in a different way to the traditional manner.



It is very possible that some consignments are processed without the need for the user to raise any sales invoices or accept any supplier charges directly against the consignment detail reference. In this case no financial postings would be present in the general ledger job costing system for the given detail job number. Essentially, this is perfectly acceptable, although it does cause a situation in the job costing where it is impossible for the system to determine whether the consignment is 'forgotten' or was fully processed, without the need for any accounting to be effected.



Bishopsgate have stipulated that EVERY consignment will be put through the sales invoicing procedure, even if there are no charges to be raised. This enables the software to 'flag' the operational consignment record as having been 'invoiced' (with no invoice or general ledger posting needed) and so clearing the operational file from the Database can be effected at the appropriate time in the future.



It would be possible, technically, to raise a 'zero value' sales invoice record in the job costing system for each of these jobs, bearing the relevant job number, to indicate that the job was not forgotten, but merely required no active accounting. It goes without saying that the 'zero value' invoice record would not cause a printed invoice or appear on any customer statement or other documentation.


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Single shipments



In the world of single direct shipments or full container/trailer loads, each job is allocated a unique detail job number at the appropriate time and from the appropriate series of numbers; essentially one series per operational section.



Import traffic is allocated it's job number at the time of original booking; the traffic is 'en-route' and very likely to arrive, so missing or cancelled job numbers do not constitute a problem.



With export traffic, the user can select, per route, whether the job number should be allocated at the time of original cargo booking or at the time of cargo despatch from the cargo-terminal. The general Bishopsgate recommendation is that the export groupage job numbers should be issued at the time of closing the loading for the unit and cargo despatch; causing manifests etc to be printed in neat, ascending job-number order.


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Surface groupage



The growth in the containerisation and use of groupage trailers/containers has been a great benefit to the users who have installed computerised systems. The computer processing associated with groupage units, lends itself naturally to effective and efficient data processing; the groupage unit can be considered as a natural batch-processing denomination.



Boffin encourages the user to use a single job number for the groupage unit as a whole, called the Master Reference. This master reference is used to record all of the costs associated with the movement of the unit or trailer, saving the manual workload of allocating the trailer or unit costs across the individual detail consignments within the unit. Boffin includes the software to allow for the apportionment of these unit costs; usually in the ratio of the chargeable kilos of the detail shipments.



Each individual consignment within the unit is allocated a job number, known as the Detail Job Number. This allows sales invoicing to be effected in a way that will provide for sales analysis by customer. Apportionment of the Master Job costs (an any occasional revenues - such as but not limited to Ameta profit sharing invoices/credits) will allow for the production of profit by customer, salesperson etc.



In the case of export groupage processing, in the case where the user elects to issue job numbers at cargo despatch time, job numbers will be issued in ascending order to the cargo, providing for manifests to be printed in the same desirable sequence; with the groupage master booking always being allocated the lowest job number.


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Filing of job files



In the United Kingdom, the law still requires that shipping instructions and certain other documents are retained for a period of seven years after shipment. To accommodate this, the user is probably forced into the position of retaining a hard copy manilla file, in which all of the important documents and customer signatures are retained. The necessity of the hard copy file, forces the user to consider manual filing systems, which will almost certainly involve the physical storage of the old-files in job number order.



Where an operational section effects it own storage of files, Boffin helps tremendously, as each operational section uses it's own series of job numbers and is self contained from this point of view. Where the user operates very large branches, comprising several operational sections, it could be desirable to effect the filing of old-files per branch; several sections sharing one numeric series of job numbers.


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Sales invoicing



Boffin guarantees that all general ledger TRADING-ITEMS generated by the system and/or accepted from computer-terminal operator input will be posted to the integrated open-item currency accounting system with a formally correct Job Number. Boffin also guarantees the opposite; in as much as NON-TRADING ITEMS cannot be posted to the integrated general ledger with Job Numbers.



The system has been designed to be tight from the outset, to allow for the development of powerful job costing; where the job costing per operational month will agree to the Financial Gross-Profit result. The job number included in a financial posting, once accepted, will never change; any automatic or manually inspired 'journalling' will be effected, by logically reversing-out the incorrect posting and generating a new posting with the desired job number - a proper general ledger transfer within the general ledger trading account. Such journalling of prior postings invokes the Boffin general ledger matching automatically, for the original item and the 'reversal record'.


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Automatic cost centre lookup



It is a fact that each operational section code (ABC in our example) must be allocated to a general ledger cost-centre number at the time of it's original Section Prefix creation.



Due to this discipline, it is possible for the Boffin system to 'translate', automatically, the Operational Section Code (ABC) to a general ledger cost centre number; at the time of accepting the posting into the financial ledgers. Once allocated to a financial posting, the cost-centre field will never be changed.


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Printing on documentation



The user's Job Number is a vital piece of information and is printed in the relevant place on all operational documentation produced by the software.


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As a cross reference



The reader will be aware that Boffin is an integrated, normalised system, where any element of data is stored in a single place which is made accessible from any sensible position within the system. In general ledger terms, the Job Number is an alternate key where duplicates are allowed. This makes it possible to access financial postings by reference to Branches and/or Sections and/or job numbers as well as by customer/supplier personal account and/or general ledger account numbers.


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Sales invoice financial postings



One of the earliest system requirements was that the financial posting to the user's ledgers would be effected and proved, prior to the last line of the accounting copy sales invoice being printed. It is a comforting thought that even before the last line of the sales invoice is printed, the customers account, the job costing and the integrated general ledger have all been instantaneously updated.


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Operational accrual accounting



If this method is adopted, then the outline scenario is based on the management 'rule' that sales invoicing is not to be effected for any consignment prior to the operations staff informing the system of the expected trading costs for the consignment. In the operational surface export system, this is not too much of a problem, but on import traffic the estimated costs will be often 'best guesses' as they are in a manual system.



The theme continues that operational staff should be able to adjust their accrual entries until the sales invoice is produced. If there is a need to change the accruals after the sales invoice has been printed then this must be effected via the accounts department, in a controlled manner. Users should be aware that this more sophisticated method increases the disk storage requirement of the system.



Boffin allows the user to establish a small library of headings under which the staff accrue operational costs; Freight, Cartage, Insurance etc. There can be as many or as few headings as are required at each user site. Control of duty is effected outside the operational accrual system.



The user is able to establish a tolerance percentage and amount as a maximum error margin for accrued costs. The system reports back on all actual costs which are accepted into the purchase ledger but exceed the company tolerance.



All of the operational booking programs are capable of accepting accruals from the operations clerk and storing them as part of the operational data for the consignment. When the sales charges invoice is produced, it is posted automatically to the on-line ledger system; at the same time each accrual line entry is also posted to the on-line nominal and job costing ledger. All job costing reports will show outstanding accruals as part of their detail.



Purchase invoices arriving at the user's site are checked to see if they show the user's job numbers. If they do not, they are either sent to the departments for identification and authorisation or returned to the supplier for references to be shown. The facility of being able to view outstanding accruals by supplier is most advantageous when veting new supplier invoices to assess if the charges quoted are reasonable.



At the user's discretion, purchase invoices can be sent to the operational departments for traditional authorisation or posted directly to the ledger for comparison against the accrued costs.



The purchase invoices are entered into the system via a specialist program, which checks the additions, currency conversions and any VAT calculations. Amongst the detail entered by the operator are the Job Numbers and Amounts being accepted against each operational consignment.



The purchase invoice acceptance program compares the totals aggregated by job number from the purchase invoice against the outstanding accruals in the nominal ledger. Where the actual cost, being accepted into the ledger is within the installation tolerance, the accrual is reversed and the actual cost accepted. Where the actual charge lies outside the tolerances set by management, the under/over accrual is shown to the operator and a decision is called for.



If the amount accrued is only slightly outside the tolerances, then a supervisor (security cleared) can choose to accept the document by entering their VS Logon and Password as authority. In the event that the supervisor cannot accept the position, the entry of the whole purchase invoice is rejected and the accruals are left untouched, until consultations with the operational managers is effected.



The system provides the means to monitor outstanding accruals by supplier, currency and job number. Outstanding accruals can be written off by suitably qualified staff.



Many job costing reports are available, irrespective of whether individual users invoke the accrual accounting or not. All reports are available on terminal screens and/or as printed reports.



The most detailed job costing is one in which a single report line represents a single sales invoice or line entry from a purchase invoice. Job totals and operational section/month totals are provided; outstanding accruals are shown.



Single line reports are available for nominated or all Operational Section/Months. These reports show a single line per consignment with totals of income and expenditure aggregated for consignment profit.



Departmental/month reports are available showing totals for each operational months traffic.



Where users operate import and/or export groupage units for which several branches have contributed cargo, the system allows management to obtain a job cost report for the groupage as a whole.



Boffin has an optional Groupage Job Costing program which will aggregate all consignments by Groupage Unit for a given Section or Branch/Month. Unit loads are shown as Groupages containing just a single shipment, in order to produce meaningful totals. PAGROUP



There are specialised variations on the job costing reports described above. Duty is reconcilled by job number as a way of providing Outstanding Duty Chase and Loss lists. It is possible to produce lists of outstanding COD invoices.


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Job costing



Bishopsgate ensure that all financial postings made to the integrated ledgers for nominal trading accounts bear validated check digit job numbers. The integrated ledger data sets are built as indexed files with the job number being used as an alternate index key. In every day terms, this means that there is in effect a job cost ledger within the Boffin nominal ledger.



As each trading item is added to the sales or purchase ledger, it is by definition, immediately added to the Job Costing ledger. All job costing is effected in the currency of the user's nominal ledger. All sales invoice currency conversions are automatic, conversion of currency purchase invoices are recommended and monitored.



Boffin is very flexible in the way it allows the user to issue job numbers. As many or as few job number series as required can be supported.



Boffin supports two practical methods of operation with regard to Job Costing. The first way is the simple method of comparing the actual sales and purchase invoices input to the integrated ledger system by job number and arriving at a 'current' job profit or loss. Duty can be included or not, as required. The problem with this simple method is that it is not immediately apparent when a job is complete in the accounting sense.



Some users will wish to utilise this simple method but perhaps, vary the theme by asking the operational managers to submit manually prepared lists of outstanding accrued purchases. These lists may be entered into the system as nominal journals prior to management reports being produced. When the management reports have been produced and checked, an easy means of reversing the accrual nominal journals is provided.



The more sophisticated users or those who feel that it is cost effective, can insist on the tighter system of Operational Accrual Accounting.


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Departmental net profits



Boffin includes an extension to the Overhead Expense Analyses described above. This optional MIS subset allows the users to combine the periodised, reallocated actual and budgeted overheads with the departmental trading information to show Departmental Net Profit before Taxes.



Reports are available to show the company's Gross and Net Profits before Taxes sorted by Type of Business; Deep sea, Air etc.



Various other report combinations are also available to show the same profit figures by Branch, Cost Centre etc.


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Departmental overhead budget forecasting



Boffin allows the user, who chooses to run the system overhead accounting routines, to allocate a formula to cost centre/nominal account combinations by which future costs can be estimated. This in turn allows Boffin to forecast expected departmental overheads.



Departmental and company reports are available, which show the extension of the company's overhead accounts. These reports can then be used as a basis for informing departmental managers of their expected overheads.


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Departmental overhead expense analyses



Boffin allows the user to run an MIS System in which the nominal ledger OVERHEAD expenses can be reallocated and apportioned between cost centres. The system utilises a four numeric digit Cost Centre number.



A repertoire of Departmental and Company reports are available in detail and in summary form showing financial information by Cost Centre / Type of Cost and vice versa. Totals are provided for the 'current month' and current year to date. Previous year totals can also be shown for comparison with the current year values.



All reports are available on terminal screens and/or printers. Development is being undertaken to enable users to extract the various reports and enter the data directly to Wang PC mathematical modelling systems. At August 1985 this feature has just been announced by Wang and will be available in the near future.


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Optional standard journals



The system supports Nominal Ledger standard journals. There is no limit to the number, content or size of a standard journal. Each standard journal created by the user is allocated a short name by which it may be referenced. The content of a standard journal may be amended and/or copied to create another journal, as required.



The System Nominal Journal input program allows the user to enter a simple journal without reference to a standard journal.



In cases where a complex, regular Nominal Journal is to be input to the system, the operator uses the ordinary nominal journal program and calls the standard journal by it's short name. The detail of the standard journal is copied onto the new journal and the operator is able to make further amendments. The finally composed journal is strictly validated and the nominal postings effected.



The Standard Journal logic also provides a quick way of logically 'reversing out' previously posted journals.


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Specialised nominal input



The system contains a very specialist data input program which allows the nominal ledger staff to update one or more nominal ledgers simultaneously. The program includes very strict validation rules to protect the nominal ledger. Powerful partial alphabetic searching routines are included to help the operator choose correct cost centre numbers and nominal account numbers.


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Nominal account enquiry



A very powerful account enquiry program has been included, which allows the staff to interrogate the individual nominal accounts with sub totals being provided at change of accounting period. Account enquiries may be requested by Cost centre or Nominal Account or any combination. These account enquiries may be printed or displayed on the terminal screen.



A direct link is provided from the nominal account enquiry program to the nominal transfer and job costing aspects of the system.


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Optional nominal ledger matching



It is very convenient to be able to 'match' records of equal and opposite values within some nominal accounts. Boffin Nominal Accounting supports this feature. The matching program can sort the items of a nominated account into ascending value order, ignoring the posting sign, so as to make obvious matches apparent. This makes nominal matching very easy.


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Cash receipts



As the post is opened each day, the cash receipts are separated and processed in the following way. Those items of cash which are not accompanied by a Remittance slip of any kind, are made to conform by the users' staff writing the Payer name on a pseudo-remittance slip together with the cheque amount and date.



The remittance slips are separated and deposited in a receptacle. The cheques are assembled and sorted, if necessary, by the bank account into which they are to be paid.



The cheques are then prelisted off-line to obtain a control total. The Sales Ledger Cash Received routines of Boffin are then used.



The relevant bank account is identified and the prelist total is fed into the computer followed by one 'line entry' per cheque; the line entry includes the name off of the cheque, no matter which personal account is being paid. The input of the bank account short name identifies the nominal account to which the paying-in total will be posted.



When all of the prelisted cheques have been entered and the prelist total satisfied, the system generates several copies of the approved Bank Paying-In slip.



The total of the paying-in slip is posted to the Nominal Bank Account and the individual cheque amounts are posted to the sales ledger cash suspense account. Where the user utilises the Bank Reconciliation System, the paying-in slip total is also posted as annotation to the Bank Reconciliation System.



Foreign currency receipts are submitted to the bank and not posted to the system until the home-currency equivalent value is known; the amount of currency and the home-currency equivalent are input to the system simultaneously.



The remittance slips are used as a 'trigger' to identify which pieces of cash have been received and require to be posted from the sales ledger cash received suspense account to the correct personal account. Facilities exist, over and above the ability to effect an account enquiry, to list the remaining cash received items in the cash suspense account at the end of each day.



The system produces an audit trail during the DAYEND routines of the individual cash receipts, showing the name from the cheque and the name of the personal account to which it was posted.



Unidentified cash items are left in the sales ledger cash suspense account until identification is possible.


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VAT (sales tax) returns



Each posting in the financial ledger system carries a detailed breakdown of its VAT analysis. At sales ledger month end, it is commonly convenient to produce a detailed and summary analysis of the past months trading from the VAT turnover point of view. These reports provide the basis for the statutory VAT Returns, they are also designed to highlight incorrect VAT amounts.


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Credit control letters



The system provides for the automatic processing of Credit Control/Debt Collection letters. At month end, the first of a pair of automatically produced letters might be produced for a given account if the account requires it. This letter can be included in the same envelope as the customer statement, saving a subsequent envelope and stamp. About ten days after the sales statement run, the system can be made to provide stronger worded chasing letters to follow up the initial debtors letters for those accounts where there has been no major response.



All accounts have a special marker, that the user can set to stop the computer system from sending any automatic 'nasty' letters. This is useful to protect the user's good accounts from receiving the infamous £1,000,000 gas bill letter; or similar.


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Personal account journals



The system contains a powerful personal account journaling program in which individual personal account postings may be 'broken down' into as many as 512 component line entries. The individual components may be left on the same personal account or posted to other personal accounts or any combination of the two. This is most useful when breaking down single cash receipts which are paying items on more than one personal account and in the breaking down of personal account opening balances.



The journal issued in this way, 'reverses out' and is matched with the original item. The journaling program ensures that a 'part' journal is not possible (ignoring system crashes at inconvenient times). The application system issues ascending Journal Numbers to each journal created.



All journals issued are subject of daily audit report during DAYEND. The Year End Audit program menu includes a report program designed to list all components of all journals in ascending Journal Number order.


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Personal account transfers



Any unmatched personal account posting may be transferred in its entirety to another live personal account. The original posting being transferred is 'reversed out' and matched with one side of the new transfer and the second part of the new transfer is left unmatched on the 'destination' account.



Transfers are the subject of DAYEND audit listings and Year End Audit reporting is supported. The application system issues Transfer Numbers to each Transfer effected.


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Personal account matching



Boffin supports open item accounting and it is very important that the users maintain a strict control of their cash received processing; failure to do the cash matching will cause chaos.



The system supports three methods of cash matching.



'Manually' driven cash matching is available from the Sales Ledger Menu. The ledger staff use the cash received remittance slips or a recent debtors report (which shows accounts with unallocated cash) to call up the unmatched items of a nominated personal account. The clerk then 'points to' the items which are required to be matched. If the sum of the personal account postings pointed to in this way aggregate to zero, then the match is effected and the matched items suppressed.



An optional automatic matching program is provided, which 'scans' the personal accounts for accounts with zero balance but outstanding open items. In the case where this situation is encountered, all of the outstanding items on the personal account are matched.



An optional CALL MATCH feature is also provided which will cause all outstanding items on a given personal account to be matched if the account balance becomes zero after the transaction causing the zero balance is posted. This facility works well in practice.


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Interim sales statements



Interim customer sales statements are available at any time that the Boffin is available for normal processing. A terminal operator may request an Interim Sales Statement for one or more sales ledger personal accounts, irrespective of the value of the account balance or statement frequency key (Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly Statements).


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Regular customer statements



When each customer account is created, the user is able to indicate frequency with which customer statements are to be produced for the account in question. The choice is Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly and As Required. This is useful, where the users traffic varies a great deal in its nature, including some shipper types where weekly debt collection is desirable; the clothing and fruit trades for example.


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Personal account enquiries



A detailed listing of the items which have been posted to a nominated personal account may be produced on demand. The lists can be tailored to suit the requirements of the enquiry, by the operator asking for all items or just outstanding items or whatever.



Boffin includes a program which will generate an account enquiry listing for each account bearing unallocated cash. This list could then be used as a working document for the exercise of catching up on cash matching.



The printed account enquiries are designed to be printed on plain computer listing paper.


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Missing sales invoice lists



Each sales invoice produced by the automatic aspects of the Boffin system are numbered in a single series for each user company. Bishopsgate appreciate that the user may well invoice certain aspects of his business manually, in which case he would be encouraged to utilise pre-numbered invoice pads.



Boffin includes a set of software which continually searches for missing invoice numbers within the financial system. These missing numbers are reported, by exception, in neat lists, in which the department who issued the invoice prior to the missing one is identified. This in turn helps the user to trace the missing invoice or confirm it's cancellation.


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Credit Status



Boffin supports up to nine dynamic Credit Status codes any of which may be used to append each customer account. The user is able to allocate a meaning to each credit status code, without recourse to the designers - SPDEFLTS. In addition to this feature, the user is able to tune the effect of each credit status code in his system.



Each customer personal account created is allocated a Credit Status which can be used to modify the way in which operational and accounting programs work. The user is able to make it impossible for consignments to be booked for accounts bearing particular credit status codes.



The credit status code allocated to an individual customer account may be changed at any time and the new value has immediate effect. When cargo is booked for a customer account bearing anything other than the basic credit status, operational staff are immediately made aware of the credit status condition and are required to acknowledge the message. Other than in the worst circumstances, the designers feel that the system is responsible for making the staff aware of a condition, but not preventing work being effected. We accept that some managing directors think differently.


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Credit Limits



Each customer account may be allocated a credit limit against which the current account balance is continually monitored. On reports of debtors, the credit limit is shown alongside the current account balance. It is possible to produce lists of customer accounts which exceed their credit limit. The system allows the user to establish a default credit limit which will be recommended automatically to each new account created.


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Credit Authorisation



In an increasing number of positions in the operational system, credit limit checks are effected automatically. If the account balance is not going to exceed the credit limit when the proposed transaction is effected, no special warning is given to the terminal operator. If the proposed transaction, such as the deferring of duty on the user's own deferment number, will make the customer account exceed the credit limit, the operations staff are made aware of the fact BEFORE the transaction is completed. To over-ride the warning, a suitably security cleared person must enter his/her logon and password to sanction the over-ride.


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Trial Balance by Cost Centre



Trial Balance listings and screen displays are available to provide Trial Balance information for one or more Cost Centres or Groups of Cost Centres. In these reports, nominal ledger information is presented in nominal account sequence, summarised by accounting month-end year-to-date balances.


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Copying and Reversing nominal journals



The Nominal Ledger Journal data entry program allows the user to effect some very powerful facilities in a very simple manner.



Where a nominal ledger journal is to be entered that is nearly/exactly the same as a nominal journal that already exists in the system, the operator is able to enter the nominal journal number of the existing entry and have it's contents copied into the data entry being prepared for the new journal; saving a great deal of time and tedium and not affecting the original journal in any way. Having copied the contents of an existing journal, the operator is able to optionally, globally reverse the signs on all posting line entries, globally replace all of the periodisation information before making any optional random changes and posting the new journal to the system.



Where a nominal journal is to be reversed-out of the book-keeping system, a new nominal journal is constructed by entering a minus sign and the original journal number to have the reversal journal built; a single key depression from this point posts the reversal.


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Optional realtime update of nominal ledger

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Optional realtime update of nominal ledger



The system retains the nominal ledger online and in open item format. Any nominal ledger account enquiry, effected by a suitably qualified terminal operator will, therefore see the current situation, "as at" the last financial posting made to the system - from any source.



In order that a printed Trial Balance and/or Profit/loss report and/or Balance Sheet report does not require reading the whole of the potentially large open item dataset, a summary data set is maintained. In the summary dataset there is a single record per Company Code/Financial Year/Cost Centre/Nominal Account on which the year-to-date balances of the nominal account combination, as at the end of each successive accounting period within the specified accounting year, are maintained. During the Management Month-end sequence (and as required) this summary dataset is updated to align it exactly to the nominal ledger open items. Most users like this situation and do not elect to install the realtime option; as follows:-



It is possible to update the Trial Balance Summary dataset, as each financial posting is entered into the system. Under this scenario, should a Trial Balance and/or Profit/Loss report and/or Balance Sheet be printed after the successive posting of a few financial transactions, the successive reports would reflect the individual postings made. This is the basis of the future Boffin Company Model Option.


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Optional operational accruing and consignment closing

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Optional operational accruing and consignment closing



Boffin offers the user the facilities necessary to allow the operating departments to accrue for expected trading costs and close or profit shipment files. This feature does not require the production of any printed job costing lists or re-accruing month after month for a very late item!



The operating department managers are able to view the current nominal ledger status of each of their shipment cost files for a given operational period, in ascending job number order, one line per shipment across the terminal screen. The shipment line on the terminal screen, shows job number, total income, total expense and shipment gross profit, from the control nominal ledger data, accurate 'as at' the posting of the last accounting document to the integrated ledgers.



The manager then views the shipment totals and presses one keyboard key, against each shipment which shows the expected gross profit total or there abouts. For incomplete shipments, the manager is able to press another single key and view the current list of financial postings on the shipment cost file, in detail and immediately. The manager then, in deference to user's company discipline, either leaves the consignment up to a management invoked deadline, to allow the actual but missing charges to come in, or accrues the costs and closes the shipment file. Accruals made in this way are only made once and are input directly to the nominal ledger, causing an accrued cost on the original shipment cost file and an accrued revenue item in the balance sheet and, simultaneously, on a single accrual job number per operational department month.



Actual costs are ALWAYS authorised and accepted by the departments against the ORIGINAL job numbers, the system being intelligent enough to notice that the original file is closed, reversing-out the late charge and re-posting the late accrued cost directly to the oldest open accrual reference for the operational department concerned. These accruals references are processed, normally, by the managers at the end of each operational month, at which time some items are written off and some carried forward to the next month. The actual profit/loss remaining on the closed accruals reference is taken as part of the managers departmental profit for the operational month being closed.



The managers are able to recall their own 'Profit Returns', by operational month, for their own records and are not required to work from printed job costing lists. Sales invoices are not normally accrued but income can occasionally be accrued; accrued income cannot be accrued forward for more than 3 months. The time period between the movement of the shipment and the closing of the job costing, is flexible and under the direct control of the user's management.



The system ensures that both the operating and accounting departments are working from IDENTICAL financial data, making it impossible in the Boffin environment to have a difference between the operating department's statistical profits and the accounting department's financial profits.


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Trial Balance, P&L, Balance Sheet, Debtors/Creditors, Job Costing

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Trial Balance, P&L, Balance Sheet, Debtors/Creditors, Job Costing



The nominal ledger suite maintains a Trial Balance which may be printed on demand. The standard Trial Balance report is in fact a family of several reports which may be optionally requested or suppressed, as required, each time the Trial Balance print program is run.


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Specialist Nominal Ledger input programs

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Specialist Nominal Ledger input programs



The system provides the user with specialist input programs that allow for the keying of overhead type supplier invoices and supplier invoices which contain a mixture of trading items and overhead expenses. These programs ensure that all financial postings made to what has previously been defined as trading accounts in the nominal ledger ALL have valid job numbers and that postings to overhead accounts do not have job numbers but do have valid combinations of Cost Centre and Nominal Account. All nominal accounts are available to all companies and cost centres in the user's group of companies.


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Blocking of late postings



It has been possible for the user to stop the operating departments from processing additional trading income and/or expense to operational months that have already been closed and finalised. It is possible for the user to stop the accounts department entering overhead invoices, which have been coded in a way that, after periodisation, would affect an accounting or reporting month, that has been finalised and closed. The user's company management is able to nominate the oldest accounting month, for which overhead and balance sheet postings are still acceptable. The blocking mechanism logic, allows the user to indicate whether the operator entering the overhead invoice should cancel the input and offer the document back for re-coding or have the system allocate the 'problem portion' to the oldest accounting period which is still open for the acceptance of such items.


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Bank Account Reconciliation



Boffin includes an optional sub-system to allow the user to compare the various company Bank Accounts with the Cash Book Balances. The integrated ledger system posts to the optional Bank reconciliation system on behalf of all cash payments and receipts. Bank Statements are keyed into the computer and matched automatically against the cash book entries. The remaining unmatched items highlight bad postings, cash book entries not reflected in the Bank Account and items in the Bank Account not reflected in the Cash Book; foreign drafts etc.


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Accrual monitoring



Boffin includes application software that allows the user to monitor trading accruals by personal account (usually supplier), currency, department/month, and cost-file. In future releases of the product, it will be possible to monitor the accuracy of accruals by the person who made the accruals; some managers will be accurate and conscientious at their accrual work, others will be less accurate; monitoring the flow of trading accrual accuracy in this way will provide an indication of who needs to be helped.


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Printed profit returns



Operational managers are able to call for printed reports of their gross profit positions, at the time when they complete their monthly accrual reference processing, so that they might retain their own records of monthly gross profits; a second signed copy of these Returns s sent to the user's 'control' as a gross profit declaration.


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Interfacing with spreadsheet systems



Boffin offers the user the ability to have some management reports output as Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet compatible datasets. These datasets can then be extracted from the main computer to a suitably configured PC on which the user can utilise spreadsheet technology to perform management accounting functional reporting. At the time of writing, 'feedback' of manipulated Lotus 1-2-3 data is not allowed, as it represents uncontrolled information being sent to the user's financial ledgers. Some consideration is being given to feeding back departmental budgets and budget forecasts.


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Operational check during cargo booking



When cargo is originally booked and/or a cargo booking is amended prior to cargo despatch, the system effects are credit status and credit limit check on the customer account(s), that are seen to be involved in payment for the shipment. In the event that any EXISTING infringement in credit status or credit limit or POTENTIAL infringement in credit limit is sensed, then the terminal operator is warned and allowed to make the appropriate decision. Various notes are sent to the credit controller and possibly the director who effect credit control on the offending account, automatically. For the purposes of this paragraph a Potential Infringement of a credit limit is the comparison of the existing credit limit with the sum of the existing account balance PLUS/MINUS the charges on the cost file that will be debited to the customer account in question.


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Operational check during cargo release



It is not necessary in the operational system(s), for the staff to produce a Delivery Order for every shipment being released or delivered, although such processing is readily available.



During the production of a Release Note or Delivery Order, the system effects another similar credit status and credit limit check on the account involved in the shipment. Suitable warnings are issued in the event of violations.


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Immediate availability of copy documents

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Immediate availability of copy documents



The Boffin optional online electronic archiving of documents, provides the credit controller with an immediate means of recalling the image of a sales invoice or credit note, on demand. Such documents can be viewed and/or printed, saving much valuable time and effort.


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Analysis of outstanding debts by branch



The system includes a special version of the debtors listing report, in which the customers debt is annotated with the operational branch codes, with whom the customer has outstanding debts. This report allows individual branch credit controllers to see, quickly, which accounts they should get involved in. Boffin allows the user to accumulate outstanding debts by branch, as a ready means of determining which branches are most exposed to customer debt.


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Charging interest on overdue sales



In the standard system, all invoice postings to personal accounts are coded with an expected Payment Date, automatically. This is effected by the system accessing the user's terms of sale with the customer/supplier together with details from the invoice; the Payment Date for a given voucher does not change once written and is used as the basis for overdue interest charges calculations. The user's terms with a customer and/or supplier can be amended in realtime, with immediate effect; the payment dates on then current outstanding items are unaffected by such a change.



In some countries (Scandinavia in particular) it is normal practice to charge interest on overdue sales debits. The designers have included an optional suite of software that allows the user to operate in this manner.



The system allows for the setup and maintenance of defaults per user-company; these defaults include annual interest percentage rate, grace days period, thresholds for minimum values of interest sales invoices which will be produced automatically together with a general ledger cost centre and account to which all such overdue interest charges will be credited.



The user has the ability to suppress this feature on personal accounts where it would be inappropriate. Particular personal accounts can be charged interest at nominated interest rates; irrespective of the user-company default. Interest invoices will generally be run on a weekly basis and/or when matching of personal account items is effected; in both cases the operation is automatic. Charging interest in currency is supported.



In order to avoid upsetting a customer when his payment arrives perhaps one or two days late, a grace period is available (recommended 7 days); within which no interest will be charged if payments arrive and are processed. After the grace period, interest will be charged for the total overdue period of the invoice concerned; either at the user-company default or the customer rate, as appropriate.



Where the user's customer complains about an interest invoice and the user feels that the interest invoice should be credited, then a simple method of issuing a credit note is available. The system maintains logical links between original sales debits and their associated interest charges; the user can view related records in an easy and quick fashion. Interest charges are not coded with job numbers in the general ledger, so are not part of the job costing side of the system.


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Cancelled invoices



There are no cancelled invoices possible in the design, where the operational departments are effecting their work, using the Boffin operational systems. Where the user has issued small or specialist operational departments with pre-numbered sales invoicing pads, ruined documents are not discarded, but are 'crossed through' with the word "CANCELLED" and sent to the accounting department. The accounting department, use a specialist Boffin program, to enter these cancelled invoices to the system, such that the document(s) can be accounted for in the invoice number checking sub-system. Such cancelled invoice, zero value records are posted to a particular sales personal account, reserved for the purpose.


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Bulk invoicing



In general terms, a sales invoice is produced for each shipment for the customer's charges. In some cases, especially with very large customers, who perhaps ship many consignments, the customer will not want a sales invoice per shipment, but would prefer to be invoiced periodically "in bulk" with a manifest-like document describing the breakdown of the total charge. Boffin supports this scenario, which Bishopsgate call Bulk Invoicing; but in a manner that does not lose general ledger detail of charges per original cost file by the consolidation of the sales charges. This feature is very powerful and well liked as it provides the customer with what he would like, without losing any detail information in the user's computer controlled business system.


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Accruals by currency, reporting



Where the user is electing to use the Boffin Partial and/or Full Operational Accrual Accounting system, accruals made against personal accounts for which payment is made in foreign currency, can be monitored to provide a better 'picture' of currency exposure. Total exposure can be considered to be the sum of unpaid foreign currency actual invoices plus the value of currency accruals for which currency invoices can be expected.


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Currency Bank Accounts



The system offers support for the maintenance of Bank Accounting in any number of supported foreign currencies; one currency per bank account. Revaluation of foreign currency bank account balances can be automatic; which automatically feeds difference in exchange records into the nominal ledger.



The system does not support a single bank account in which transactions are allowed in more than a single currency - multi-currency cheque books!


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Universal, unique numbering of all vouchers

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Universal, unique numbering of all vouchers



In some countries, such as Norway and Sweden, it is local accounting practice to allocate a unique, sequential number to EVERY accounting document. The number allocated is copied onto every ledger posting that the document caused and written on to the paper voucher. Typically, vouchers are stored by this number, to facilitate auditing. Boffin contains an option, by which such numbering is automated per supported user company. Under this option, a terminal operator viewing an open item, is able to press a single program function key and recall all of the postings that were caused by the voucher in question. This optional software, will obligatory to all users who wish to implement Boffin/Image; as it will form the index to the image system, as used in the accounting system.


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Sales & Purchase Personal Accounts



All of the static details relating to a single customer or supplier are stored, centrally in a single dataset to which all of the application software can refer. New personal accounts can be created by suitably qualified operators in real-time and are immediately made available for use. Clerks booking cargo, for a new account, can create the new customer account from within the cargo booking routines. Mechanisms are available for the accounts department to monitor new accounts being created by the operational staff (and anyone else). All new and/or amended personal account master file records are annotated with the logon ID of the person creating/amending the account.


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Cargo pre-booking



The system includes a Communications Menu, that can be accessed from any/all programs and menus within the system by temporarily suspending the current computer terminal task. On the Communications menu, there is a specialist program that will accept the very minimum of information relating to a future cargo booking to create a cargo Pre-Booking. In loose terms a cargo pre-booking is like a memo to say that documentation and/or cargo is expected for a shipment for which the user has only received (perhaps) a telephone call so far. The scenario works as follows:-



An operations clerk can be doing ANYTHING on the system, when the telephone rings; it is a customer asking for someone to arrange collection of a shipment or telling the shipping clerk that some documentation is on it's way. While the customer is paying for the telephone call, the shipping clerk presses PF'22 on the keyboard to temporarily suspend whatever he is doing and link to the system Communications Menu. The clerk then presses one more PF'n Key to indicate that he would like to access the pre-booking suite. In this suite he is able to request a screen list of all outstanding pre-bookings in chronological order and/or make another Pre-Booking. The automatically allocated Pool Number can be given to the customer, who then completes the telephone call. In the case where the clerk creates another pre-booking, a computer Pool Number (not a job number) is allocated to the pre-booking. When the four of five questions relating to the pre-booking have been answered, the clerk is able to press PF'16 twice to return to his original task, where he will find everything as he left it, even the screen cursor is in the correct original position.



The summary, one screen line per file, list of cargo pre-bookings can be displayed at the warehouse door, as an indication of what cargo and/or documentation is expected; this is an ideal facility to be used with Windows and/or multi-workstation software. The warehouse staff could check weigh the cargo and amend these details on the pre-booking screen; which in turn could be used to warn the office staff of the arrival. When the full details relating to the shipment arrive, the Pre-booking list is accessed once more and the entry amended into a full booking. This causes the pre-booking to be taken from the pre-booking area of the system and become part of the Goods on Hand. Where cargo documentation arrives at the outset of the process, there is no requirement to pre-book. Where a customer cancels a pre-booking, the pre-booking entry is simply pointed to with the screen cursor and PF12 deleted, with no harm done. Pre-bookings and full bookings can be amended in realtime, as required.


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Cargo Booking



On receipt of a Shipping Instruction, the clerks are encouraged to book the cargo into the system as early and as completely as possible to introduce some control for the consignment. In these days, where exports are processed at high speed, clerks are encouraged to enter the sales charges to be debited, to save time later.



The system will not allow cargo to be booked for a shipper who does not have a sales ledger account. Even ex-works shippers are required to have a sales account, as the account number is used in subordinate systems, such as sales and marketing and cataloguing special sales rates.


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Shipper Sales Accounts



The clerks check that the shipper has a sales account, by effecting a partial alphabetic search of the sales ledger. If the saleslead system is installed, then the shipping clerk will be show a merged alphabetic list of actual and potential customers; with actual customers shown in bright light on the screen and potential customers as more dull line entries.



Normally the customer will be a live account, in which case the shipping clerk aligns his screen cursor beneath the customers account and presses a single PFKey to identify the account. If the customer has never traded with the user's company previously, but is on the shadow marketing file, then the selection of this account will cause the transfer of the potential account to the live sales ledger, (with the same account number) and the deletion of the shadow sales ledger entry. In this automatic and immediate transfer, any special instructions and/or special sales rates, previously established by the sales team, are also copied across to the live company. This transfer process could readily be used as a trigger action to warn the appropriate staff of the first live shipment for a new customer; perhaps a letter could be written to the salesman concerned - keeping him informed and allowing him to monitor progress and liaise with the customer.



In normal working hours, if no account exists, the accounts department should be asked to create one on an urgent basis from details contained on the shipping instructions. In practice and outside normal working hours, the export clerks create new accounts and the accounting department monitor new accounts through specialist software provided.


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Automatic Credit & Instructions Checking

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Automatic Credit & Instructions Checking



During the booking process, the system automatically effected a Credit Status, Credit Limit and Special Instruction search against the Shippers Account and the consignee if it is a known consignee, warning the booking clerk of anything relevant. If the clerk needs to view recent cargo bookings for the shipper's account, this is available in summary and detail form from within the booking program; which is useful to answer queries like "what did we charge for postages and petties on the last shipment?  or do we insure this company's cargo?".


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Amendment of Consignment Details



The details relating to a given booking may be amended as often as required and even cancelled completely. Amendment is restricted and cancellation is stopped, once cargo has been allocated to a container or, in the case of a full load, despatched. There is no limit to the number of terminals which can book cargo on the same or different routes, simultaneously. On surface export freight the user should expect to have to install one computer terminal per 350 - 400 shipment cost files per month; but this assumes that all terminals will be located in a single open plan office.


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Goods on Hand awaiting shipment



Where cargo bookings are made and the clerk is able to allocate the booking(s), directly to a 'loading unit', he may do so directly from the booking program. This avoids the bookings being considered as goods on hand and needing allocation to a loading unit at a later time. If this method of allocating cargo bookings to loading units, is used, then the Available Space per loading unit can be readily obtained.



Cargo bookings that are not allocated to a Loading Unit, are considered to be "Goods on Hand" on their respective route. Any terminal may be used to view in summary and detail form, the cargo booked and awaiting allocation to a groupage unit and shipment on any specified route. Remote branches may book cargo directly into a groupage route, with the knowledge that the clerk who constructs the load will be advised of the bookings. It is possible to call for a list of the cargo booked, but not shipped on a nominated route and it is also possible to obtain a manifest of a Loading Unit, even prior to the completion of loading the unit.


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Collection Notes



Where required, the operations clerk is able to request the immediate production of Collection Notes. These notes can be for use with the user's own transport department or with subcontractors. Where a user has a single transport office, whether it be his own or not, it is possible to install a printer in the transport office and have the system direct all collection notes to the specified printer.


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Booking Groupage Units



For cargo booked for groupage, the operating clerk uses his terminal to assess the type of unit required and books the appropriate size. A Master cargo booking is made for the departing groupage unit, as a whole, in order to obtain a Groupage Master Reference. Typically, sea-freight charges would be accepted against this Master Reference; these can be apportioned across the constituent waybills later, so that Customer Profitability can be obtained. From this point forward, cargo bookings can be allocated to the Master Groupage Unit. The possibility exists to de-allocate a booking from a Loading Unit, either due to it being mis-allocated or due to the clerk wishing to make major amendment to the cargo booking. It is not possible to allocate a single cargo booking to more than one Loading Unit.


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Instruction to Load List



When the unit arrives and is available for loading, the system allows the clerk to produce an Instructions to Load list. This is a manifest-like document which can be given to the Warehouse loading staff as a control of what to load.


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Unit Despatch Record



There is no practical limit to the number of 'Loading Unit' records that can be open, simultaneously. This provides for users who might wish to create the departure records for future units, early, from which schedules and Loading space availability can be assessed. Furthermore, these Loading Unit records could be made available for enquiry from outside agencies as to remaining capacity, per departure. Full load departures do not, but can be, represented in the departure file.



The clerk creates a Loading Unit record and a Groupage Master Job File for the proposed groupage departure, keying all of the unit details together with the details of the proposed vessel sailing; these can be amended later. A single unit departure can have traffic for more than one service/route on it.


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Allocating cargo to units



Booking clerks can allocate cargo bookings to a Loading Unit, immediately. Alternatively, as each consignment is physically loaded or is requested to be loaded onto the Loading Unit, the clerks in the office allocate the cargo references to the respective Loading Unit record. This action automatically removes the cargo entry from the Goods on Hand list.


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Automatic Manifests



The software automatically produces the correct number of Manifests, Waybills, T-Form Schedules and an automatic Telex Pre-advice to the foreign partner. Several formats of pre-advice are possible, depending upon the agent's requirements. In the case of a networked installation, where EDI is to be used to send cargo booking images forward, this point is the place where such EDI transmission(s) would be effected, automatically; probably taking the place of the Telex Pre-advice; Bishopsgate have this EDI system running in their Inland Distribution system, in Norway.



The clerk assembles all of the documentation and gives it to the driver. Experience has found that the time from the sealing of the unit to the departure of the driver with the documents, is in the order of five to ten minutes. There is no practical limit to the number of shipment cost files that can be allocated to a single groupage unit; there are quick methods of handling full loads.


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Confirmation of Sailing Details



After the sailing time, the clerk checks with the shipping company to ensure that the unit sailed on the expected vessel. A very quick Confirmation program is run to confirm or change the sailing details relating to the unit. Any amended details are automatically applied to all relevant consignment records comprising the groupage unit in question. It is thought to be very important to have the correct sailing details printed on the sales invoices and Certificates of Shipment; consider banking implications.


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Automatic Invoices & Certs of Shipment



When the sailing details for the unit have been confirmed, the system automatically requests and prints the Prepaid Sales Invoices, House Bills and/or Certificates of Shipment. Depending on the way in which the Route/Service has been setup, the sum of the collect charges will (typically) be debited to the nominated destination agent; but there are other options here. Any/all currency conversions are automatic.



The financial ledgers are updated automatically on behalf of each sales invoice raised, so if the accounts copy is misplaced, the debit still appears on the ledger. If the Boffin Full Accrual Accounting system is being used, any accruals that exist for the Groupage Master and/or any detail shipment cost file are fully processed and the shipment cost files closed and profited. All financial postings to the ledgers carry the computer logon of the clerk who caused them.


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Bordereau and/or Waybills



A Bordereau or Multiple Waybill, is available instead of, or as well as, individual consignment Waybills.


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Supplementary Invoices & Credit Notes



Financial mistakes and missed charges may be corrected by supplementary invoicing, using a specialist program of the suite. There is no limit to the number of supplementary sales invoices and/or credit notes that can be produced per booking.


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Copy Invoices



The online document archiving system, provides the user with the means of obtaining perfect 'customer' copy invoices, either by quoting the sales invoice or credit note number or by using the job number. Copy documents obtained in this way are perfect copies of the original customer copy. Copy documents may be viewed on terminal screens, prior to printing, as required.


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Ameta Production



The system contains a program which allows the production of Ameta Invoices or Credit Notes. This program will probably require amendment for each user, depending upon his/her arrangement with foreign agents. Ameta invoices and credit notes can be added to the online archive files, as can all sales invoices and credit notes.



Two new systems of Ameta Control and Ameta Statistics are being designed in the second quarter of 1991, that will provide a realtime monitor showing outstanding Ametas and details per route of Ameta Statistics. Such statistical information highlights whether late Ametas are to the advantage or disadvantage of the user and/or his 'foreign' partner. No one minds Ametas being late if he controls the traffic and has collected most of the cash etc!


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Integration of information



In traditional 'double-entry' accounting systems, the same information is 'posted' twice and then the balance between the two sets of figures monitored to ensure consistency. This is fine in a manual system, but is expensive and wasteful in a computer system. The design of Boffin overcomes this waste and risk of inconsistent data by making a single financial posting have the effect of several traditional postings. Under this concept, the posting is either in the system and everything is in balance or it is not and everything is still in balance; but with the item missing. Boffin, of course, has other checks and controls to ensure that all postings are present.



It will be quite informative for the reader to be shown some of the essential content of a single data processing record representing a trading sales invoice. The reader should remember that all of the individual data elements of the record are built up during the few micro-seconds prior to posting the record to the controlled financial ledgers and (for a given record) will never change. Additional data will be added to the logical-record throughout its' life, but the basic ingredients will be consistent.



Personal account number
Job Number
Accounting month
Cost Centre
General Ledger account
Document date
Invoice number
Invoice currency total
Sales tax in home-currency
Net charge in home-currency


It will be seen from the content of the record, that the single data processing record can be used to fulfil all of the financial and management accounting requirements of the user's company. It goes without saying that the actual Boffin universal financial accounting record design contains many other elements than shown here.


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Sales bulk Invoicing



Boffin offers the user the opportunity to establish sales ledger accounts as 'Bulk Invoicing Accounts'. Typically, customers are invoices per consignment shipped, so that each of the user's sales invoices refers to a single job number. Larger importers and exporters often insist that the freight forwarder should not invoice in this way, but on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis, with a single sales invoice, supported by a schedule/manifest of how the complex gross charge has been made up - this is known as Boffin Bulk Invoicing.



Boffin handles this situation, by suppressing the sales invoice printing for each consignment processed for such customers, but a single bulk invoice detail record is injected into the financial ledgers at 'invoicing time' as annotation until the bulk invoice is raised, subsequently. When the operational department(s) cause the regular bulk invoice to be raised, a debit is raised to the customer account on behalf of all or a date-cutoff selection of the 'pending bulk invoice' details. In this case the detail records update the general ledger and job costing, whilst the equal and opposite total record debits the client personal account.



Two major points emanate from this situation. Firstly, it is the responsibility of the various operational department managers to 'remember' to debit the bulk invoice customers on a regular basis and certainly just prior to each month-end. Secondly, depending on the reason for which a job costing report is being produced from the integrated financial ledgers as to whether these annotation bulk invoice pending records should be included or not.


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Personal account numbers



Boffin is an integrated system, in which the user is able to establish and maintain a sales, bought and general ledger for each supported user-company. There is no practical limit to the number of user-companies that can be supported on any given installation, simultaneously.



Boffin issues customer/supplier check-digit personal account numbers at the time a human operator creates a new personal account; account numbers take the form A1223 and may contain up to 11 digits. Irrespective of how many user-companies are being supported in any installation, any given personal account number will only be present once in one of the user-companies. Customer and Supplier account numbers are issued from a single series per installation.


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Ability for auto-migration from Boffin/VS to Boffin/Open

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Ability for auto-migration from Boffin/VS to Boffin/Open



The Boffin/Open system is a re-write of the Boffin/VS system that is 100% compatible with all models of Wang VS computers and ISAM file technology. Bishopsgate have designed and written  a suite of application software, which will allow all of the detail data contained within Boffin/VS ISAM files to be ‘exported’ on a one-for-one record basis to a series of comma-delineated flat-files. These flat-files can be sent over a network connection to an industry standard Personal Computer where the data is written to a series of CD-ROMs. These flat files can then be read using the Oracle ‘sqlldr’ program and some Bishopsgate produced control files to populate a modern open-systems Boffin/Open server.



The Wang VS based programs used to export the Wang VS based commercial data are all named  with program names beginning ‘Q’ and not beginning ‘Q1'. It is a fact that due to the continued development of the Wang VS and Open-Systems version of the Boffin system, all such ‘Q’ programs have to be checked-out before they are used to ensure that all system upgrades are taken into account.



The main advantage(s) of bringing forward the Boffin/VS data into the new Boffin/Open environment, are as follows:-



1.
There is no loss in detailed commercial data in the installation upgrade.
2.
All coding systems in use in the now defunct system are carried forward, such as but not limited to:-
Personal and General Ledger account numbers, department, branch and operational section codes.


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Ability to extract Boffin/Open Oracle table data to Excel spreadsheets

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Ability to extract Boffin/Open Oracle table data to Excel spreadsheets



The Boffin/Open Oracle database is comprised of a number of heavily normalised data tables, some of which are quite complex; all can be made available for data-extraction. The normal setup of a Boffin/Open installation is to have one (or more) Oracle servers running under (generic) Microsoft Windows or Unix/Linux with a number of fat-client personal computers equipped with (generic) Microsoft Windows and the occasional thin-clients at remote locations also with Microsoft Windows operating systems.



Where the Fat-Clients are running under the control of Microsoft Windows, all of the Office Automation products available from Microsoft are also available. In the Microsoft Office 2000 suite there is a set of utilities named ‘Query Tools’, that can be installed. These tools include ODBC drivers that allow personal computer Excel installations to be expanded to facilitate the real-time export of Boffin/Open Oracle table data; on demand and irrespective of what other system users are doing. Not only can Boffin/Open data be extracted to an Excel spreadsheet in this way, but the records extracted from a nominated table can be selected as to a number of logical criteria, submitted at extraction time.



The extracted data adheres to the Boffin/Open design rules, with individual fields of extracted data being named with the Bishopsgate allocated field names used within the application.



See Appendix B to this chapter for detailed installation instructions and then use of the extract facility.


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Appendix A - Detailed discussion of Boffin Job Numbers

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Appendix A - Detailed discussion of Boffin Job Numbers



The Boffin job number is essential to the running of the system, it is used as the key for all shipment bookings in the operational systems and key to many reporting functions.



The job number consists of four components:



1:
Section Prefix
X(3).
2:
Rotation Number
9(5).
3:
Statistical month letter
X.
4:
Check Digit
9.



A sample job number (HIF13297I3) is used here to help explain the detail, it is laid out as below and the example looked at here will be used throughout this appendix:





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Section prefix



All Boffin operational Route Codes use the Operational Section Prefix as the three high-order characters of the six character route code. The Section Prefix indicates the Branch/Section where the Boffin shipment is being processed. For example a Route Code of HEENYC might indicate traffic originating in Heywood (HE), England, destined for New York (NYC).


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Rotation number



This is an incrementing number that is used to make the job number unique. It is used purely to reference the job and has no other structural value, unlike the other components that comprise the job number.



All possible numbers in the inclusive range 00000 to 99999 are available for use by each operational Section. Rotation numbers are not restarted at 00000 each month, although technically they could be. The Rotation number 00000 each month per Section is reserved for use as the Section Accruals Reference. The Rotation number 00001 each month per Section is reserved for use as an Internal Debit clearing account.



When new shipments are booked in any given section, depending upon a Route Control indicator as to when job numbers should be issued, Boffin will use the next available rotation number for the Section involved and use it. If the number to be issued reaches (1 + 99999); then the numbers are automatically restarted from 00002.


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Operational month letter



The month letter is a single character that informs the user of the statistical month in which the job was processed; Boffin statistical months are exactly equal to calendar months. Each month letter corresponds to a calendar month. The letters A to L are used in even-numbered years 2000, 2002, 2004 etc and the letters N to Y are used in odd-numbered years, 2001, 2003, 2005 etc. The letters M and Z are never used.



Month
Month Letter
For even years
For odd years
JAN
A
N
FEB
B
O
MAR
C
P
APR
D
Q
MAY
E
R
JUN
F
S
JUL
G
T
AUG
H
U
SEB
I
V
OCT
J
W
NOV
K
X
DEC
L
Y


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Check digit



The check digit is calculated when a new job number is generated. At critical system data-entry points, the check digit is validated when the user enters a job number and an error message displayed if the entered job number is invalid.


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How the check-digit is calculated



The check-digit can be calculated in two ways, depending on the value of a software switch set in the System Defaults. The flag is always set on the initial installation of the system and must not be changed, without consultation with the designers. If the flag is set to 'Y' then the check digit will be calculated including the section prefix; otherwise it does not. In all Boffin/Open installations the Section Prefix is included within the check-digit calculation.


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Including the section prefix characters method

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Including the section prefix characters method



The job number used in this example is HIF13297I?.
The high order digit in the Rotation No. is multiplied by 6
In this example 1 * 6 = 6
The second high order digit in the Rotation No. is multiplied by 5
In this example 3 * 5 = 15
The third high order digit in the Rotation No. is multiplied by 4
In this example 2 * 4 = 8
The fourth high order digit in the Rotation No. is multiplied by 3
In this example 9 * 3 = 27
The fifth high order digit in the Rotation No. is multiplied by 2
In this example 7 * 2 = 14
The aggregate total of the result of each multiplication is then calculated: (6+15+8+27+14) = 70
The third letter of the section prefix (in this case F) is searched for in the alphabet.
The position at which the letter appears in the alphabet is (ie F is position 6),
is multiplied by 7: F (position 6) * 7 = 42
This is added to the total above: 70 + 42 = 112
The new total is 112
The second letter of the section prefix (in this case I) is searched for in the alphabet. This letter's position is multiplied by 8: I (position 9) * 8 = 72
This is added to the total above: 112 + 72 = 184
The new total is 184.
The first letter of the section prefix (in this case H) is searched for in the alphabet. This letter's position is multiplied by 9:
H (position 8) * 9 = 72
This is added to the total above:
184 + 72 = 256
The new total is 256
If the total is below 11 it is moved straight into the check digit, otherwise, 11 is divided into this total giving an integer result and an integer remainder (256 / 11) = 23 with a remainder of 3.
The total is 23 but this is not required, only the remainder is used (3), which is subtracted from 11 giving a check-digit of 8. If the result is 10, 3 is moved to the check digit If the result is 11, 0 is moved to the check digit. If the result is not 10 or 11 then the remainder is moved straight into the check digit.


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Excluding the Section prefix characters in the check-digit

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Excluding the Section prefix characters in the check-digit



The job number used in this example is HIF13297I5.
The first digit in the Rotation No. is multiplied by 6
In this example 1 * 6 = 6
The second digit in the Rotation No is multiplied by 5
In this example 3 * 5 = 15
The third digit in the Rotation No. is multiplied by 4
In this example 2 * 4 = 8
The fourth digit in the Rotation No. is multiplied by 3
In this example 9 * 3 = 27
The fifth digit in the Rotation No. is multiplied by 2
In this example 7 * 2 = 14
These totals (6+15+8+27+14) are added to give 70
If the total is below 11 it is moved straight into the check-digit, otherwise, 11 is divided into this total (70 / 11) = 6 with a remainder of 4.
The total is 6 but this is not required, only the remainder is used (4), which is subtracted from 11 giving 7. If the result is 10, 3 is moved to the check-digit. If the result is 11, 0 is moved to the check-digit. If the result is not 10 or 11 then the remainder is moved straight into the check-digit.


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Appendix B - Setup of data extraction from Boffin/Open database

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Appendix B - Setup of data extraction from Boffin/Open database



Typically, Boffin/Open runs in a Local Area Network (LAN) environment in which the Client-PCs are running under Microsoft Windows and the LAN server is running under Microsoft Windows Server or Unit/Linux. It is a fact that there is an Oracle ‘map’ of the LAN with a file name of TNSNAMES; a copy of which is present on each server and Client-PC. This optional facility of being able to extract data from Boffin/Open table(s) to an Excel spreadsheet uses this TNSNAMES file to enable it to locate the Oracle database. There is nothing in this area that the Boffin/Open user needs to know or think of changing.


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Introduction



Boffin allows the user accounts department to maintain a currency exchange rate library on which there is a single record for each of the countries in the world. Each country record in the set contains a currency authorisation flag, which is used to indicate if the currency of that country is to be allowed for the maintenance of currency personal accounts. This data set is provided with each new copy of the system.


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Several rates of exchange



For each country record in the exchange rate library, the customer is invited to maintain up to six currency exchange rates, the titles of which are listed below:



Financial Times Rate for valuing sales invoices
House Rate for valuing incoming purchase invoices.
Management Rate for Year end valuations etc.
Customs and Excise Published Rate for period 1
Customs and Excise Published Rate for period 2
IATA Weekly Financial Times Rate for assessing airline charges.


The user is required to maintain the individual rates of exchange stored in the data set by monitoring and amending them at the start of each days trading.



Exchange rate sensitive transactions check that the exchange rate library has been updated for the system date day. If the exchange rates have not been checked or the rate of exchange is zero, the exchange rate sensitive action will not be allowed.



In practice, not all rates of exchange require changing each day, the action of amending any one rate allows the system to consider that all relevant rates have been monitored and if necessary amended. The facility to list all of the rates of exchange is provided for those users who would like to store, in hard copy form, the rates which related to each days trading.


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Currency account enquiries



All personal account enquiries are shown to the terminal operator in the personal account currency and converted to the 'home currency' at the current selling rate (FT).



In the Boffin Operational Export System, the foreign exchange rates used for the purposes of generating sales invoices are those relating to the day of export despatch of the cargo, no matter when the sales invoice is produced. In the Boffin Operational Import System, the rates of exchange used for the purposes of sales invoicing are those active on the day of the raising of the sales invoice.



Each sales invoice, credit note etc, posted to the system, both via the operational systems and the accounting department batched input, carry the accounting document posting value in the currency of the personal account and the Nominal Ledger home currency equivalent.


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Profit/losses in exchange



Profits and Losses in exchange are deemed to be made at the time the currency items on a given personal account are matched. The system calculates the difference in exchange automatically and posts a nominal ledger item directly.


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Realised profit/losses in exchange



The automatically generated profit/loss in exchange records of the nominal ledger can be used to provide a list of actual profit/loss in exchange for the current or last financial year, sorted by currency/accounting-month.


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Exchange liability reporting



Unmatched foreign currency personal account items can be processed and revalued using a nominated rate of exchange to produce a currency 'exposure' report by currency/acceptance date.


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Profit/loss in exchange by personal account

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Profit/loss in exchange by personal account



Nominal profit/loss in exchange records may be used to generate a report by personal account. This report is designed to highlight those accounts where the user is consistantly being beaten in the manipulation of payment dates.


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Acceptance of currency supplier invoices

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Acceptance of currency supplier invoices



The system monitors the acceptance of foreign currency supplier invoices by the operational departments to protect the accounts department from excessive losses in exchange. Operational departments must be encouraged to accept foreign currency purchase invoices at realistic rates. The user is able to establish criteria for the allowable difference between the rate at which the operational departments accept purchase invoices compared with the home currency amount as assessed using the daily buying rate. Typically these parameters would be 2% or £2 which ever is the larger - SPDEFLTS.


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Account balance age analysis



Each personal account record carries an age analysed breakdown of the account balance together with the sum total of unallocated cash on the account. This aged summary of the account balance is updated immediately after each relevant posting is input to the ledger system. To cover for the occasional hardware breakdowns, a personal account aging program is supplied for use after hardware failure and at sales ledger month end to realign the aged balances with the outstanding personal account detail. A System option exists to realign a single personal account age analysis after each operator session of matching within the account. In normal circumstances, therefore, there is no DAILY requirement to re-age the personal ledgers.


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Personal account lists



The Personal account maintenance program provides the user with the means of producing many varied lists of personal accounts, on demand throughout the normal working period. Provision exists for the production of personal account lists of new accounts and/or those which have been amended since a specified date.


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Credit status and credit limits



Sales accounts can be allocated Credit Status and Credit Limit parameters, which have immediate effect. Reports are available of all accounts by various credit related criteria.


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Allocating customers to sales representatives

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Allocating customers to sales representatives



Individual accounts may be allocated to Sales Representatives and/or Sub Agents. As consignments are processed in the Boffin Operational systems, they are simultaneously allocated to the sales representative who controls the account. Analyses of sales by representative/month are available. This is very useful in commission calculations. Not all accounts have to be allocated to representatives in this manner.


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Personal account notes



Boffin provides for the storing of unlimited text against each personal account. These notes are split into categories such as Credit Control, Air Exports etc for convenience. When terminal operators access accounts which have text annotated to them, the operator is made aware of the existance of the notes. The text of the notes is always available and is independent of the locality or type of terminal being used.



Additional notes can be appended to nominated personal accounts randomly and from any terminal. Old notes can easily be deleted, physically freeing the disk space involved.



In special cases, notes could be added by system programs, on the occurrence of special actions within or by the system.


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Separate duty and charges accounts



Users may elect to have separate Duty and Charges accounts on their sales ledger, as required.


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Related accounts



It is quite common in the freight forwarding industry for foreign freight forwarders to require sales and purchase ledger accounts on the user's ledgers. It is very important, especially in the Purchase Ledger system, for a logical link to be available between related personal sales and purchase ledger accounts. Warnings can then be issued to purchase ledger staff about money owing to the user prior to purchase ledger payments being made. There is no limit to the number and/or currency of accounts in the sales and purchase ledgers which can be logically linked together by the Related Accounts logic. Chains of related accounts may be 'unchained' as required by the user, randomly, by changing the 'Related Backward' and 'Related Forward' account fields on the personal account records.


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Alternate accounts



The system includes the optional logic to allow the user to nominate Alternate Accounts for one or more personal accounts. In this feature, the user can establish, in one session or randomly, several personal accounts for one customer or supplier. Each account may be considered a completely separate entity, except that all accounts which nominate another as their alternate will redirect all postings to the alternate, thereby consolidating the account detail. There is no limit to the number of personal accounts which may be nominated to redirect their financial postings to a consolidation account. An account which was previously consolidating into a master can be reestablished in it's own right by removing the account number of the alternate personal account.


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Personal accounts



Additional personal accounts may be created from any terminal and in random sequence. Accounts created, become immediately usable and there is no practical limit to the number of supplier accounts which may be established.



The supplier accounts are very similar in nature to the customer accounts; they can also annotated with the bank details of the supplier and the normal method of payment.


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Optional purchase invoice registration



The Registration of purchase invoices, prior to their despatch to the operating departments for acceptance, is a system option. It works very well in medium sized companies and is useful, as it provides a mechanism by which the accounts department can chase the operations staff for 'slow' purchase invoice authorisation. The most important aspect of this feature, is that it requires a rigid discipline in the purchase ledger section who MUST register EVERY document.



Where purchase invoices are received in the mail at remote branches, which do not have access to a remote terminal, they should be sent to the accounts department for registration prior to branch acceptance. Remote branches with access to a computer terminal could register their own invoices.



The registration option allows purchase invoices to be categorised into Outsiders, Group Companies, Duty. As each invoice is registered, it is allocated the next check digit registration number in the relevant range. This number is written in the top right-hand corner of the invoice, in red. The basic details relating to the invoice are keyed into the system, together with the name of the person/department to which it is to be sent for authorisation. The data processing record created by this action is 'date and time' stamped.



The registration system provides the user, on request, with a Master List of pending Purchase invoices and individual departmental purchase invoice chase lists.



When the purchase invoices have been accepted by the operating departments, they are returned to the purchase ledger section for ledger input.



The purchase ledger section enter each invoice into the system, using a specialist input program. If the purchase ledger registration is being used in the installation, the details previously keyed are not re-input, but the registration record called back by keying it's unique reference.



The basic details of the invoice are input, followed by an unlimited series of Job Number and Amounts in the user's home currency. The program checks any currency conversions involved, warning the operator if large discrepancies exist; large discrepencies are recorded in the daily audit trail. The VAT analysis and VAT amount, if any, is checked. When the input has been thoroughly validated, the keyed details are used to create several records; one for each Job Number and Amount and one for the document as a whole. Some or all of the purchase invoice line entries of charge authorisation can be recharged immediately; sales invoices being immediately produced and posted.



Once input, the records immediately and automatically update the supplier account balance, the on-line Job Costing and Nominal Ledger, if present. If the invoice was registered, the entry in the registration database is deleted.


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Petty cash



Petty cash is controlled in the purchase ledger and reflected in the appropriate nominal accounts. The procedure for petty cash voucher acceptance is similar to that described for supplier invoices above.



Petty cash expenses can be accepted against Cost Centre/Nominal Account combinations and/or Job Numbers. A single petty cash voucher may have any mix of nominal accounts and job numbers. The acceptance program has very stringent validation checks. Costs accepted against certain nominal accounts, P11D items, force the operator to enter an employee number. The Petty Cash acceptance program allows the operator to 're-debit' some or all of the charges contained on the Petty Cash Voucher.



The Petty Cash Acceptance program provides the operator with partial alphabetic searching of the system cost centre and nominal account sets.



Default nominal Accounts can be established for the regular Petty Cash headings in the SPDEFLTS data set.


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Supplier accruals



In installations where the user has elected to utilise the powerful Boffin Accrual accounting techniques, provision is made to allow terminal operators to interrogate the outstanding accruals by supplier account or Job Number or Currency. Suitably cleared staff can easily 'write off' outstanding accruals to profit. Facilities are provided to enable the accruals for non-computerised departments to be added to the system by the accounts departments.


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Supplier statements of account



Optionally, supplier statements can be entered into the system. Checks are exercised to ensure that no supplier statement pages are missing. Details from supplier statements are matched automatically against the details within the account. Manual overides exist for the more difficult supplier statement matches. Matched items are said to be approved for payment. Software is provided for the terminal operator to select items which are also approved for payment.



Lists are available showing those items approved for payment. These are in account number order, with account totals of approved items.


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Selecting items for payment



The purchase ledger department will normally select items from the approved payment list for payment. Perhaps once per day, or as required, a list can be produced of items which the purchase ledger department would like to pay. The list is then edited by a senior staff member, who has the ability to 'de-select' or delay items.



When items are being selected for payment, the terminal operator is automatically made aware if the supplier account being accessed has related sales and/or other supplier accounts. This is of particular importance in the foreign agents accounts, where the supplier may owe substantial sums on one or more sales accounts.


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Remittance advices



Remittance advices are produced for all items which have been selected for payment. These remittances are then forwarded to the cash office for cheques to be raised. Remittance advices are printed on the company headed sales invoicing stationery.


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Cheque writing



Urgently required cheques can be raised manually and entered into the system using a specialist input program.



The system is able to raise cheques automatically, using continuous cheques, which have been approved by the users' bank. The automatic production of the cheque, updates the Nominal Ledger Bank Control Account, the supplier account and matches the records in the personal account which are being paid. A record is also produced to the MIS Bank Reconciliation system for further processing. The system allows for the cancellation of an automatically created cheque.



Manually produced cheques cause all of the updates described above, with the exception of the personal account matching.


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SAD - Single Administrative Document



The introduction of the new European Economic Community SAD form was 1st January 1988. The system supports the preparation of export SADs, SAD Continuation sheets and worksheets. Pre-printed stationery is available in the United Kingdom, details from Bishopsgate, on request. Bishopsgate have obtained U.K. Customs approval, to use an intelligent laser printer to produce both the pre-printed SAD form and it's operational data on plain white A4 stationery; thus saving the £0.25 pence per multi-part set.


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EDI Export Entries



Where users wish to submit export customs entries using local EDI connections to the Customs & Excise computer, this can be arranged. The standard Boffin product contains all of the necessary queuing and monitoring application software, a relatively small amount of additional software is required to make the system compatible with any local customs and excise system.


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Cross Reference Index



A powerful on-line cross reference system is also provided, cross referencing Job Number / Date of Despatch / B/L No / Shipper Reference. The design of this index allows it to cover all shipments in a continuing 7 year cycle. Due to legal constraints, regarding copy Shipping Instructions, operational job files must be kept, even with the computer system, and so Boffin is designed to provide the real-time index.


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Operational Accruals



Partial Operational Accrual accounting has been made available. Under this scheme, operational managers accrue for outstanding supplier charges and close shipment cost files, in effect freezing the gross profit per file. Managers are able to accrue and profit their shipment cost files in random order and at their convenience. No printed working list are used with this method of processing and the profit on a closed file cannot change. The period between the sales invoicing of a shipment file and the time when the operational manager is asked to close the file, is variable and under the direct control of the user.



Managers will only be asked to accrue and profit a given shipment file, once in it's life. The financial totals per shipment cost file, that are shown to the operational manager at the time of closing the file, come directly from the user's nominal ledgers, thereby avoiding the industry problem of differences existing between the financial and statistical trading profits.


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Automatic Update of Sales & Marketing



A single detail record describing each consignment shipped is written to an on-line Sales & Marketing system as each consignment is despatched. This record forms the basis of the Recent Marketing data available to the booking clerks and the sales department.


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Automatic statistics update



Boffin accumulates statistical information for each Route/month combination, automatically. Surface export traffic is said to statistically belong to the calendar month in which the shipment was allocated it's job number - typically the day of cargo despatch.



The statistical information is retained online and available for reporting and enquiry purposes for a default thirteen months after the month in which the cargo moved. This allows reports to be produced showing the last completed month and the same month a year before. Where users wish to extend the period for which online statistics are retained, this can be accommodated.


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Ability to catalogue unlimited collection/delivery rates

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Ability to catalogue unlimited collection/delivery rates



Boffin has always allowed the user to run a national inland network in which all of the collection transport tariffs are available online; access being possible by postcode of collection and delivery to arrive at a fixed collection price. It is accepted that certain shippers/consignees have special tariffs.



Boffin has been expanded, so that all of the facilities of the user's national inland collection/delivery tariffs are similarly made available at destination (on exports). The Boffin international export system runs on depot/depot freight rates. This fact makes the automatic calculation of delivery charges possible, which in turn, allows the system to calculate comprehensive door-to-door prices.


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Global postcode directory



In early Boffin releases, the application design called for a discrete postcode (Zip code) directory per country; mainly to overcome the differences that existed in the structure of postcodes between countries. This area of the system has been re-designed so that the user's application can simultaneously hold the entire postcode directory of every country in the world. In practice users will only support those postcodes for countries within which they have an interest.



Where national post offices publish Post Code Directories in magnetic form (tapes, diskettes, compact disks etc); Bishopsgate offers to 'port' these directories to user's systems for a nominal cost. The application allows the user to manually enter country/postcodes combinations for which there is an immediate use, in realtime and in random country/postcode sequence.



The growth and breaking down of country borders in the European Economic Community, together with the great interest of the previous Eastern Block countries to join the EEC; indicates that a great increase in transport and logistics is likely. Experience shows that the freight forwarding and transport industries are moving rapidly towards a standard where shippers/consignees insists on fixed price door-to-door quotations and prices. To make this a practical computer application proposition, the system must have access to a centralised and comprehensive country/postcode directory.


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Door-to-door quotation system



An example of a Norwegian export door-to-door price for a shipment from Stavanger in Norway to St Remy de Provence in France for an agent with a depot in Larvik, Norway and partner's depot in Marseille would comprise of the following components. The Norwegian collection charge Stavanger/Larvik from the Norwegian national tariff. The international depot/depot freight Larvik/Marseille from the Boffin International Export system. The delivery charge from Marseille depot to St Remy from the French national rates.



The application of preparing door-to-door quotations has been added to the Boffin 'hot key' menu; this allowing the terminal-operators to suspend what they are doing at any time  a customer telephones for a quotation and 'jump' to the quotation preparation application. Once a quotation has been made in this way, the terminal operator simply depresses a single program function key to return to the task which was being effected before the need to prepare a quotation arose.



To prepare a comprehensive quotation, while the shipper is paying for the telephone call, the terminal-operator identifies the shipper, the collection country and postcode, the delivery country and postcode and the Boffin International route code for the international leg together with the gross weight and cube. The system immediately and almost instantly displays a breakdown and total price (Collection, international freight, FOBs, Delivery) for the movement and invites the operator to print (through a word processing interface) two copies of the quotation and to have it catalogued in a central quotations directory.



At the time of cargo booking, an automatic search is effected to warn booking-clerks of the presence of one or more quotation(s) for the shipper and route combination on which a current shipment is being booked. Quotation sales charge details are copied onto the freight booking, which are available for amendment by the booking clerk. In due course the system will invoice the quoted amount to the payer.



Quotation used in this way are electronically marked as having been used and with the date when they were last used; a quotation can be setup for a single cargo movement or a series of movements. The application allows the user to view the central quotations directory, viewing inactive, active etc quotations for one or all shippers, as required.


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Online World Agents' Directory



Boffin includes an optional Directory of Agents, in which the user is able to catalogue by 'foreign town and country, the full details of his 'partners' and/or 'associate' companies around the world. The user's staff are able to access the directory from any point within any program, without losing the working position they are in, when they wish to access the directory. The directory is very useful and is designed to allow for quick referral to obtain the details of an Agent in some distant town, without the need to maintain printed lists or books.


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Receipt of Pre-Advice



Normally the first information relating to an import unit arrival will be a Telex Advice to one or more of the user's branches. Where a groupage unit is being imported, possibly containing cargo for more than a single branch of the user's business, it is quite common for the foreign agent to send a Telex pre-advice to each branch concerned. Boffin Imports can reduce this multiple transmission of Pre-advice Telexes.



If one of the user's branches is clearing the unit through customs at the port or inland clearance depot, then that branch only requires a pre-advice.



The pre-advice Telex is used to decide which of the users branches will be the controlling office for each piece of cargo. The name of the importer of each piece of cargo is used to ascertain if he has a sales ledger account or not. A new account is required for each new importer. The sales ledger account number relating to the importer of each cargo booking is written on the Pre-advice Telex. The ultimate branch Route/Service Code, under which the individual item of cargo is to be booked is also written on the Telex advice.


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EDI notification of arrival



Where the user is a part of an international EDI network (Electronic Data Interchange), not all bookings for import arrivals have to be processed through the EDI system, there will always be a mixture of incoming pre-advice telexes and EDI notifications.



Bishopsgate arrange that incoming EDI bookings will be received into the system booking pool, but a special marker will be set on each booking record to indicate that it is 'raw' inbound booking. Such raw inbound bookings will be displayed on a realtime monitor, one line per booking, automatically; an ideal application for windows and/or multi-workstation software.



The terminal operator noticing a new inbound booking (he could have the monitor display on a multi-workstation screen image, to make it immediately available), will align his screen cursor to the booking and then press a single PF'n key to call the import cargo booking program into force for the shipment he is pointing to on the screen.



The clerk will then go through an amend routine, which will cause the careful validation of each field of information, before resetting the special marker on the booking, allowing to become a full inbound booking. It is felt important that the import clerk be able to vet and/or amend the incoming information, as he will be responsible for its accuracy and completeness. Foreign Export booking clerks often only worry about inputting booking detail that will have a direct effect on their own part of the process e.g. abbreviated marks and numbers.



Where shipment bookings are processed in this way, Bishopsgate have arranged to send a network receipt back to the sending station, on which is coded the date and time of inbound acceptance and the job number on the receiving system as well as the logon identification code of the clerk who 'accepted' the booking. This information is accepted by the sending computer and used to annotate the export cargo booking notepad on the sending system. This information will allow the consignee and/or sending office to view the shipment status at the Origin end of the route - in the case of the consignor for the cost of a local call.


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Cargo Booking



Each incoming booking is booked into the system, which allocates an appropriate branch job number. The job numbers are written on the Telex. Automatic credit status, Credit Limit and Special Instruction checks are effected for each booking of cargo. The clerk is made aware of any special conditions that exist.



In the case of groupage imports, any number of terminals may be used simultaneously to book the consignments of the unit into the computer. A Groupage master file is 'opened' in the system.


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Groupage Linkage



When all of the groupage consignments have been booked and a Groupage Master File created, all of the consignments and the Groupage Master are Linked together by the running of a small program. The linkage of the consignments does not have to be effected prior to customs entries being produced. Unit loads do not have to be processed through this linkage procedure.


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Pro-Forma Customs Entries



Where the user has regular traffic for a given consignee, where the cargo is often the same commodity or mix of commodities, a memo pro-forma customs entry can be built up and allocated a unique alphabetic short name. When import entries have to be made for the regular cargo, the pre-set values established in the Proforma can be copied into the current entry, the missing items keyed and the entry produced.


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Import Entry Production



The Customs Tariff and an Alphabetic Index to the Tariff is maintained on-line. Where the user has agreed tariff headings for regular traffic, these can be catalogued under the customer part numbers as appropriate, this saves the effort of maintaining a card index. The system also allows the user to establish Pro-Forma Import Entries for his regular customers; saving valuable time in producing successive import entries.



Customers VAT and Customs Deferment Numbers are stored on the customer sales ledger master file record, if applicable. Where an importer processes his first import, if the VAT was unknown and is obtained to facilitate the first customs entry, it is copied, automatically, to the importers sales ledger master file record, to aid any future entries. In the case where the user allows the use of his own Customs Deferment number for a given customers duty charges, there is a way of relaying this permission to the Entry Clerk. Where the customer has his own deferment number the clerk is made aware of it. Where the customer has an agreement to make use of the user's deferment account, the clerk is made aware of it. Where an importers duty is accepted against the users deferment number, duty sales invoice set is produced with the entry and the financial ledgers updated automatically.



If the user 'cuts' import entries for the cargo, the cargo booking program provides a direct link to the Customs Entry production software. Customs Entries, Worksheets and Release Notes are prepared and printed on continuous stationery or on the intelligent laser printer, using plain A4 stationery.



The system contains powerful software to control the VAT at Point of Entry. This subject is not discussed in detail here for the sake of keeping this document down to a reasonable length.


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Branch Unloading Lists



The reader will remember that the clearing branch booked the cargo for other controlling branches under the appropriate controlling branch route codes. The clearing office has by now linked all of the groupage records logically together.



A program can optionally be run at this stage, which determines which of the user's controlling branches has traffic in the groupage. A complete unloading trailer manifest is automatically sent to each department involved in the unit, utilising the leased lines to which the branch terminals are connected. This manifest prints on the appropriate printer in the controlling office, which acts as a pre-advice.



When the controlling office see the unloading manifest, they can identify their own cargo content by the Job Numbers issued to each piece. The procedure then, is to vet the import booking details applied by the clearing branch and add any local knowledge plus, perhaps the sales charges.


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Advices of Arrival



Printed or Telex Advices of Arrival can now be produced at the controlling office. The importer is asked for any special documentation and/or payment of the importers freight/duty account. The system automatically accesses the importers account and informs the clerk of the account balance(s) and credit limit and credit status at Advice of Arrival production time. If a discrepancy exists, then the release of the goods could be delayed. The design of the advice of arrival suggests that the goods will not be released unless the account is paid. This theme could be varied from user to user. The design of the Advice of Arrival, allows the user to highlight the need for the importer to supply certain documentation.



Boffin support two additional Advices of Arrival, with increasingly strong wording; these are used when the initial Advice of Arrival does not have the desired effect with the importer.


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Consignment Status



The Status of each import consignment is readily available on any workstation screen, where the calendar dates of each important event in the life of the import is displayed. Also displayed are such items as the Import Entry Number and Date. This is of particular advantage when one staff member goes on holiday and another member of staff is required to continue processing part processed consignments.


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Other Operational Documents



Various other Reserve Letters, Acknowledgements, Delivery Notes, Repudiation Letters, Collection Notes are available on demand. There is really no limit to the number of letter type documents which could be made available.


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Sales Charges Invoicing



Typically, once the goods are released or handed over to another agent, the import clerk is able to initiate the main sale invoicing. This set contains a Customer Invoice and Breakdown of Charges, as many extra copies as the importer has asked for, a File copy with Breakdown, and an Accounts Copy with Breakdown. If there are any charges to be debited back to the consignor, for local delivery etc., these are normally debited back to the foreign agent for his collection.


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Supplementary Invoices & Credit Notes



The system has the facilities to allow for supplementary sales invoicing and generation of credit notes. Special control features exist in the accounting system for the authorisation of credit notes.


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Copy Sales Invoices



The online document archiving system, provides the user with the means of obtaining perfect 'customer' copy invoices, either by quoting the sales invoice or credit note number or by using the job number. Copy documents obtained in this way are perfect copies of the original customer copy. Copy documents may be viewed on terminal screens, prior to printing, as required.


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Tracking & Tracing



Each event that happens to an import booking can cause a line entry to be added to the tracking and tracing history of a shipment. In addition, each additional line entry that is added to the tracking and tracing of an import can be sent back to the sending system and/or a control centre to provide for the answering of customer and/or operational queries.


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Duty Schedules



Duty schedules are processed on a continuing basis and as each one is entered into the system each consignment, referenced by the schedule, is re-reconciled with respect to duty. Supplementary duty invoices are issued as appropriate. Users are able to monitor their own duty deferment value on a continuing basis.



For all import consignments, at cargo release or handover time, a single record per job is stored in a SALES & MARKETING SYSTEM. This enables the sales and marketing departments of the user's company to produce analyses of traffic by route/month, customer and traffic type. A package of report programs are provided for the analysis of this information.


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Global postcode directory



In early Boffin releases, the application design called for a discrete postcode (Zip code) directory per country; mainly to overcome the differences that existed in the structure of postcodes between countries. This area of the system has been re-designed so that the user's application can simultaneously hold the entire postcode directory of every country in the world. In practice users will only support those postcodes for countries within which they have an interest.



Electronic books of postcodes can be entered into the system by Bishopsgate, by arrangement. The user is able to manually enter country/postcodes combinations for which there is an immediate use, in realtime and in random country/postcode sequence.



Expansion of the European Economic Community (EEC) with the integration of the Eastern Block countries makes a great increase in transport and logistics likely. there is a definite movement in the Transport industry towards fixed price door-to-door quotations and billing. To make this a practical computer application proposition, the system must have access to a centralised and comprehensive country/postcode directory.


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Ability to catalogue unlimited collection/delivery rates



Boffin has always allowed the user to run a national inland network in which all of the collection transport tariffs are available online; access being possible by postcode of collection and delivery to arrive at a fixed collection price. It is accepted that certain shippers/consignees have special tariffs.



It is now possible to make national inland collection tariffs available at origin (on imports). The Boffin international import system runs on depot/depot freight rates. This fact makes the automatic calculation of collection charges possible, which in turn, allows the system to calculate comprehensive door-to-door prices.


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Door-to-door quotation system



An example of a Norwegian import door-to-door price for a shipment from Quiberon in France to Arndahl in Norway for an agent with a depot in Larvik, Norway and partner's depot in Nantes, France would comprise of the following components. The French collection charge Quiberon/Nantes from the French national tariff. The international depot/depot freight Nantes/Larvik from the Boffin International Import system. The delivery charge from Larvik depot to Arndahl from the Norwegian national tariff.



The application of preparing door-to-door quotations has been added to the Boffin 'hot key' menu; this allowing the terminal-operators to suspend what they are doing at any time  a customer telephones for a quotation and use the quotation application. On completion of the quotation, the terminal-operator uses a single program function key to return to the task which was being effected before the need to prepare a quotation arose.



Identification of the Shipper, two postcodes, gross kilos and cube allows the quotation to be prepared. The system immediately and instantly displays a breakdown and total price (Collection, international freight, FOBs, Delivery) for the movement and invites the terminal-operator to print (through a word processing interface) two copies of the quotation and to have it catalogued in a central quotations directory.



At the time of cargo booking, an automatic search is effected to warn booking-clerks of the presence of one or more quotation(s) for the shipper and route combination on which a current shipment is being booked. Quotation sales charge details are copied onto the freight booking, which are available for amendment by the booking clerk. In due course the system will invoice the quoted amount to the payer. Quotation used in this way are electronically marked and dated as having been used. Quotations can be setup for a single cargo movement or a series of movements.


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Airport library



Each Boffin air export installation is supplied with a complete on-line Airport Directory, in which all of the static and/or semi-static data relating to the worlds major airports, is catalogued. Details held on this directory can be amended as required by the user in real-time and with immediate effect; alphabetic lookups into the library are made possible at all appropriate places in the system.


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Airlines library



Each Boffin air export installation is supplied with a complete on-line Airline Directory, in which all of the static and/or semi-static data relating to the airline is catalogued. Details held on this directory can be amended as required by the user in real-time and with immediate effect; alphabetic lookups into the library are made possible at all appropriate places in the system.


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Rates of Exchange



Boffin allows the user to maintain a file of exchange rates in which each currency has several rates of exchange. To the air export forwarder, the important rates are the IATA Weekly FT Rate and his own company's selling and purchasing rates. The user checks all of his rates of exchange each 24 hours, with the system maintaining history of exchange rates automatically. Boffin systems warnings are issued to terminal users if rates of exchange are not current.


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ABC freight buying rates



The ABC freight rates book is available in magnetic form either for the whole world, or for nominated export airports. At the time of writing , 17th May 1991, Bishopsgate do not offer this ABC Freight Rate Tariff, as the rates obtainable with local airline offices vary dramatically with those published in the ABC. In the event that any user wishes to have an ABC Tariff rate file included within the system, he should make direct contact with Bishopsgate head office in London.


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Standard Sales Rates



Each Operational service must have a sales tariff catalogued on the system. In cases where this is inappropriate, all of the brochure selling rates and charges are set to zero value. The user is able to establish the FOB charges and rates in any supported currency. Brochure consol sales freight rates can also be supported; either in the same or a different currency from that used for the FOB charges.


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Special Continuing Sales Rates



Exporters and Consignees can be allocated continuing special rate deals; these take the same form as the brochure sales rates, but are applicable only to the specific shipper or consignee when shipping on the nominated service. The system makes the operational clerk aware of the existence of a special rate during the booking process and offers him/her the choice of invoking it or not. Expired special rates are highlighted to the booking clerk, as a trigger mechanism to the sales staff to re-assess the special deal. Users should ensure that they discuss this point with Bishopsgate to determine if they feel that it is the traffic that is rated or the charges that will be invoiced to the parties involved! - there is a subtle difference.


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Branch FOB Rates



Where the proud Boffin installation uses 'blanket' FOB rates and charges on all of the services operated from a Branch, the FOB rates and charges can be catalogued in one place to make amendment easier.


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Collection Cartage Tariffs



The user is able to create and maintain sales cartage zones and cartage tariffs. During the cargo booking process, the clerk types the name of the collection town/village and the system calculates the cartage value and applies a minimum if applicable. There is no practical limit to the number of cartage tariffs or the number of towns/village names in the system. Collection cartage can be calculated in several different ways, the indicator to which method is stored on the individual Air Export Route Control record.


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Shipper Details



All shippers must be present on the integral sales ledger master list, even if they ship ex-works and pay no charges. This has been stipulated to introduce some control into the Boffin user companies. The shippers check digit account number is used in the Boffin Marketing sub-systems and the Special Rates setup, so that an account number is required even for shippers who never pay any charges.



In cases where new sales ledger accounts must be created, prior to cargo booking, the operational clerks (ignoring security) can create the new accounts, with the accountants catching up during the next working day. The customer sales ledger account static details record is also used to carry the optional customer credit status and/or credit limit.



The booking clerks are made aware of the shipper credit limits and credit status violations during the cargo booking process.


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Customer Notes



The discerning Boffin user is able to catalogue text notes, categorised by type of interest (Credit Control, Air Exports, Air Imports etc) against each shipper account. Operational clerks are made aware of the existence of notes for the customer for whom the booking is being made. The notes can then be accessed, read, added to or ignored as part of the cargo booking process. In networked installations, optional software is available to ensure such personal account notes are sent to all participating installations, automatically.


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Regular Consignee Traffic



Boffin allows the user to catalogue the static details relating to consignees who regularly take advantage of the user's services. These regular consignees can be allocated special rates and/or operational instructions. Details about regular consignees can be alphabetically searched for and readily recalled during cargo booking.


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Cargo Pre-booking



The system includes a Communications Menu, that can be accessed from any/all programs and menus within the system by temporarily suspending the current computer terminal task. On the Communications menu, there is a specialist program that will accept the very minimum of information relating to a future cargo booking to create a cargo Pre-Booking. In loose terms a cargo pre-booking is like a memo to say that documentation and/or cargo is expected for an air export shipment for which the user has only received (perhaps) a telephone call and maybe a request for a MAWB number. The scenario works as follows:-



An operations clerk can be doing ANYTHING on the system, when the telephone rings; it is a customer asking for someone to arrange collection of a shipment or telling the shipping clerk that some documentation is on it's way.



While the customer is paying for the telephone call, the shipping clerk presses PF'22 on the keyboard to temporarily suspend whatever he is doing and link to the system Communications Menu. The clerk then presses one more PF'n Key to indicate that he would like to access the pre-booking suite. In this suite he is able to request a screen list of all outstanding pre-bookings in chronological order and/or make another Pre-Booking. The clerk finds out if the customer is indicating that he wants the shipment to be processed as a direct airline shipment or as consol traffic. The clerk then completes the pre-booking details, requesting a MAWB number from the Universal Waybill numbering library or effects an alphabetic lookup of currently loading Consols to find out the MAWB number being used.



The automatically allocated Pool Number and MAWB can be given to the customer, who then completes the telephone call. In the case where the clerk creates another pre-booking, a computer Pool Number (not a job number) is allocated to the pre-booking. When the four of five questions relating to the pre-booking have been answered, the clerk is able to press PF'16 twice to return to his original task, where he will find everything as he left it, even the screen cursor is in the correct original position.



The summary, one screen line per file, list of cargo pre-bookings can be displayed at the warehouse door, as an indication of what cargo and/or documentation is expected; this is an ideal facility to be used with Windows and/or multi-workstation software.



The warehouse staff could check weigh the cargo and amend these details on the pre-booking screen; which in turn could be used to warn the office staff of the arrival. When the full details relating to the shipment arrive, the Pre-booking list is accessed once more and the entry amended into a full booking. This causes the pre-booking to be taken from the pre-booking area of the system and become part of the Goods on Hand. Where cargo documentation arrives at the outset of the process, there is no requirement to pre-book. Where a customer cancels a pre-booking, the pre-booking entry is simply pointed to with the screen cursor and PF12 deleted, with no harm done. Pre-bookings and full bookings can be amended in realtime, as required.


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Air Waybill production



When a direct consignment or a consolidation Master file is booked, the clerk is able to immediately call for the production of the Air Waybill; traditional 13 part MAWB sets can be printed as well as the more modern neutral MAWBs. MAWBS can be printed in any user-supported currency.



The system knows from defaults established at clerk logon time, which physical printer is to be used. Re-prints are possible for the time when the print ribbon wears out or the stationery jams or two versions of the MAWB are required with slightly different texts, one for the customer and one for the airline.



The action of printing an Airline Air Waybill can optionally update a management file with a single record per MAWB. This file provides the basis for CASS accounting and automated Airline Air Waybill Returns.


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Goods on Hand awaiting shipment



Boffin allows the user to produce a list on any printer or any terminal screen where a single line entry per job booked but not despatched can been seen. This is very useful to the clerks who run the consolidation services, especially where remote branches are booking cargo directly into the consolidation service codes.


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Direct airline shipment dispatch



Where a shipment is booked as a direct airline job, the booking can be despatched and the MAWB and/or HAWB produced, all without leaving the cargo booking program; saving a great deal of time and effort. The system supports 'back/back' shipments in which the airline is told that the shipment is prepaid, but the user raises a Collect Charge invoice to a destination agent for the collect charges; thereby avoiding the airline rates of exchange.


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Consol Despatch



When a consolidation clerk wishes to complete his consol and produce the Airline delivery notes, he informs the system of the consignments to be included in the consol, completes the master console file, cuts the MAWB and possible produces one of two types of manifest (A4 landscape or A4 Portrait). In the operations to complete the Consol Master and print the MAWB, the clerk is also able to call for a collect charges invoice that is directed forward to a destination agent. In this way, the collect charges invoice can be sent in the envelop that accompanies the MAWB; thereby arriving at the destination agent's offices, at a time when he wants to complete ALL processing associated with the consol. Prepaid sales invoices are not prepared until after the Post-Flight exercise for the consol - usually the day after despatch.


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Airline Delivery Notes



Facilities exist to allow the user to generate Airline Delivery notes for any combination of consolidation and/or direct shipments. The airline delivery note set has the appropriate number of copies for proof of delivery processing.


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Consolidation manifests



Immediately after a consolidation has been closed by the clerk, the system will produce the required number of manifests and any collect charges invoice. All invoices produced by the system are posted automatically and immediately to the integrated financial ledgers.


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Post Flight Confirmations



Each morning, the operational export clerk telephones the airline to check that all of the cargo sent into the airline for despatch has been shipped and obtains the ACTUAL flight details.



The flight details of each shipment sent during the previous evening are re-called to a terminal screen and checked. If any amendments are necessary they are made. If amendments are made to the flight details of a consolidation master file, they are copied automatically to each consignment file involved within the consolidation.


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Branch commissions



Exclusive to the Airfreight export component of Boffin, the user is able to amend the sales charges on each consignment, adding credits for subsidiary branch commissions if applicable, prior sales invoicing. Branch commissions can be calculated by the system automatically but amended in realtime by the consol operator/accountant. The consol department pay sister branches their collect charges, that have been invoiced on to the destination agent. This procedure means that sales invoices to sister branches can carry all credits for commissions and collect charges, saving much time and effort at the subsidiary branch, when accepting incoming consol charges invoices.



When the prepaid sales charges have been checked, the prepaid sales invoicing can be printed for each direct shipment and consolidation master shipment (if the consol collect charges invoice has not been produced), as required. The flight details printed on the sales invoices are those checked in the post-flight checks. All invoices update the user's financial books immediately.


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Supplementary invoices and credit notes



Once the primary sales invoicing has been effected, the clerks are not allowed to change the sales charges coded on each consignment. Additional charges and/or credits must be effected using the Supplementary invoice/credit note program. Any number of supplementary invoices and credit notes may be issued, any currency conversions involved in each being effected automatically.


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Cross Reference Index



Boffin updates an operational cross referencing system automatically, providing a real-time on-line link between the MAWB, the user's Job Number, Flight Number and the date and time of despatch. This index is designed to store it's entries for the seven years for which the user must retain the original shipping documents, thereby providing a computer index of the deep storage consignment files.



Operators are able to enter an AWB No and immediately ascertain the internal Job Number together with the shipper reference and the date and time of cargo despatch. In addition, if the whole of the computer cost file is still on-line, an option to view the complete file details is immediately available from the enquiry terminal.


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Automatic statistics update



Boffin accumulates statistical information for each Route/month combination, automatically. Air export traffic is said to statistically belong to the calendar month in which the shipment was allocated it's job number - typically the day of cargo despatch.



The statistical information is retained online and available for reporting and enquiry purposes for a default thirteen months after the month in which the cargo moved. This allows reports to be produced showing the last completed month and the same month a year before. Where users wish to extend the period for which online statistics are retained, this can be accommodated.


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Automatic update of Sales & Marketing



During the process of despatching each cargo booking, the system updates automatically a marketing sub-system. A single record describing the important details of the consignment such as shipper, Terms, service and weight in kilogrammes is stored. Boffin includes a comprehensive suite of programs to examine these Marketing records to ascertain market support by customer etc.



Boffin, optionally, allows the user to apportion master consol charges over the constituent actual cargo bookings, in relation to the Chargeable Kilos. This optional procedure neutralises all charges on the consol master, maintaining the nominal ledger analysis, sharing out the same amount of charge over the house bills. In this way the gross profit on the individual bookings is much more accurate and supports the optional "Profit By" suite.



In cases where users have more than a single Operational Boffin System, being supported by the BISHOPSGATE FreightNet/VS product, individual branch marketing data can be sent automatically to a centralised head office system and/or retained locally, as required.


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Accrual Accounting



In airfreight exports, the feeling is that the clerks are too busy at the time of cargo booking, to key accrual line entries on all shipment files. There is also an argument that says if they don't know their costs, why are they shipping the goods - you pay you money and take your choice - Boffin Full and Partial accrual accounting are available, as required.



In the case of full accrual accounting option, the scenario is as follows:- Operational clerks are required to key a single screen line entry for each direct cost which will be accepted in the future against the consignment being booked; there s a whole discussion as to whether net "Air Costs" should be accrued or "Gross Costs" and "Airline Commissions", separately - which we do not discuss here.



The operational accruals entered by the operational clerks are kept in an annotation file outside the financial ledgers until the primary sales invoice is produced, or would be produced if there were any charges present. At this point, the pre-paid sales invoice and the accruals are posted to the financial ledgers within a few milli-seconds of one another; keeping a reasonable financial profit/loss balance in the accounting system followed by a job costing profit memo record. After primary sales invoicing, the operational staff cannot change the accruals made on behalf of an invoiced consignment. The accounts department have the only means of changing the outstanding accruals.



In the case of the more commonly used Partial Accrual Accounting, the clerks or the department manager is able to accrue any outstanding direct costs at any time after the prepaid sales invoicing stage up to a deadline imposed by management. Any direct costs that have been received by the user's company are displayed to the clerk closing the cost file, so that he does not make an accrual. Accruing and closing cost files can be effected in random job number order and irrespective of what other system users are doing.



A management checking program is provided, that is run when the operational departments say they have accrued and closed all of the necessary cost files; the program identifies and highlights open cost files that should be closed.


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Export Customs Entries



Using a system as developed as Boffin has allowed the users to code the customs entry information at a very early time in the life of a consignment; even during the original booking procedure. This in turn allows Boffin users to comply with the Customs Pre-Entry schemes which are becoming more popular at international airports.


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Agents Index



The user is able to maintain an on-line index of importers together with their last known clearing agents. This optional index can be updated as each consolidation is processed, to provide a useful means of identifying the clearing agent for a given importer; saving time and effort. This would be a very interesting database if an agent ceased to trade.


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Traffic Types



Incoming consolidation cargo can be considered to include items under the following headings:-



Agents own clearances at airport
Hand-overs to other agents at airport
International transhipments
Inter-airport removals within same country


Boffin allows the user to cater for all of these categories of traffic in a very simple and straightforward manner.


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Consolidation Booking



Master waybill information is entered in to the system followed by details from each house bill; an arbitrary maximum of 250 House bills can be processed in any given consolidation. Boffin confirms that the correct number of house bills, packages and gross weight is entered. Checks are also made to confirm that all collectable charges are allocated for sales invoicing. Automatic access methods are provided for obtaining static information relating to other agents.



When the entire consolidation has been entered and is seen to be complete, a combined invoice and delivery order or simply a delivery order set is produced for each inbound HAWB in turn. As each sales invoice is produced, the user's financial ledgers are updated automatically. The Invoice and/or Delivery orders carry suitable wording to indicate what conditions must be met prior to re-nomination or cargo release.



On behalf of the inbound consol master and each inbound HAWB, a Daybook and Journal sheet is also produced automatically, if required.


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Job Numbers



As each house bill containing any collect charges is invoiced separately, each consignment in the consolidation is allocated a job number in an ascending series. The consolidation master is also allocated a job number in the same series. The master job number is, by definition, the lowest job number in the consolidation. Boffin Job Costing is available by individual consignment and/or the consolidation as a whole.


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Statistical information



The processing of each consolidation updates automatically consolidation statistical totals by Airport of Origination and Arrival Date. As the system matures, this information becomes more valuable and can be used for various commercial exercises. Access, by a suitably cleared terminal operator, to the statistical data is possible at any time.


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Rejected Import consignments



Users who are deeply involved in break bulk processing, will find that the break bulk department will wish to hand over non-routed shipments to their own import department. Occasionally, the import department will book these seemingly non-routed consignments and then call the importer for delivery details. The importer may well indicate that another agent is to be used to clear the goods. In this case, the user's import department will re-nominate the goods and invoice-on any collect charges. No cargo can be passed back to the Break Bulk Department.


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Supplementary Invoicing



Boffin provides the means to allow the Break Bulk Department to issue supplementary invoices and/or credit notes.


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Scope



Boffin insists that each consolidation is booked into a single computer terminal, but imposes no limit on the number of terminals which can be used, simultaneously, to book separate consolidations on one or more route or service codes.


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Direct shipment imports



Import cargo bookings can be received by the international air import department from other agents who are effecting a breakbulk, their own breakbulk department or from the airlines, direct. In all cases, the air import department may receive and accept inbound collect charges invoices, the value of which they must ensure to recover. The way in which the Boffin Breakbulk system works, the air import department will receive an internal debit, with their copy of the inbound HAWB, for any collect charges being passed on; in which case they will accept the Internal Debit onto their import job number and ensure that they include the amount of charge in their sales invoicing.


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Consignment booking



Whether the Air Import Department receive their initial notification from the Breakbulk Department, another agent or the airline direct, the following procedures are followed.



The responsibility for a consignment can never be passed back to the Breakbulk Department. In the event that the Import department find that a consignment passed to them by their own breakbulk department, should be handed to another agent, then they will ensure that all collect and any airline charges are re-covered, before re-nomination.


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Advices of Arrival



Boffin supports automatic Telex links, which can be used as a means of providing advice of arrival information to importers; alternatively printed advices can be produced on letterhead stationery directly from the cargo booking program. By calling for the advices directly from the cargo booking program, the printing time is shared with the booking of the next piece of cargo.


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Consignment Status



The designers of Boffin have included a Status screen per consignment, which is designed to show the date on which every important action, from initial booking to delivery of goods was effected. The screen picture also shows all important receipt numbers and date of customs entry submission. This facility is very useful when a clerk is trying to see the current position regarding the processing of a given consignment. A direct method of asking for additional operational documents, such as delivery note sets, is provided from the status screen.


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Accrual Accounting



In airfreight imports, the feeling is that the clerks are too busy at the time of cargo booking, to key accrual line entries on all shipment files. Boffin Full and/or Partial accrual accounting are available, as required.



In the case of Boffin Full Accrual accounting option, the scenario is as follows:- Operational clerks are required to key a single screen line entry for each direct cost which will be accepted in the future against the consignment being booked.



The operational accruals entered by the operational clerks are kept in an annotation file outside the financial ledgers until the primary sales invoice is produced, or would be produced if there were any charges present. At this point, the sales invoice and the accruals are posted to the financial ledgers within a few milli-seconds of one another; keeping a reasonable financial profit/loss balance in the accounting system followed by a job costing profit memo record. After primary sales invoicing, the operational staff cannot change the accruals made on behalf of an invoiced consignment. The accounts department have the only means of changing the outstanding accruals.



In the case of the more commonly used Partial Accrual Accounting, the clerks or the department manager is able to accrue any outstanding direct costs at any time after the prepaid sales invoicing stage up to a deadline imposed by management. Any direct costs that have been received by the user's company are displayed to the clerk closing the cost file, so that he does not make an additional accrual. Accruing and closing cost files can be effected in random job number order and irrespective of what other system users are doing.



A management checking program is provided, that is run when the operational departments say they have accrued and closed all of the necessary cost files; the program identifies and highlights open cost files that should be closed.


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Sales Charges invoicing



At anytime after the cargo booking has been effected, but typically after the goods have been delivered, the clerks are able to use the cargo booking program to assess the various FOB and Freight charges for sales invoicing. The software offers much support in the valuation of each sales charge, but allows the operational clerk to change the calculated values to reflect his own commercial requirements.



All screen keying of sales charges is effected in a currency, normally the users own currency, with all currency conversions to the currency of the customers sales account being effected automatically.



All sales invoices are numbered by the system as they are produced to allow for subsequent Missing Invoice Number checking in the Boffin Integrated Currency Accounting System.


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Supplementary Invoices and Credit Notes



Operational clerks are not able to 'tinker' with sales invoices and credit notes already raised. Boffin allows suitably cleared staff to raise any number of invoices and credit notes to any sales account from any operational consignment. Suitable checks and controls are included in the accounting software to cover the problem of Credit Note Authorisation.



In the case of foreign currency supplementary invoices and credit notes, Boffin recommends the rates of exchange to be used, to avoid spurious profit/losses in exchange.


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Automatic statistics update



Boffin accumulates statistical information for each Route/month combination, automatically. Air import traffic is said to statistically belong to the calendar month in which the shipment was allocated it's job number - typically the day of pre-advice arrival.



The statistical information is retained online and available for reporting and enquiry purposes for a default thirteen months after the month in which the cargo arrived. This allows reports to be produced showing the last completed month and the same month a year before. Where users wish to extend the period for which online statistics are retained, this can be accommodated.


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Postcode directory



The way in which the system is geared to work with shipments is on a Postcode to Postcode basis (Postcode=Zipcode). A complete postcode directory of the countries for which the system is to function, is made available as an online directory. This directory does not have to be complete at installation time, it can readily be built up, as the sales tariffs are produced and catalogued.


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Town name directory



An integral component of the required online static data, is the Town Name Directory. It is a feature of the cargo booking process that the terminal operators wish to book the cargo for collection from one town name, nominating another town name for the delivery. Often, the nomination of a town name will provide an automatic access to a Postcode; where is does not, powerful alphabetic directory searches are provided. The combination of original and ultimate cargo terminals, is the factor that determines the Boffin Route or Statistical code under which the shipment is processed.


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Cargo terminals



The system assumes that there will be any number of participating cargo terminals, each of which will be responsible for collections and deliveries in it's local area. All terminals are responsible for their exports (outgoing cargo) and are expected to receive cargo from any/all other terminals; re-consolidations are encouraged at intermediate cargo terminals.



Collections and deliveries 'within city limits' are (normally) included in the Freight Rates.


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Cargo destination routings



The core of the inland system is a table of Destination Routings, to which there is no practical limit to the number of entries; additional entries and/or amendments can be processed in realtime; becoming immediately fully usable.



This dataset contains an entry for all active 'city pairs', in which the 'recommended' terminal/terminal routing (for costing and revenue purposes) for cargo shipments is described. The actual or physical routing that cargo travels is left to the terminal managers; although there are 'preferred' routings available.



This directory also contains the percentage 'splits' of the total revenue into sectors, so that cargo revenues can be automatically apportioned, where more than one carrier is involved; facilitating monthly Ametas.


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Revenue sharing



It is assumed that cargo will be shipped on any number of 'trunk legs' in order to get it from the collection to the delivery address. It is further assumed that each trunk leg may be operated by a separate carrier, who will be entitled to an agreed percentage of the total Cargo Freight Revenue, according to the contribution made, the size of the shipment and the size of vehicle etc.


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Sales tariffs



The system is capable of supporting up to 9999 sales tariffs and each sales tariff contains a grid of freight rates and minima that are aligned to chargeable kilos per shipment; with a default of 286 Kgs per Cbm. The way in which an individual tariff is constructed allows the user to cause a flat rate to be applied, or a freight rate and minimum, or a simple rate with no minimum.



The current version of this system provides for tariffs to be coded in the home currency of the user, although internally, a currency code has been provided for, so that the system can be expanded to any number of countries and/or currencies.


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Customer special rates



It is inevitable that some customers of the participating freight companies will have special rates for the shipment of their goods. In this Inland System, agreed rates can be established for a nominated customer's cargo for one or more Postcode/Postcode routings. Such special rates can refer to their own single tariff or to a 'published' tariff with a percentage discount/uplift. All such tariffs have an expiry date, after which the user will be warned by the system, that the special rate has expired and the sales department should be informed; the current cargo booking is not blocked.


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EDI interfacing between International Imports and Inland

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EDI interfacing between International Imports and Inland



From May 1991, an interface is optionally available between the Boffin International Import system and the Boffin Inland Distribution system. Using this interface, the operational import clerks are able to pass, electronically, details of cleared goods, split for any number of delivery addresses to the Distribution Terminal operational staff, in realtime. The system allow for the automatic production of freight notes on which the inland delivery charge is pre-calculated and printed, using agreed rates and/or special rates.



Cargo bookings coming from the international import department, appear to  arrive in the Inland Distribution system on a realtime monitor of Incoming Goods; along with details of cargo being sent into the distribution terminal from other re-consolidation cargo terminals. The operational inland staff are made aware of the arrival of an incoming booking by the automatic appearance of a single screen line entry on a computer monitor. The inland staff then access the incoming booking, by aligning their screen cursor and pressing a single program function key. The incoming details are amended or changed, as required. The action of amending the incoming EDI booking converts it into a complete inland distribution booking; causing it to disappear from the Incoming Cargo Booking Monitor.


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Cargo booking



Cargo booking for any/all routes/services that are known to the system can be made by any connected computer terminal.



Booking a single shipment involves a single computer screen image, in which all vital information that has to be included, can be entered directly or accessed through powerful alphabetic searching of online data directories. The booking process includes the data entry of at least prepaid sales charges.



Where bookings are made for cargo controlled by other cargo terminals, the system automatically sends the cargo booking to the controlling or destination cargo terminal. All bookings are sent to the receiving cargo terminal as early warnings of incoming shipments.



Cargo bookings can be cancelled and/or amended until they are allocated to a vehicle manifest.



Terminal managers, receiving incoming cargo, are able to monitor, in realtime, the incoming cargo from any/all other terminals, on their own system. When incoming cargo is notified, the automated 'import' cargo booking is amended to add local information and possibly additional local sales charges.


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Monitoring goods on hand



Due to the large number of shipments that are likely to be processed, it is vital that terminal managers are able to monitor cargo bookings that are not allocated to a vehicle. This is effected using a realtime monitoring program display, on which additional cargo bookings, made by any member of the network, will automatically appear.


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Network cargo tracking and status



It is vital that anyone attached to the network, is able to enquire on any traffic that his cargo terminal is sending/receiving or in any way involved in. Technically, it is possible to enquire on any shipment or category of shipments that are in the network, irrespective of the cargo terminals that are involved in the movement.



It is anticipated that status reports will be provided to large network customers, indicating the current status of all of their cargo that is being moved within the network.



Large customers can be given access to the network, so that they can effect their own cargo status enquiries and/or bookings, at their own convenience.


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Cargo despatch



The system does not attempt to determine 'best loads'. The terminal managers decide what cargo should be allocated to which vehicle. The system allows the cargo terminal manager to 'build' any number of departures, simultaneously, adding additional cargo bookings, as they occur or can be allocated. It is possible to logically remove a cargo booking from a unit.


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Cargo manifesting



At some arbitrary point, the cargo terminal manager indicates that a vehicle is to be 'closed' for departure. At this time the system automatically updates it's integral sales and marketing and route statistical information.



Each shipment booking is annotated with the vehicle number and other details that relate to the departure, as a whole. The system updates each consignment with the date and time of departure and sends status information forward to the destination cargo terminal booking system. Such advance status information is applied automatically to the import booking and the goods status realtime display is updated.



Where cargo is being directed along a more complex routing, intermediate cargo terminals are notified by automatic manifest transmission.



At the time of despatch, accrued costs can be established for haulier costs; such accruals can vary with haulier, vehicle size, shipment sizes etc.


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Sales invoicing



Typically, the 'sending' cargo terminal will be responsible for invoicing prepaid charges and the destination cargo terminal, the collect charges. It is possible for the sending cargo terminal effect all of the sales invoicing, which is effected by the selection of a software switch on the route control record, but only prior to the vehicle despatch.



The system supports Bulk Invoicing, by which customers are not invoiced per shipment, but are invoiced periodically, at the convenience of the cargo terminal managers, for all shipments processed in a period; a supporting manifest or bordereau of cargo shipped is also produced.



Invoices and bulk invoices automatically update the online, realtime, integrated accounting system; customer account balances change in realtime.


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Sales Invoicing - automated procedures



The majority of inland sales invoicing is effected as bulk invoicing which is quite heavy on computer resources. In early releases of the Inland System the act of sales invoicing during the normal working day, degraded the system performance and made the booking of cargo; the most active part of the system. Mainly to alleviate the processing 'bottleneck' during the working day, an automatic method of effecting all sales invoicing on an overnight basis - without human operator monitoring - has been developed. In the event that particular sales invoices are required 'early' against this schedule, they can be called from the normal application menus for a given vehicle departure, in which case the system suppresses the request for overnight invoicing, automatically. For the record, all overnight invoicing is effected through the system printer spool queue, but with the print files on 'hold' to avoid paper jams.


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Proof of Delivery Processing



The Inland Distribution system has been designed as a realtime, network capable system, from the outset. Each important event that happens to a cargo booking automatically causes English language (as opposed to computer codes) lines of Cargo Status text to be added to the 'Inland Notepad' associated with the cargo in question. Where cargo bookings have been passed down through more than one cargo terminal and reconsolidated perhaps many times, a logical link is maintained throughout the network, automatically. Where text notes are appended to a shipment booking file, such notes are automatically passed 'back up the network' to the cargo terminal where the goods were originally booked.



This procedure allows any suitably qualified terminal operator to view the then current status of a given cargo booking.



The computer processing of the Proof of Delivery was considered an important event in that it provided an 'end game marker' that could be used by the system to trigger certain other functions such as possible automatic notification to the shipper of the cargo delivery, a item to setup a possible damage control entry and a point at which Pallet Control could be updated.



The Date and Time of Delivery is also to be used in the development of a FreightNote Performance sub-suite that will allow marketing information to be accumulated automatically per shipper. It is felt that being able to provide the customer with a list of his shipments with pick-up, delivery and transit times could serve as a useful sales tool. The reverse is also of interest; of the screwed up transits, where, when and why did they occur and how can they be avoided in the future etc.



The designers have gone to some trouble to reduce the amount of manual labour that is required to process Proof of Delivery manifests, as it is appreciated that many consignments are involved. Hand-held bar code readers are envisaged in the latter part of 1992, so that Proof of Delivery processing can be simplified. A realtime monitor of goods despatched for which the Proof of Delivery has not been entered has been provided so as to allow the cargo terminal manager to maintain effective control.


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Damage Control



The design of the A4 Proof of Delivery Manifest is such that if any damage has occurred to the goods in transit, a single character marker can be set to "Y" (Damage=Yes), so as to trigger further processing; a means of setting off the Damage Marker when the shipment damage procedures have been completed is also available. A Realtime monitor of Pending Damages is included to allow the Cargo Terminal Manager to monitor the situation.


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Pallet Control



The subject of pallet control is an interesting one, as the value of pallets in the movement of small packages is significant. The number of pallets that are involved in a particular inland shipment is the subject of a field in the cargo booking program and the Proof of Delivery Processing. The central application system will support a Pallet Control aspect that will monitor and help recover pallets or their value on an open item basis.


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Interface with sales and marketing



As with all other operational modules of the Boffin System, the Inland Distribution system interfaces with the sales and marketing system. For each shipment processed on each route in each calendar month, a single record is stored in a discrete marketing system. The record carries a summary of all of the important information relating to the shipment, so that reporting on actual traffic moved per Customer/Route/Month etc can be made available. Typically, marketing records are retained online for a period of 13 months, but this can be varied by the user; clearing old bookings from the online system does not affect the marketing sub-suite.


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Automatic accumulation of statistics



Statistical information relating to all of the actual cargo shipped, is accumulated automatically by Route/month; without human intervention. Unless specified otherwise, such statistical information is retained in the system for a period of thirteen months; providing for a comparison between the current month and 'this month last year'.


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Zip/Zip Statistics



It is a feature of the Inland Distribution system, that cargo is expected to be sent from one cargo terminal to another, reconsolidated with new cargo bookings and additional cargo from other terminals and local customers, prior to being sent to either another terminal or being delivered locally.



This situation makes it manually impossible to assess the Origins and Final Destinations of cargo passing through a given cargo terminal. Application software has been added to the Inland Distribution System to accumulate, in realtime, shipment statistics according to Shipper's Postal Code and Final Delivery Postal Code (in Norway Zip/Zip e.g. 3251 to 8001). Per pair of Postcode values, accumulations of Number of Shipments, Gross Kilos, Chargeable Kilos and some other parameters are recorded at cargo despatch time from the terminal. Although not available under the current release, such statistics could be automatically transmitted and consolidated for the network as a whole, on a (say) monthly basis.


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FreightNote performance



The fact that the Inland Distribution system is designed to process increasingly large numbers of shipments, provides a natural computer task of 'measuring' the time taken for each shipment or FreightNote to be executed. The Sales and Marketing people feel that it would be very interesting, if on a selective basis, to be able to monitor the various shippers traffic in a way that average, best and worst transit times etc could be reported. It would be very nice to be able to provide the customer with a detail and summary report (similar to American Express reporting on Gold Card usage) on his traffic, together with transit timings and average timings etc; laser printed of course. This function will be made available when the Proof of Delivery processing has been implemented and has settled down; as it provides the raw data for the new facility.


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Monthly 'AMETA's between agents



It has already been stated that all cargo is processed in a postcode to postcode mode, with each routing being split logically into a number of 'Revenue' sectors.



The revenue for each carrier, payable in the light of the traffic shipped, is the subject of a computerised monthly Ameta Profit Share or reconciliation, between the network partners. This revenue sharing is the subject of a program that is run by the Inland System controller on a monthly basis.


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Self-quoting IBM PC software



Bishopsgate have developed a small suite of software that runs on an IBM compatible personal computers. This software is given to users of the Inland Distribution system, so that they can provide themselves with quotations. In the event  that the user's customer likes the quotation, the IBM PC software invites the production of a freight note and or self-adhesive labels for the individual pieces of the proposed shipment.



It is anticipated that this software could be expanded, so that the user's customer could actually book his cargo into the Incoming Cargo Queue, as with the interface between the Boffin International Import System and the Inland Distribution system.


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Interfacing with Outside Agencies



At the time of writing, Bishopsgate are designing an interface between the outgoing despatch part of the Inland Distribution system and an 'alien' network, based on IBM AS/400 hardware. It is anticipated that outgoing distribution manifests will be routed, in realtime, via the AS/400 to remote cargo terminals that the AS/400 supports; thereby bring many more cargo terminals within reach of the Boffin Inland Distribution System. Before the end of 1992, it will be possible to send and receive cargo bookings via X.25 EDIFACT as well as process EDIFACT status messages over the same network.


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Return Commission suite



Boffin includes a suite of application software that is designed to control and monitor the issuance of confidential commissions, which would be payable on Collect Shipments. This commission structure is mainly aimed at shippers who, although do not pay the freight charges, do control the traffic and can influence the amount of traffic moved with the Boffin user.



Such commissions, can be payable to the shipper and/or the salesperson and/or any third party. In the case where commission is payable to a customer, the credit may be directed to the customers regular personal account or a specific private nominated commission account.



The rules for deciding if a shipment cost file is commissionable or not will vary with user, in one user's case, each customer account that involves confidential refunds or commissions is marked accordingly. For each invoiced commissionable shipment, a data processing record is written to a Commissions Queue. Each Commission Queue record shows a default amount of commission; search Commission Queue record is examined and confirmed or amended, manually, to authorise the amount of the commission and the party to whom it is to be paid. Periodically queued, confirmed commission records can be used to produce a credit to the appropriate sales ledger account and a debit to the Ameta and general ledger systems. Commissions provided in this way, debit the job costing cost file for the shipment (and trailer) using a user-nominated, specific general ledger account number.


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General Commission suite



Boffin includes a suite of application software that is designed to control and monitor the issuance of confidential commissions, which would be payable on Prepaid Shipments. This commission structure is mainly aimed at shippers and can vary with the amount of traffic shipped or freight charges spent.



Such commissions, can be payable to the shipper and/or the salesperson and/or any third party. In the case where commission is payable to a customer, the credit may be directed to the customers regular personal account or a specific private nominated commission account.



The rules for deciding if a shipment cost file is commissionable or not will vary with user, in one user's case, each customer account that involves confidential refunds or commissions is marked accordingly. For each invoiced prepaid commissionable shipment, a data processing record is written to a Commissions Queue; the same queue as is used with Return Commissions, but as a different record type.



Each Commission Queue record shows a default amount of commission; search Commission Queue record is examined and confirmed or amended, manually, to authorise the amount of the commission and the party to whom it is to be paid. Periodically queued, confirmed commission records can be used to produce a credit to the appropriate sales ledger account and a debit to the Ameta and general ledger systems. Commissions provided in this way, debit the job costing cost file for the shipment (and trailer) using a user-nominated, specific general ledger account number.


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Sub-contract driver accruals



The system allows the user to establish and maintain a fairly complex tariff, that is used to describe the amount to be paid to a sub-contract haulier who effects Inland Distribution deliveries. Each haulier is allocated a supplier account in the user's bought ledger. The tariff reflects the size of vehicle in use and the size and number of the shipments involved. It is likely that all users will require their own variation on this tariff to reflect their payment structure.



For each departing vehicle, the user is able to identify the sub-contract haulier vehicle; this is validated against the charge tariff, so that no incomplete data is submitted to the system. Identification of the sub-contract haulier provides a way of determining the supplier account against which the accrued cost will be made.



For each House Bill (fraktbrev) that is a component of the sub-contract delivery, the system codes on the shipment cost file, the amount that the sub-contract haulier is to be paid. The user is able to interrogate these outstanding amounts in a powerful enquiry program, in realtime and on-demand.



At the convenience of the Inland Distribution manager and in realtime, it is possible to view all 'outstanding' or accrued amounts that are due to a given sub-contractor. The suitably qualified operator is able to 'point to' any number of outstanding items in random order and ask the system to convert them into accrued haulage charges against the sub-contractor's bought ledger account (memo items). These accruals debit the shipment cost files and credit a Balance Sheet control account of all outstanding trading accruals, in the same manner as manually inspired trading accruals.



At a convenient time, the user is able to access the sub-contractor bought ledger account and view the accruals records from past deliveries. The user is able to indicate that some random number of these items be used to construct and post a pseudo-supplier invoice; which in turn causes the reversal of the accruals.



This method of controlling sub-contractors payments for deliveries is powerful and easy to use, making it impossible to pay the sub-contractor the wrong amount or to accidentally pay twice for the delivery of the same shipment.



There is no practical reason why the system could not be adapted to work with an in-house transport office, in order that efficient control is effected on delivery charges.


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