Loads delivered but not yet invoiced
How a transporter shows loads delivered but not yet invoiced at month end, with an accrued-income journal, its reversal, and a close that holds.
By Achekam · · 5 min read · For Logistics businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
On the last day of the month, a transporter's trucks are still on the road. Some loads were delivered that afternoon and the PODs are in the drivers' cabs. Some were delivered last week but are waiting for a shipper's order number before they can be invoiced. A few are part of a monthly invoice that goes out on the third working day. In every case the diesel, the tolls and the driver's wages have already landed in this month's books.
Without an adjustment, the month carries the cost of those loads and next month carries the income. The month you did the work looks weaker than it was, the next looks stronger, and any decision based on lane or customer profitability is built on a mismatch. This article covers how to bring the income back into the month it was earned and keep the close clean.
Costs in the month, income in the next
The mismatch comes from timing, not from any error. Costs arrive quickly: fuel cards debit, wages are paid, tolls are charged as the truck passes. Income waits for paperwork: a signed POD, a weighbridge ticket, a shipper's purchase order number, or a monthly billing date.
The accounting principle that fixes it is the accruals concept. AccountingTools' explanation of the accruals concept covers recording revenue and expenses in the period they are earned or incurred, including accrued revenue and the reversing entries that undo it, which is exactly what an unbilled-loads adjustment is.
The mirror image, costs incurred before the carrier invoices arrive, is covered in accruing carrier costs at month end. Most transporters need both.
A list of delivered loads not yet invoiced
An accrual is an estimate, but it should be one you could defend line by line. Build it from operational records, not from memory:
| Load reference | Shipper | Delivery date | POD held? | Agreed rate | Reason not invoiced |
|---|
Include a load only if it was delivered on or before the last day of the month. Price it at the agreed rate from the rate confirmation or contract, and leave out VAT: VAT belongs on the invoice when it is issued, not in an estimate of income. Add any agreed extras you are sure of, such as waiting time with signed times; leave out anything still in dispute.
Keep the list with the month's working papers. Next month, it is the first thing you check against the invoices that go out.
An accrual journal and its reversal
Achekam lets a business post manual journals. The month-end entry for unbilled loads is dated on the last day of the month:
| Debit | Credit |
|---|---|
| Accrued income (asset) | Freight revenue (income) |
Achekam refuses a journal that does not balance and refuses one dated in a closed month, so this must be posted before the month is closed.
In the new month, the accrual has done its job. Reverse it, then issue the real invoices in the normal way. A posted journal in Achekam is corrected only by a reversal, never edited or deleted, which suits this pattern: the original accrual and its reversal sit side by side in the general ledger, and anyone can see what was estimated and when it was undone.
An unbilled month, in words
At month end a transporter has twelve loads delivered for one shipper, to be invoiced together on the third working day of the next month, and two loads for another shipper waiting for an order number. The bookkeeper lists all fourteen with their agreed rates, totals them excluding VAT, and posts one accrual journal dated on the last day of the month. On the first day of the new month she reverses it. The two invoices go out over the following days, and the new month shows only the difference between the estimate and what was actually invoiced.
Closing the month after the accrual
Months in Achekam can be soft-closed, hard-closed and locked. A closed month refuses postings from every source, and reopening a hard close needs a second approver. Before closing, the screen checks that the ledger balances and that no posting suggestions, unposted bills or unmatched bank lines are waiting.
Use the trial balance as your last check. It shows each account for all time, for a period or at a date, and says whether debits equal credits. At month end, the accrued income account should equal your list. In the following month, once the reversal is posted, it should be back to nil. A balance that lingers there for months is a sign that a reversal was missed or a load was never invoiced.
The result shows in the management accounts, which present an income statement for a chosen period beside the period before, and a balance sheet at period end, exportable as PDF or CSV. With the accrual in place, the comparison between months reflects the work done rather than the paperwork's timing.
Fixing the cause: invoicing on proof of delivery
An accrual treats the symptom. The cure is to invoice sooner. Look at your list each month and sort the reasons loads were not invoiced:
- POD not back yet. Get drivers to photograph and send the signed POD at the point of delivery, and file it the same day.
- Shipper's order number missing. Ask for it when the load is booked, not when it is delivered.
- Monthly billing by agreement. Consider whether per-load invoicing suits that shipper better; invoice each load or one monthly invoice? sets out the trade-offs.
- Waiting on someone in the office. Make "invoice raised" part of closing a delivered shipment.
As the list shrinks, so does the accrual, and so does the amount of money your shippers are holding that they could have paid you already.
A month-end routine
On the last working day, pull the list of delivered loads with no invoice, price them at agreed rates without VAT, post the accrual, check it against the trial balance, then close. On the first day of the new month, reverse it. Then look at why each load was unbilled and fix one cause each month.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
