For freight forwarders
Catch the shipper’s document conflicts before the cargo moves.
FlowDocs checks the commercial invoice your shipper sends against their packing list on order reference, consignee, packages and gross weight, and confirms the bill of lading or air waybill is in the shipment pack. Each conflict comes back with the value from both documents, so you can take it to the shipper first.
Where shipper invoice and packing list mismatches come from.
The commercial invoice and the packing list are often prepared separately, and one can be revised without the other. These are the conflicts that follow, with what FlowDocs returns for each. If the bill of lading or air waybill has not arrived, the pack shows it as missing.
| What happened | Invoice reads | Packing list reads | FlowDocs returns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cartons re-packed after the invoice was issued | 128 | 126 | Mismatch: package totals differ |
| Packing list weighed in pounds | 5,640.00 kg | 12,434.00 lb | Cannot compare: not in kilograms on both |
| Weight written with a lone comma | 5,640 kg | 5,640.00 kg | Cannot compare: 5,640 could mean 5640 or 5.64 |
| Consignee typed differently | Northstar Retail Ltd | Northstar Retail Limited | Mismatch: both names shown for you to judge |
| Order reference left off the packing list | PO-10482 | Not found | Cannot compare: not found on the packing list |
| Weights a scale reading apart | 5,640.00 kg | 5,642.00 kg | Match: within 5 kg |
What a freight forwarder gets back for each shipment pack.
One view per shipment: which documents are in the pack, and each of the four fields with the value read from the invoice and the packing list. Order reference and gross weight are reviewed by a person before they are compared. The sample below uses invented values.
Illustrative sample · no customer data
Shipment pack · SHP-10482
Ready
Ready
Missing
Transport Document — presence only
Comparison
Commercial Invoice vs Packing List
Select a field to inspect the sample evidence
Why this result
Both values are safely comparable whole-package totals, but they do not agree.
Source evidence: Commercial Invoice, page 2 · Packing List, page 1
What FlowDocs does not do for forwarders yet.
FlowDocs compares the commercial invoice with the packing list and checks that the transport document is there. It does not yet:
- Compare the bill of lading or air waybill: its weights, packages, parties and container numbers are not compared; it is checked for presence only
- Send the shipper a fix list: you see each mismatch with both values and pass it on yourself
- Group documents into shipments: you choose which documents belong to one pack
- Convert pounds or tonnes: any weight not in kilograms returns Cannot compare
- Write back to CargoWise, a TMS or an ERP
Extracting fields from a single bill of lading or air waybill?
FlowDocs also extracts the fields you configure from individual freight documents, including bills of lading, air waybills and commercial invoices, with review and CSV or Excel export. That is a separate workflow from the shipment pack check above.
Questions freight forwarders ask.
Who is FlowDocs for?
Freight forwarders, NVOCCs, customs brokers and exporters who receive commercial invoices and packing lists from shippers and check them before filing or moving the shipment.
Do I need CargoWise or a TMS integration?
No. You upload the documents; FlowDocs needs no access to CargoWise, a TMS or an ERP, and writes nothing into them.
Does FlowDocs compare the bill of lading?
Not yet. Today the bill of lading or air waybill is checked for presence in the shipment pack; its weights, packages, parties and container numbers are not compared.
Can FlowDocs send the shipper a list of what to fix?
Not yet. Each mismatch is shown with the value from both documents, which you can pass to the shipper; FlowDocs does not write or send that message for you.
Does it convert pounds or tonnes to kilograms?
Not yet. Gross weight is compared only when both documents state it in kilograms; any other unit returns Cannot compare instead of a converted guess.
Why can a weight like 5,640 kg return Cannot compare?
Because the comma could be a thousands separator or a decimal comma, so 5,640 could mean five thousand six hundred and forty or five point six four. FlowDocs does not guess between them. Written as 5,640.00 kg, 5640 kg or 5.640,00 kg, the same weight is read as 5,640 kilograms.
Does a person review the results?
Yes. Order reference and gross weight are critical fields, and every value FlowDocs reads for them is reviewed by a person before it is compared.
How does the free check work?
Send 3 recent shipment packs. We run each one through FlowDocs, review every result by hand, and email you the report within 24 hours. It is free and needs no account.
Check 3 shipment packs free.
Send the commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading or air waybill for 3 recent shipments. We review every result by hand and email you the report within 24 hours. No CargoWise, TMS or ERP access is required.
You can delete or paste over the names, values and routes first — FlowDocs still reads whatever is left. Use a tool that removes the text rather than a black box drawn on top: a drawn box hides it from you, not from a parser.