NVOCCs
An NVOCC's paperwork runs on two clocks: the ocean leg and the street leg. We run the back office behind both. HBL and MBL documentation, ocean and drayage invoice audit, customer billing, AR and collections, and the reporting that keeps demurrage and per diem from eating the margin.
The NVOCC back office
An NVOCC bills as a carrier and buys as a shipper. House bills of lading on one side, master bills and ocean carrier invoices on the other, with CFS, terminal, chassis, and per diem charges attached to both. Every reference has to match before anyone pays: HBL to MBL, container to booking, charge to tariff. That matching is the work, and it is what we run.
DSO Reduction
Reporting
POD Chase
Every container carries a meter. Demurrage runs at the terminal, per diem runs on the box, detention runs at the dock, and each has its own free time and its own clock. A charge disputed without the timestamps gets absorbed. An ocean invoice paid without a check against the booking gets overpaid. None of it announces itself.
At container volume, the per-box charges are where the money moves. A few unworked per diem disputes and a handful of unbilled chassis splits each month is real margin, and it compounds quietly.
A missing POD, delivery order, or CFS receipt holds the customer invoice while the container clock keeps running. Document chase runs daily so billing never waits.
Charges tied to free time die without timestamps. The desk pulls the terminal and return records and works each dispute to a credit or a clean payment.
Master bill invoices, CFS charges, and chassis fees get paid in busy weeks without a line check against the booking. Invoice audit runs before money moves.
HBL, MBL, container, and booking numbers that disagree stall billing on one side and payment on the other. Reference matching keeps the file clean end to end.
We map your trade lanes, tariffs, customer billing rules, and systems.
A dedicated team trains on your contracts and systems. About 2 to 3 weeks.
Audit, billing, AR, and document handling run on every container, every week.
Add lanes, modes, and volume without adding back-office staff.
The result is a back office that keeps up with your volume:
We work inside the systems you already run, whether that is CargoWise, Magaya, a domestic TMS, or your accounting stack. There is no migration and no new software to learn. Your workflows stay yours: the dedicated team trains on them during onboarding and follows your SOPs from day one.
CargoWiseMagayaDescartesMercuryGateQuickBooksNetSuite
Yes, that is the normal case for an NVOCC and it is built into how we work. During onboarding we document each customer’s billing rules, required backup, and timing, then the team applies them per transaction. The goal is that a load bills the right way the first time regardless of which customer or mode it belongs to.
For NVOCCs the two functions that move the needle first are shipper billing and ownership and transaction reporting. Benchmark your current billing lag with the DSO calculator.
It changes the references, not the workflow. Ocean invoices get checked against the booking and the tariff, drayage invoices against the rate confirmation and the free time actually used. The audit step is the same discipline either way: nothing gets paid until the backup matches.
With a process that runs the same way on every transaction and an audit step that runs before money moves. Duplicate detection and invoice audit catch carrier overbilling, and pre-billing review catches missed or misapplied charges before the customer invoice goes out. Consistency is what keeps a small error rate from becoming a large dollar figure across thousands of transactions.
Yes. We operate inside your existing systems and workflows. There is no migration and no new software for your team to learn, and your carriers and customers see no change.
Yes. Bookkeeping is a standalone add-on delivered by a separate dedicated team inside QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks, or Sage. For an NVOCC running high transaction volume across modes, it keeps settlement and your books current without adding internal staff.
The document and financial operations behind moving containers: HBL and MBL documentation, ocean and drayage invoice audit, customer billing, accounts receivable (AR) and collections, vendor compliance files, and bookkeeping. It is handled as a dedicated function so your team can stay on bookings and customers.
Many NVOCC customers require invoices through EDI or their own portal instead of email, and each has its own format, reference fields, and timing. Getting it right means mapping every customer rule and submitting complete invoices the first time, which is where a lot of NVOCC billing delays begin.
Pricing is scope-based and scales with load count, so the cost tracks the work instead of a fixed salary. For most NVOCCs it runs below the fully loaded cost of an equivalent in-house team, with no hiring or turnover to manage.
A forwarder arranges transport on the carrier’s bill. An NVOCC issues its own house bill and buys space under a master bill, which adds carrier-side duties to the paperwork: HBL issuance, ocean invoice settlement, and per-container charge tracking. The back-office work overlaps heavily, and we run both. See back-office operations for freight forwarders for the forwarder side.
Catch duplicates, overpayments, and rate discrepancies before they are paid.
Catch missed and misapplied charges before the customer invoice goes out.
Consistent invoicing and follow-up to keep receivables from aging.
Get Started
Most clients begin with POD chasing or invoice verification, then grow into full back-office management.
