Automated Statement of Accounts (SOA)

Why Automate Statement of Accounts (SOA)?

Before SOA automation

• Accounts teams have to manually download the SOA for each client.

• Forwarder customers often requested all invoices to be attached — meaning even more manual downloads and email prep.

• This is repetitive, time-consuming, and error-prone.

With SOA automation

• The system now auto-sends SOAs on a schedule (e.g. monthly, weekly).

• Each SOA email includes direct invoice links, so customers can view/download instantly.

• No more manual downloads, attachments, or repetitive checks.

👉 This results in faster collections, fewer disputes, and major time savings for finance teams.

What can be configured

From the Statement of Accounts Automation setup screen, you can configure:

• Report Config – Select the SOA report template (columns, look and feel configured in SOA report).

• Emails - set who to receive per client (default is blank for all clients to start, see Implementation Considerations below

• Configuration for Clients with Outstanding Invoices – Includes clients with outstanding invoices to send SOA to. Schedule can be set for all clients with this filter.

• Configuration for Clients with Overdue Invoices – Includes clients with overdue invoices to send SOA to. Schedule can be set for all clients with this filter.

• Schedule Type & Value – Define when and how often SOAs are sent.

• Email Options – Customize:

  • Subject line (supports variables like %partner%, %DD%, %MM%, %YY%)

  • Sender email

  • CC / BCC recipients

• Email Template – Fully editable message body with variables for partner, company, date, etc.

Example

A customer will receive an email like this:

• Subject: SOA_[customer name]_15-09-2025

• Message body:

• Dear <b>%partner%</b>,
  
  This is a system-generated report.
  Please find attached the Statement of Accounts as at %DD%-%MM%-%YY%.
  
  Kindly review the SOA and advise if there are any discrepancies or missing invoices.
  Any discrepancies should be reported to the %company% accounts team within 7 days of receipt.
  
  
  If we do not hear from you, we will take it that all invoices are in order.
  
  
  We appreciate your prompt payment and kindly request that you update us once payment has been made for our records.
  
  
  If payment has already been made, please disregard this message.
  
  
  Thank you for your business and continuous support.
  
  
  For any queries, please contact our accounts team at <b>%support_email%</b>.

  
  

• Attachment: PDF SOA showing all open balances.

• Invoices are clickable inside the PDF for direct access.

(See sample SOA)

Implementation Considerations (Best Practices)

We recommend phasing in automation carefully to maximize trust and minimize disruption:

1. Send internally first – Start by sending SOAs only to your own team, not to clients. This allows you to validate templates, content, and accuracy.

2. Rely on “Check & Forward” – Even when emails are internal, this already automates 80% of the work (preparing reports, collating invoices). The team just reviews and forwards.

3. Start with “kind clients” – Roll out automated SOAs first to clients who are easygoing, trust your process, and won’t mind occasional adjustments.

4. Expand to all clients – Once stable, enable automation for your full customer base.

5. Increase frequency strategically – Begin with monthly SOAs. Later, move to weekly SOAs for overdue accounts while keeping monthly SOAs for customers with only outstanding (but not overdue) invoices.

👉 Following this progression builds confidence, reduces mistakes, and makes adoption smoother for both your team and your customers.

Set up SOA automation with MCP

You can ask an AI assistant connected to Fr8Labs Notifications Omni to create and manage SOA automations. MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets the assistant use Fr8Labs tools on your behalf. You do not need to write code or call the tools yourself.

Your assistant needs an authenticated connection with access to the intended company. If the connector is unavailable or your company is not accessible, contact the Fr8Labs team to arrange access. This workflow creates a Fr8Labs SOA schedule; you do not need a separate reminder or schedule in your AI application.

1. Provide your requirements

Tell the assistant:

Monthly schedules accept days 1–28. Requested hours are adjusted into the service's off-peak window, so review the saved time and next run rather than assuming the requested hour was retained. The creation tool has no timezone parameter; have the assistant verify the applicable timezone before enabling delivery.

Example request — replace the bracketed values:

Using Fr8Labs Notifications MCP, prepare a monthly open-items SOA automation for [company], on day 8 at [preferred time and timezone]. Use our existing [SOA view/template] and PDF attachments, ageing by due date, with rows sorted by invoice date. Use [connected sender mailbox] and [test email]. Check for an existing automation first. Save it paused in test mode and show me the settings and recipient preview before sending anything.

2. Check existing settings and choose a template

The assistant should check existing automations, connected sender accounts, templates, saved FMS views, and customer targeting for the named company. Reuse or update the intended automation if it already exists.

The automation controls schedule and email delivery. The template controls printed columns, row order, ageing, AR/AP inclusion, and attachment format. To create a template, copy a saved FMS SOA view so its columns and options are included; a template created without a view has no columns until it is seeded.

Ask the assistant to explain which customers will use a new or changed template. Changing a shared template or the default can affect other schedules on their next run. Copying a saved view into an existing template replaces both its columns and options, including row order.

3. Save paused and preview recipients

Create the automation with test mode and the schedule disabled. Preview the recipients to check customer coverage, assigned templates, missing email addresses, excluded customers, and where a live run would send each statement.

The recipient preview generates no PDFs and sends no email. Its listed rows may be limited; check the total counts as well.

Available recipient modes are:

For a limited rollout, consider override_only and inspect all existing overrides before enabling it. Recipient overrides and skip settings are shared customer settings, not a per-schedule customer filter. The MCP creation tool does not expose an overdue-only filter; do not assume open items means overdue only.

A partner group combines several customer codes into one email, addressed through the group's recipient customer code. Groups use their assigned template, or the default; they bypass template rules. For ungrouped customers, an exact customer rule takes precedence over partner-type/account-group rules, then the default applies. An address override does not change the template.

4. Send and inspect a test

Once the recipient preview is correct, explicitly ask for a test email:

Send three sample statements for this automation to [test email] only. Show me the run result and statement links, including any failures or skipped customers.

The test-send tool generates real statements and sends them to the configured test address, never to customers. It defaults to three customers and supports up to 25. Check the PDF/Excel output, balances, ageing, row order, sender, subject, and email body. Inspect the run details to confirm what was produced; submitting a test request alone does not establish success.

5. Enable live delivery

After checking the samples, ask the assistant to show the final company, customer coverage, sender, CC/BCC, schedule, and next run. Then explicitly authorize customer delivery:

Enable live customer delivery for this SOA automation using the settings and recipients we reviewed.

Live mode requires a connected sender mailbox and an explicit live confirmation in the tool call. Enabling it arms scheduled customer emails.

Review mode supports an internal review workflow; do not assume it automatically forwards approved statements to customers. Check the review address and CC/BCC before enabling internal runs.

Regional Note: Philippines

In the Philippines, Statement of Accounts (SOAs) are commonly referred to as “Invoices.”
What many freight forwarders and customers there call a “monthly statement” is what Fr8Labs labels an SOA.

👉 This is simply a difference in terminology — the automation works the same way.

• When you enable SOA automation, your Philippine customers may expect it under the name “Monthly Statement” rather than “SOA.”

• No system behavior changes, only the label is different.

This helps avoid confusion when rolling out the feature across regional teams.