What remittance is
Remittance is the courier transferring what they collected on your behalf, after deducting shipping fees, collection fees and returns. You usually receive a statement listing the shipments in the transfer, then one amount in your account.
Remittance timing and fees differ between couriers and contracts, so put them in writing: how many days after delivery, which fees are deducted, and in what format the statement arrives.
Why the numbers differ
Most differences have a cause you can trace:
- A delivered shipment that will be in a later batch.
- A partial delivery: the customer kept one item and refused another.
- A returned shipment with its return fee deducted.
- An amount changed at the door by a discount the courier agreed.
- A percentage collection fee you did not include in your price.
- A data-entry error in a tracking number or amount.
Reconciliation, step by step
Use the same method every time, and never compare totals alone:
- List the shipments delivered in the period, with tracking number and amount to collect.
- Match each statement line to its shipment by tracking number, not by name.
- Work out what you expect for each: the amount collected minus the fees in your contract.
- Flag every difference, every delivered shipment missing from the statement, and every line with no shipment.
- Compare the statement total with the amount that actually reached your account.
- Send the courier a written list of differences, with each tracking number.
Habits that protect your money
Do not treat an order as “collected” because the courier delivered it. It is collected when its money reaches your account. Reconcile each batch as it arrives: a recent difference is easier to chase than one two months old.
Keep every statement as it arrived, and never apply the same statement twice. Review your net after returns and fees each month: you may find a region or product costs more to ship than it earns.
What to agree with your courier
Before the first shipment, ask for these in writing:
- Shipping fees by zone, and the collection fee: fixed or a percentage.
- Return fees, and who bears them when a customer refuses.
- Remittance timing after delivery, and the account it goes to.
- Statement format: tracking number, amount collected, fees and net for each shipment.
- How long you have to dispute a statement, and how.
An example line
With illustrative numbers: a shipment with EGP 850 to collect. The contract shipping fee is EGP 65 and the collection fee 1% of the amount, EGP 8.50. Expected on the statement: 850 − 65 − 8.50 = EGP 776.50.
If the line shows EGP 760, the difference is EGP 16.50. It may be an overweight fee, or an error. Do not guess: ask for the reason, and ask for it to be written on the statement.
When you disagree with the courier
Start with a list, not an angry message: each tracking number, what you expected, what arrived and the difference. A list gets a faster answer and leaves a written trail.
Follow up open differences every week until they close, and record what is settled in the next batch. If the same difference keeps coming back, review the contract, or the courier.
How to do it in nqrah
In nqrah you import an Egypt Post remittance statement, and each line is matched to its shipment and compared with what you expect: the cash-on-delivery amount minus the collection fee. Each shipment settles once, the same file can never be applied twice, and confirming that money reached the bank stays a separate step from the statement.
For other couriers you record remittance by amount and reference, and see shortfalls and conflicts. Automatic courier integrations are planned on the roadmap.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Check the official text of the law, or your adviser, before writing your policies.