An agent statement shows how an agent's balance with your recruiting agency was reached: the opening figure, what was billed against each file, what was bought from the agent, and the money that actually changed hands. Reading it in that order, line by line, is how you find a mismatch. A statement where the closing balance cannot be traced back through its lines is the mismatch.
What the statement is made of
A useful agent statement has four parts.
The opening balance
What was owed at the start of the period, in either direction. It carries everything that happened before the period began. If you print a statement for one month, the opening balance holds all the months before it.
Files billed through the agent
Every passenger file the agent brought in, with the charges against it by head: processing fee, extra MOFA fee, manpower fee, other fees, ticket sale price. These raise what the agent owes.
Purchases from the agent
If you bought air tickets or other services from the agent, those are what you owe them. They work in the opposite direction.
Money that changed hands
Receipts from the agent and payments to the agent. These are the only lines where money moved.
The closing balance should follow from those four, and nothing else.
Read it in this order
- Agree the opening balance first. If you and the agent disagree about the opening, nothing below it will agree either. Settle the opening, or print over a longer period until you reach a point you both accept.
- Check the list of files. Is every file the agent brought in present? Is there a file the agent does not recognise?
- Check the charges on each file. Are they what was agreed for that file?
- Check purchases. Is every ticket on the correct side, and against the right file?
- Check money. Match each receipt and payment to the agent's own record: date, amount and method.
Signs of a mismatch
- The closing balance does not follow from the lines. Add it up by hand once. If it differs, something is being counted that is not shown.
- A file appears twice, or a file is billed in two periods.
- A cancelled file is still billed at full charge, or its refund is missing.
- A receipt has no file against it. It may settle the agent's balance overall, but it cannot be shown as paying for a particular passenger, and that is where arguments start.
- A ticket is on the wrong side, recorded as something the agent owes instead of something you owe them, or the other way round.
- The direction of the balance is misread. Agree before reading which way a positive balance runs. Two people reading the same figure in opposite directions is a surprisingly common argument.
- Dates outside the period. A file billed on one date and paid on another can land in different statements. Print a wider window before deciding something is missing.
Settling the disagreement
Once you have found the line, the argument changes from "your number is wrong" to "this line is wrong", which can actually be settled. Correct the line, reprint the statement, and give the agent a copy. Do not adjust the total by a lump sum to make it agree; that hides the mistake and it will surface again.
How EmbassyFile prints the statement
In EmbassyFile the agent-wise report lists every agent's position for a date range, and its View button opens the full statement for one agent. The statement is built from the same ledger figures as the row it was opened from, so the two cannot disagree. It lists every file billed through the agent, itemised by income head, every air ticket bought from them by file, and the transactions behind a separate button. The office's own costs on a file are deliberately left off, because they never affect what the agent owes. A receipt not tagged to a file reduces the agent's balance but is not shown as paying for any one passenger. Every statement downloads as a PDF to hand over.
Key points
- Agree the opening balance before discussing anything below it.
- Billed files and purchases from the agent run in opposite directions.
- A receipt with no file attached is the commonest starting point of a dispute.
- Never force a statement to agree with a lump-sum adjustment.
- Print a wider date range before deciding an entry is missing.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my agent's balance not match theirs?
Usually because of one line: a receipt with no file attached, a cancelled file still billed, a ticket on the wrong side, or a different opening balance. Go through the statement in order and the difference normally points to a single entry.
Should air tickets bought from an agent be on their statement?
Yes. They are what your agency owes the agent, and they belong on the statement in the opposite direction to the files you billed through them.
What is the opening balance on an agent statement?
It is everything owed before the period started, in either direction. A one-month statement carries all earlier months in its opening figure.
Can I just adjust the total to make the agent's statement agree?
You should not. A lump-sum adjustment hides the line that is actually wrong, and the same disagreement will return later.