ATLAS · FREIGHT FORWARDER ERP · SALES → OPS → FINANCE
ATLAS: one record from quotation to invoice.
ERP for freight forwarders: ATLAS carries the quotation your customer approved into the booking, the operations file and the billing queue without retyping — with milestones, shipment documents and profit and loss per job in the same place.
- 5Modes: sea, air, land, rail, multimodal
- 10Shipment documents generated from the file
- 4Interface languages
This section is about how a freight forwarder works today: one shipment recorded again by sales, operations and finance in different tools.
THE WORK TODAYOne shipment, recorded three times.
The quotation is built in a spreadsheet, operations updates travel through chat, and the invoice is made in other software. Each team copies the same data from the team before it.
The quotation is copied into the booking
Prices, lane and charges the customer already approved are typed again by operations, then once more by finance.
Where the cargo is lives in chat
A customer asks where their container is, and the answer has to be dug out of chat groups, carrier emails and people's memory.
The gap shows up at month-end
The quotation and the invoice disagree, and the difference only appears at closing.
The problem is not the people. The data is rewritten at every handover.
ATLAS writes it once: the approved quotation becomes the booking, the booking becomes the operations file, and the same quotation enters the billing queue.
The data shown here is illustrative.
This section shows the Files screen in ATLAS, where a freight forwarder's operations team sees every job handed over from sales. All data here is sample data.
KEY FEATURE · OPERATIONS FILEEvery job, with its milestones, documents and money.
In ATLAS a job order is called a file. One file holds the consol, the house shipments, the containers, the milestones, the documents, and the revenue and cost. Every milestone records its expected and actual time, and carrier events arrive as the file's milestones.
Files
Every job handed over from sales: its consol, shipments, containers, milestones, documents and money in one place.
| File | Customer | Lane | Mode | Status | ETD → ETA | Vessel | Shipments | Exceptions | Owner | Last milestone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F-2609-0142 | PT Demo Elektrika | CNSHA → IDTPP | Sea | In transit | 12-09 → 26-09 | MV DEMO STAR 026N | 2 | 0 | Alex Demo | Departed |
| F-2609-0147 | PT Demo Pangan | SGSIN → IDTPP | Sea | Arrived | 15-09 → 19-09 | MV DEMO BAY 118S | 1 | 1 | Sari Demo | Arrived |
| F-2609-0151 | CV Demo Logam | SIN → CGK | Air | Open | 23-09 → 23-09 | DM 101 | 1 | 0 | Alex Demo | Booked |
| F-2609-0153 | PT Demo Tekstil | IDTPP → JPYOK | Sea | Open | 25-09 → 06-10 | MV DEMO RIVER 204E | 3 | 0 | Sari Demo | Gate in |
Milestones
- Booked08-09
- Gate in10-09
- Loaded11-09
- Departed12-09
- ArrivedExpected 26-09
- Customs clearedExpected 29-09
- DeliveredExpected 30-09
Documents
| Document | Status | Version |
|---|---|---|
| Master B/L | Released | 1 |
| House B/L | Issued | 2 |
| Packing list | Issued | 1 |
| Commercial invoice | Draft | 1 |
| Arrival notice | Draft | 1 |
Money
IDR
- Revenue
- 84,250,000
- Cost
- 69,070,000
- Gross margin
- 15,180,000
USD
- Revenue
- 2,400
- Cost
- 1,950
- Gross margin
- 450
Never summed across currencies.
This section explains the ATLAS sales module, for a freight forwarder's sales team that builds quotations and hands them over to operations.
KEY FEATURE · SALES TO OPERATIONSApproved once, never typed again.
An inquiry becomes a quotation, the quotation the customer accepts becomes a booking, and the booking handed over opens the operations file. The quotation's charges carry onto the job at handover, and the same quotation enters the billing queue.
Sales
- InquiryINQ-2609-0571
- Quotation approvedQ-2609-0388 · R2
Operations
- Booking handed overBK-2609-0214
- Operations fileF-2609-0142
Finance
- Billing queueQ-2609-0388
- InvoiceINV-2609-0093
From sales to operations and finance, with no re-entry.
Inquiries from anywhere
Logged by the sales team, or sent straight into ATLAS by a form on your website, with lane, mode and cargo.
Revisions and price options
Every quotation keeps its revisions, and one quotation can carry two to three priced options.
A guarded minimum margin
A quotation below the minimum margin waits for approval before it can be sent to the customer.
Accepted through a link
The quotation goes out by email with the customer's own link, where they accept or reject it. A PDF can be attached.
The shipment documents ATLAS generates from the operations file's data, for freight forwarders who want to know which documents no longer need typing.
SHIPMENT DOCUMENTS10 documents, generated from the file.
House documents are generated per shipment and master documents per consol, from data already in the file. Each document moves through draft, issued and released, with a version number on every change, and can be sent by email or downloaded as one pack.
Transport documents
- House B/LLevel House
- House AWBLevel House
- Master B/LLevel Master
- Master AWBLevel Master
- ManifestLevel Master
Arrival & release
- Arrival noticeLevel House
- Delivery orderLevel House
Commercial & instructions
- Commercial invoiceLevel House
- Packing listLevel House
- Shipping instructionLevel House
Every document's template can be adjusted to your company's format.
This section explains the ATLAS finance module, for a freight forwarder's finance team that bills from quotations and watches the profit on every job.
KEY FEATURE · BILLING & PROFITInvoices from the approved quotation.
Every currency is counted on its own, never summed across currencies.
Billing queue
Approved quotations wait to be billed. Invoice lines are copied from the selling price; extras beyond the quotation need a reason.
Rate locked at posting
An invoice can be in a foreign currency. Its exchange rate is locked when the invoice is posted, so the figures do not drift afterwards.
Profit and loss per quotation and per file
Quoted revenue is compared with actual cost, and the result can be exported to Excel.
Expenses with approval
Expenses are recorded with receipts, approved within their limits, then counted as actual cost.
Other ATLAS capabilities beyond the main modules above, for teams judging how well it fits their freight forwarding operation.
CAPABILITIESWhat else is inside ATLAS.
Rate agreements per lane
Contract, spot, tariff and agent rates, with price lines per lane, mode and load type.
Rate imports and RFQs
Vendor rates are imported from spreadsheets with a column mapping per vendor, and requests for quotation go out to vendors from ATLAS.
Expiring rates and empty lanes
Rates close to expiry raise a reminder, and lanes searched without a rate get a list of their own.
A board of files by status
Files are grouped by status on one board, and you define the statuses yourself.
Exceptions and SLAs
Late milestones, required documents not yet generated and jobs without charges surface as exceptions, at warning or critical level.
Access per module
Roles and permissions per module, member invitations, several companies under one account, and an interface in four languages.
How ATLAS connects with customers, carriers and the other APEX Intelligence products, for a freight forwarder's operations and IT teams.
ATLAS · CARRIERS · CUSTOMERSConnected to your customers and carriers.
A form on your website sends customer inquiries straight into ATLAS, and customers receive quotations through their own link; carriers send events that become the file's milestones. Customs documents are APEX Customs AI's work, another of our products.
- YOUR WEBSITE FORM → INQUIRY IN ATLAS
- QUOTATION → EMAIL AND CUSTOMER LINK
- CARRIER EVENTS → FILE MILESTONES
Short answers about quotations, the handover to operations, modes, documents, customs and currencies in ATLAS.
Questions from freight forwarders
Can ATLAS replace our quotation spreadsheet?
Yes. Quotations are built in ATLAS from rate agreements and margin rules, keep their revisions, can carry two to three priced options, and go to the customer by email with a link to accept or reject; a PDF can be attached.
Does quotation data have to be retyped in operations and finance?
No. The accepted quotation becomes a booking, and the booking handed over opens the operations file with the quotation's charges carried onto the job. The same quotation enters the billing queue, and its invoice lines are copied from the selling price.
Which modes and directions are supported?
Five modes: sea, air, land, rail and multimodal, for import, export and domestic.
Which documents does ATLAS generate?
Ten: House B/L, House AWB, Master B/L, Master AWB, manifest, arrival notice, delivery order, commercial invoice, packing list and shipping instruction. All are generated from the file's data, carry a status and a version, and have adjustable templates.
Does ATLAS prepare the PIB/PEB and submit it to CEISA 4.0?
No. Customs documents are the work of APEX Customs AI, another APEX Intelligence product. ATLAS handles freight forwarding sales, operations and billing.
How does ATLAS handle foreign currencies?
Each company has a base currency, and an invoice can be in another currency with the rate locked when the invoice is posted. Profit and loss is shown per currency and never summed across currencies.
ATLAS runs freight forwarding operations. Three other products handle customs documents, team communication and the needs no product covers yet.
The other APEX Intelligence products
See how it works on your own documents.
How to start: a demo run on your own documents, for teams weighing up APEX Intelligence.