For Port Agents & Ship Agents

Disbursement Accounting Software for Maritime Operations

Stop rebuilding the same PDA from scratch every port call. Base pulls your rate cards, populates the proforma automatically, tracks actuals as charges land, and closes the FDA with a variance report your principal already has access to. Every line item auditable. Every currency converted at the rate you locked. Port agencies on Base typically close an FDA the same day the vessel departs.

Disbursement Account
MV Nordic Carrier – Houston
FDA APPROVED
PDA Estimate
$18,400
FDA Final
$17,820
Charge LinePDAActualDiff
Pilotage$3,800$3,800$0
Tug assist$5,250$5,250$0
Launch service$620$980+$360
Berth dues$2,100$2,100$0
Agency fee$1,450$1,450$0
Variance: 1.9% Synced to QB Principal notified

62,595+

PDAs and FDAs generated

15

currencies per disbursement account

$1B+

in port charges tracked

4 min

average PDA creation time

Before → After
Before Base
45 min
per PDA draft
With Base
4 min
per PDA draft
Before Base
3-5
supplemental invoices per call
With Base
0-1
supplemental invoices per call

What Changes When You Stop Building PDAs by Hand

A Gulf Coast port agency was producing 80+ proforma disbursement accounts a month across three offices. Every PDA started from a blank spreadsheet. Charge lines were copied from the last similar call, adjusted manually, emailed to the principal, then rebuilt from scratch when actuals came in. The FDA close-out took longer than the port call itself.

After switching to Base, the same team builds a PDA in under 4 minutes. Rate cards populate the estimate automatically. Actuals land on the same record as they happen. The principal watches the variance in real time instead of waiting for a PDF two weeks later.

PDA creation time

45 min down to 4 min

Supplemental invoices

3-5 per call down to 0-1

FDA close-out

Same day as vessel departure

Principal disputes

Down 70% in the first quarter

PDAs That Build Themselves from Your Rate Cards

Pick the port. Pick the vessel type. Base pulls the matching rate card and fills every charge line on the proforma disbursement account. You review, adjust anything that changed since the last call, and send it to the principal. No copying from old spreadsheets. No guessing which rate applied last quarter.

Rate cards update in one place. The next PDA at that port picks up the new numbers automatically. When you need to manage the full port call workflow around the disbursement account, the PDA lives on the same record as the nomination, NOR, and SOF.

Rate Card → PDA
ChargeRateEst.
Pilotage (inbound)$3,800$3,800
Tug assist x2$2,625$5,250
Berth dues (3d)$700/d$2,100
Agency feeflat$1,450
Auto-populated from Houston bulk rate card
Live Cost Tracking
MV Nordic Carrier Houston
PDA Estimate$18,400
Actual so far$14,320
Last charge loggedLinesmen – $980
Logged bySantos ops
Principal viewLive

Track Every Charge Against the PDA as It Happens

Your agents log charges from the port. Each one lands on the disbursement account and compares against the proforma estimate in real time. You see the running variance before the vessel leaves the berth, not two weeks later when the spreadsheet finally gets updated.

Multi-currency port calls convert at the rate you lock when the charge is approved. No month-end surprises from exchange rate drift. If your team also handles port agency operations or ship agency coordination, those charges flow into the same disbursement record.

What Your Disbursement Workflow Gets

Rate Card Library

Store charge templates per port, vessel type, and cargo. One update flows to every future PDA at that port.

PDA Auto-Population

Select a port and vessel. Base builds the proforma from your rate card. Review and send in minutes, not hours.

Real-Time Actuals

Charges land on the disbursement account as your agents log them. The PDA-to-actual variance updates live.

Multi-Currency Support

Lock exchange rates per charge line. Convert to the principal’s billing currency without end-of-month rework.

FDA Close-Out

When the vessel departs, close the account. Base generates the final disbursement account with full variance detail.

Principal Access

Your principal sees the same disbursement account you do via Base Connect. No PDF attachments. No email chains.

Close the FDA and Sync to Your Books in One Step

When the vessel departs, approve the final charges and close the disbursement account. Base generates the FDA with a line-by-line variance report, pushes the journal entry to QuickBooks or Xero, and notifies the principal that the final account is ready for review.

No re-keying. No month-end reconciliation scramble. The books match the disbursement account because they came from the same record. For teams that also manage vendor invoice processing and payment reconciliation, those workflows feed into the same job ledger.

FDA Close-Out
MV Nordic Carrier CLOSED
PDA total$18,400
FDA total$17,820
Variance-3.1% ($580 under)
AccountingSynced to QB
PDF exported Principal notified

350+

port agencies on Base

19,940+

records synced to accounting

$1B+

in port charges tracked

24/7

support for active accounts

Questions We Hear Before the Demo

""Our rate cards change every quarter. Will Base keep up?""

You update the rate card once in Base. Every PDA at that port picks up the new numbers on the next call. No spreadsheet versioning, no forwarding the latest file to 3 offices.

""We handle 15 currencies across 40 ports. Can one system do that?""

Base converts each charge line at the rate you lock when it is approved. End-of-month reconciliation matches what your agents logged, not what the bank rate was on closing day.

""Our principals want PDF invoices, not a login.""

Base exports the FDA as a PDF with your branding. Principals who want real-time access get Base Connect. The two work side by side. You do not have to pick one.

Disbursement Accounting

See How a PDA Goes From Rate Card to FDA in Under 5 Minutes

Walk through a real port call: rate card selection, PDA generation, live charge logging, variance tracking, FDA close-out, and accounting sync. Bring your own port and vessel type.

“We stopped sending supplemental invoices after the first month. The PDA was close enough that the FDA just confirmed what the principal already knew.”

– Operations Manager, Gulf Coast port agency, 60+ calls/month

See how Base solves your biggest challenges

Your Next Port Call Deserves a Real Disbursement Account

Not a spreadsheet copy-pasted from last quarter. Book a demo and build a PDA from your own rate cards in under 5 minutes.

Disbursement Accounting Questions

Disbursement accounting software manages the financial lifecycle of a port call, from the proforma disbursement account (PDA) through charge tracking to the final disbursement account (FDA). It replaces the spreadsheet-and-email workflow most port agents use today with a single shared record that principals, agents, and accounting all read from.
A PDA is the estimated cost breakdown a port agent creates before a vessel arrives. It lists every expected charge: pilotage, tug assist, berth dues, linesmen, agency fee, and any port-specific items. The principal reviews the PDA to understand what the port call will cost before committing funds.
The PDA is the estimate sent before arrival. The FDA (final disbursement account) is the actual cost breakdown produced after the vessel departs. The FDA includes every charge that was logged during the call, plus a variance report showing where actuals differed from the proforma. In Base, both live on the same record, so the transition from PDA to FDA is a single approval step.
Each charge line can be logged in its local currency. Base converts it to the principal’s billing currency at the exchange rate you lock when the charge is approved. This means month-end reconciliation matches what your agents logged during the call, not whatever the bank rate happened to be on closing day.
Yes. You store rate cards per port and vessel type. When you create a new port call, Base pulls the matching rate card and fills every charge line on the PDA. You review, adjust anything specific to this call, and send it to the principal.
Supplemental invoices happen when charges show up after the FDA is sent. Base reduces them by tracking charges in real time as your agents log them from the port. By the time you close the FDA, most charges are already on the record. Principals see the running total throughout the call, so there are fewer surprises.
Yes. When you close an FDA, Base pushes the journal entry to your accounting system. Each charge line maps to your chart of accounts. No re-keying, no CSV export. The accounting record matches the disbursement account because they came from the same data.
Through Base Connect, principals get a live view of the same disbursement account your team works on. They see the PDA estimate, watch actuals land during the call, and review the FDA variance when the vessel departs. No PDF attachments. No waiting for an email update.
Most port agencies are running live PDAs within 2-3 weeks. You import your rate cards, map your chart of accounts, and run your first real port call alongside your existing spreadsheet. Once you trust the numbers, you stop maintaining the spreadsheet.
Port agents, ship agents, and vessel agencies that handle port call billing on behalf of principals. If your team produces proforma disbursement accounts, tracks port charges, and sends final disbursement accounts to vessel owners, charterers, or operators, this is the workflow Base replaces.

Ready to get started?

See how Base works for your operation.