KeyTray Cargo — User Manual

Edition: United States
Date: September 2026
Software: KeyTray Cargo (desktop)
Demo company used in every example: Cargo Masters USA (Miami, Florida), base currency USD

How to use this manual

This manual is written for people who work at a freight forwarder and have never studied accounting. You may be great at booking an air shipment or receiving cargo at the warehouse, but "debit", "credit" or "cost of goods sold" may sound like a foreign language. That is fine. Think of this manual as a patient accountant sitting next to you.

Why it matters: explains the accounting reason behind a step.

Careful: warns you about a common mistake or a known problem.

The ribbon at the top of KeyTray has these tabs: Company, Business Elements, Human Resources, Operations, Freight Forwarding, Template & Forms, Reports and Security. You will use most of them in this manual.

Table of contents

0. Getting started

0.1 Creating your company

The first time you sign in with a brand-new account (in our demo, the owner signs in as demo@keytray.com), there is no company yet. KeyTray tells you so:

KeyTray informs you that no company exists yet

  1. Read the message "No company has been created yet. Please proceed to create a company" and click Accept.
  2. The New Company window opens. It has two parts: Required Information on the left and Additional Information on the right. Labels in bold blue are mandatory.

The New Company window filled in for Cargo Masters USA

  1. Fill in the Required Information:
    • Country of operations: choose United States. This is the most important choice on the screen: KeyTray uses it to load the United States chart of accounts, the US sales tax setup and US conventions (for example, prices that do not include tax).
    • Type of application: KeyTray Cargo.
    • Company Name: the short name you want to see inside KeyTray — Cargo Masters USA.
    • Legal name: the name registered with the state — Cargo Masters USA LLC.
    • EIN: your federal Employer Identification Number — 98-7654321.
    • Start of Fiscal Year and End Fiscal Year: 1/1/2026 and 12/31/2026. Most US small businesses use the calendar year; use a different year only if your accountant tells you to.
    • Company Logo: click Open file to choose an image. Leave Reports Logo is same as Company Logo ticked if you want the same logo on printed documents; otherwise untick it and load a Reports Logo.
  2. Fill in the Additional Information:
    • Corporative Email (operations@cargomastersdemo.com), Form and Report Name (Cargo Masters USA LLC — the name printed on invoices and reports), Phone Number (mandatory, +1 305 555 0142), Website, Address Line 1 to Address Line 4.
    • Company Language: English or Español. This is the language of the data KeyTray creates for you (account names, tax names, and so on).
  3. Click Save & Close.
  4. After a short wait you see the confirmation "All set! Your new company is ready to go!!!". Click Continue.

Confirmation that the company is ready

Careful: choose the Country of operations and the fiscal year dates carefully. They drive the chart of accounts, the taxes and the accounting periods that are created. Changing them later is much harder than getting them right now.

0.2 What KeyTray prepares for you automatically

When the company is created, KeyTray does a lot of setup work that an accountant would otherwise do by hand. For a United States company it creates:

What What you get Where to see it
Chart of accounts A complete US-style list of accounts (cash, banks, receivables, payables, sales tax payable, capital, income, cost of goods sold, expenses...) Business Elements > Chart Of Accounts (section 1.2)
Tax codes and tax groups The Sales Tax code and the groups Taxable, Exempt and Out of State Business Elements > Sale Tax Manager (chapter 3)
Fiscal year and periods The fiscal year you entered, with its 12 monthly periods, all Open Operations > Fiscal Years and Operations > Periods Manager (chapter 2)
Document numbering Automatic numbers for documents, for example INV- for invoices, CN- for credit notes, RC- for customer payments, VP- for vendor payments, PRE- for pre-receptions, WR- for warehouse receipts, REP- for repacking, DSP- for dispatches, and the numbering for bills Visible on every new document
Default bank and cash accounts Petty cash, undeposited funds, a local-currency bank account and a foreign-currency bank account ready to be renamed Chart of Accounts (section 1.3)
Pricing convention Prices do not include sales tax (the US convention): tax is added on top of the price Every sales document

Why it matters: because this setup already exists, your job is mostly to review and adapt it (rename the bank account, set the right sales tax rate, create your customers and items), not to build it from zero.

0.3 Signing in and choosing your company

One KeyTray user can work in several companies. That is why, after you sign in, KeyTray shows you the list of the companies you have access to:

The company selector

  1. Read the header "Please select the company you wish to access:".
  2. Each card shows the company name, the country and the application type (KeyTray Cargo). Use the scroll bar on the right if there are more companies than fit on screen.
  3. Click the card of the company you want to work in.
  4. If you opened the wrong one, Cancel Login takes you back.

Careful: look at the country on the card before you click. Demo and sister companies often have similar names, and a document posted in the wrong company stays in another company's books, with another currency and other taxes. There is no "move this document to the other company" button.

Once you are in, the window title confirms where you are working: the company name followed by - KeyTray Cargo and the version, for example Cargo Masters USA - KeyTray Cargo. Get into the habit of reading that title before you start entering documents.

0.4 The ribbon

Everything in KeyTray starts from the ribbon at the top of the window. Its tabs are Company, Business Elements, Human Resources, Operations, Freight Forwarding, Template & Forms, Reports and Security. Which tabs you see depends on your role: a warehouse clerk will not see Security, and an administrator may also see KeyTray Configuration.

Above the tabs there are two buttons that work everywhere:

This is the Business Elements tab, the one you will use most in chapter 1:

The Business Elements tab

Every button opens its window in a tab below the ribbon. You can keep several tabs open at the same time and move between them, which is how you compare two documents or copy data from one to another. That is also why Close all tabs exists: after a long day the tab bar fills up.

Why it matters: menu paths in this manual are written as Business Elements > New Customer, meaning ribbon tab, then button. If a button is not where the manual says, the usual reason is that your role does not include it — not that the manual is wrong.

0.5 Signing in with Windows Hello

Windows Hello lets you sign in to KeyTray with the PIN, fingerprint or face you already use to unlock Windows, without typing your password. KeyTray does not store your PIN or fingerprint: Windows checks them and signs the sign-in with a key kept in the computer's security chip. That is why each registration only works on that computer and that Windows user.

Video: Signing in with Windows Hello, step by step (voice and subtitles in English).

You need Windows Hello set up on the computer (Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options > PIN) and your KeyTray email and password once, to register.

Registering Windows Hello

  1. On the sign-in screen, type your Email Address and Password.
  2. Click Register Windows Hello (instead of Log In).

Email and password typed, ready to Register Windows Hello

  1. Windows shows its security window. Type your PIN (or use your fingerprint or face).

The Windows window asks for the PIN

  1. KeyTray confirms: "Windows Hello is now registered for ... on this computer". Click Accept.
  2. Choose the company, as usual. That account and that company are saved on this computer as a card.

Signing in with a card

The next time you open KeyTray, or when you sign out, instead of the email and password you will see Windows Hello accounts: one card for each account and company registered on this computer, with the company logo.

One card: the account and its company logo

  1. Click the card.
  2. Type your PIN.
  3. KeyTray goes straight into the company on the card, without the company selector.

Careful: each card opens its own company. Check the name and logo before you click.

The same account in another company

  1. Click Use email and password.
  2. With your email typed, the button says Login with Windows Hello: the account is already registered and no password is needed.

The account is already registered: Login with Windows Hello

  1. Click Login with Windows Hello, type the PIN and choose the other company.

A new card is added. The one you used last comes first.

The same account in two companies

Another person on the same computer

Several accounts can use Windows Hello on the same computer; each one has its own key.

  1. Click Use email and password.
  2. Type the email and password of the other account and click Register Windows Hello.

The second account, ready to register

  1. Type the Windows PIN and, if the account has several companies, choose one.

Now the cards of both accounts are shown.

Two accounts on the same computer

Important: the PIN is the Windows PIN, not a KeyTray one. Anyone who knows the PIN of that Windows user can sign in with every card registered under it. If several people share the computer, the safe way is for each one to use their own Windows user: the cards of one Windows user are not shown to the others.

From Use email and password, the Windows Hello accounts link (top right) takes you back to the cards.

Removing a card

Each card has a small trash can on the right (Remove this account from this computer).

Removing one company of the account

The last card of the account: Windows Hello is removed

From then on that account signs in with its password again, and you can register it again whenever you want.

Windows Hello removed

If you lost or replaced the computer: sign in to KeyTray from another computer, open the KeyTray button > My account and, on the Windows Hello row, click Turn off Windows Hello. It is removed from all your computers and the key on the lost computer stops working.

If something does not work

Message or situation What to do
Windows Hello is not available Set up a PIN in Windows (Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options) and try again.
The Windows Hello registration of ... on this computer is no longer valid The key was removed (from another computer or from My account). Type your password and click Register Windows Hello.
You clicked Cancel in the Windows window Nothing happens: click the card or the button again.

1. Accounting fundamentals and master data

1.1 How accounting works

The accounting equation

Every business, including a freight forwarder, can be described with one simple equation:

Assets = Liabilities + Equity

Two more families of accounts explain how equity grows or shrinks during the year:

At the end of the year, Income − Expenses = Profit (or loss), and that profit becomes part of equity.

The five classes

So there are five big classes of accounts:

  1. Assets
  2. Liabilities
  3. Equity
  4. Income
  5. Expenses (which we split into Cost of Goods Sold and operating expenses, explained below)

The first three appear on the Balance Sheet (a photo of the company on a given day). The last two appear on the Income Statement, also called Profit and Loss or P&L (a movie of what happened during a period).

Double entry: debit and credit

Accounting uses double entry: every transaction touches at least two accounts, and the total on one side must equal the total on the other side.

Forget the everyday meaning of "credit" (like a credit card). In accounting, debit and credit simply mean left column and right column.

The rule that tells you which side to use is the normal balance of each class:

Account class Normal balance (the side that increases it) The side that decreases it Typical examples at a freight forwarder
Assets Debit Credit Bank of America operating account, petty cash, accounts receivable from shippers and consignees, prepaid insurance, forklifts and warehouse racks
Liabilities Credit Debit Accounts payable to airlines, steamship lines and truckers; sales tax payable to the tax authority; customer deposits received in advance; bank loans
Equity Credit Debit Capital stock contributed by the owners, retained earnings
Income Credit Debit Air export freight income, ocean freight income, customs brokerage revenue, warehouse storage and handling income
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) Debit Credit Airline freight cost, trucking cost for a shipment, outside customs broker fees paid for a client's shipment, terminal handling charges
Expenses (operating) Debit Credit Office rent, electricity, internet, office supplies, salaries of administrative staff, accounting software
Other Income Credit Debit Foreign exchange gains, interest earned
Other Expense Debit Credit Foreign exchange losses, bank interest paid

A simple way to remember it: things you have and things you spend are debits; things you owe, owners' money and things you earn are credits.

Example: the owners put money in the bank

The owners of Cargo Masters USA deposit USD 50,000 into the Bank of America account to start the business.

Account Debit Credit
Bank of America - Operating USD (Asset) 50,000.00
Capital stock (Equity) 50,000.00
Total 50,000.00 50,000.00

The bank (an asset) goes up, so it is debited. The owners' capital (equity) goes up, so it is credited. Both sides are equal: the entry balances. The equation still holds: Assets 50,000 = Liabilities 0 + Equity 50,000.

Why it matters: KeyTray will never let you save an entry that does not balance. If the totals of the Debit and Credit columns are different, something is missing.

Cost of Goods Sold versus operating expenses

This is the single most important idea for a freight forwarder, so read it twice.

The difference matters because of gross margin:

Income − COGS = Gross profit
Gross profit − Operating expenses = Net profit

Gross profit tells you whether your pricing is healthy: are you selling freight for more than it costs you? Net profit tells you whether the whole company is healthy. If direct costs are mixed with office expenses, you lose the ability to see either one clearly.

1.2 Account types in KeyTray and posting to the wrong class

The account types on screen

To see the chart of accounts, go to Business Elements > Chart Of Accounts. To create a new account, click New on that screen (or Business Elements > New Account).

The New Account window shows every account type KeyTray supports, grouped in two blocks:

The New Account window with all account types

Income and Expense Accounts (these go to the Income Statement):

Balance Sheet Accounts (these go to the Balance Sheet):

Below the types you fill in Sub Account of (the parent account), Account Number, Account Name, Opening Balance, As of (the date of that opening balance) and Status (Active). Click Save & Close to save.

Here is how each KeyTray type fits into the five classes:

KeyTray type Class Use it for
Cash Asset Petty cash, undeposited funds (checks received not yet taken to the bank)
Bank Asset Checking and savings accounts at a bank
Inventory Asset Asset Goods you own and resell (rare in a pure forwarder)
Other Current Asset Asset Prepaid expenses, advances paid on behalf of clients, deposits you will recover within a year
Fixed Asset Asset Forklifts, trucks, racks, computers — things used for several years
Other Asset Asset Long-term deposits and other long-term assets
Current Liability Liability Debts due within a year (other than normal vendor bills)
Long Liability Liability Loans due in more than a year
Credit Card / Credit Line Liability Company credit cards and bank credit lines
Payroll Liability Liability Payroll taxes and withholdings owed
Equity Equity Capital stock, retained earnings
Income Income Revenue from your services
Other Income Income Income not from your main business: exchange gains, interest earned
Cost of goods sold Expense (direct) Direct costs of the shipments and services you sell
Expense Expense (operating) Costs of running the office
Other Expense Expense (non-operating) Exchange losses, interest paid, penalties

The Chart of Accounts screen

The Chart of Accounts of Cargo Masters USA

On the left, the accounts are grouped in a tree: Cash Accounts, Accounts Receivable, Inventory Asset, Other Current Asset, Fixed Asset, Other Asset, Accounts Payable, Tax Accounts Payable, Payroll Liability, Current Liability, Long-term Liability, Equity, Income, Other Income, Cost of Goods Sold, Expense and Other Expense.

On the right, the grid shows Account Type, Account Number, Account Name, the currency and balance, Is Active?, Openning Balance, Openning Balance Date, Is Default Account?, Default Account Type, Last Changed by and Last Date Changed. Sub-accounts show their parent in small green text (for example 1111 - Cash on hand under Petty cash - local currency).

The toolbar offers Refresh, Collapse, Expand, Order up, Order down, Save order, New, Edit, Delete and Set inactive / active. The Show option lets you list Active accounts, Inactive accounts or All accounts.

Notice the column Is Default Account?. In the demo, Undeposited funds is the default Undeposited Funds account and Accounts receivable - customers (11210001) is the default Account Receivable. KeyTray uses default accounts automatically — for example, every customer invoice posts the amount owed to the default accounts receivable account, so you do not choose it on each customer.

Careful: do not delete seeded accounts you do not use. Set them inactive with Set inactive / active instead. Deleting an account that KeyTray uses as a default can break document posting.

Posting to the wrong class: what goes wrong

The account type is not a label for decoration. Reports are built by class, so a wrong class quietly produces wrong reports. Here are the four mistakes we see most often, what they break, and how to avoid or fix them.

Mistake 1 — Airline freight cost posted to an Expense instead of Cost of Goods Sold.
You sell an air export shipment for 503.62 and the airline charges you 330.50. If the item used for the airline charge has an Expense account (for example "Office supplies" or "General expenses") as its purchase account, the Income Statement shows:

Correct (COGS) Wrong (Expense)
Income 503.62 503.62
Cost of Goods Sold 330.50 0.00
Gross profit 173.12 (34%) 503.62 (100%)
Operating expenses 0.00 330.50
Net profit 173.12 173.12

Net profit is the same, but the gross margin says you make 100% on every shipment. Management will think prices are excellent and may cut them, or will think the office is extremely expensive.
Avoid it: set a Cost of goods sold account as the purchase account of every item that represents a direct shipment cost (section 1.9).
Fix it: correct the purchase account on the item for future documents, then ask your accountant to post a reclassification journal entry (debit the COGS account, credit the expense account) for the amounts already posted, in an open period (chapter 4).

Mistake 2 — A customer deposit posted to Income instead of a Liability.
A consignee sends you USD 2,000 before the shipment moves. If you record it as income, you show revenue for a service you have not delivered yet — and if the shipment is cancelled, you must return money that you already counted as profit.
Avoid it: money received in advance is a liability (you owe the service or the refund) until you invoice. KeyTray has Operations > Cash in Advanced Payment for this situation; ask your accountant which liability account to use.
Fix it: a journal entry that debits the income account and credits the customer-deposit liability account.

Mistake 3 — Buying a forklift posted to Expense instead of Fixed Asset.
A USD 18,000 forklift will work for many years. If you post it as an expense, this year's profit drops by 18,000 and the next years look artificially good; the Balance Sheet also "forgets" that the company owns a forklift.
Avoid it: post long-lived equipment to a Fixed Asset account. Its cost is spread over its useful life through depreciation (KeyTray has Operations > Depreciation Manager).
Fix it: a journal entry that debits the fixed asset account and credits the expense account.

Mistake 4 — Sales tax collected posted to Income.
When you bill a customer 350.00 plus 7% sales tax, the customer pays 374.50. The 24.50 is not yours: you collect it on behalf of the tax authority. If it lands in an income account, your revenue is overstated and, worse, you lose track of how much you must pay the tax authority.
Avoid it: the Sales Tax code must post to a Tax Accounts Payable (liability) account. In the demo it posts to 21210001 - Sales tax payable, which KeyTray already set up (chapter 3). Never create an item called "Sales tax" with an income account.
Fix it: a journal entry that debits the income account and credits Sales tax payable.

Why it matters: the class of an account is decided once, in the master data (the account itself, the item, the tax code). After that, hundreds of documents follow that decision automatically. A good decision is multiplied; so is a bad one.

1.3 Bank accounts

In KeyTray a bank account is simply an account of type Bank in the chart of accounts, with some extra bank information. KeyTray already created a USD bank account for you (11120003 - Bank account - USD). You only need to adapt it.

Adapting the USD bank account

  1. Go to Business Elements > Chart Of Accounts.
  2. Select the row Bank account - USD (11120003) and click Edit.

Editing the seeded USD bank account

  1. The type Bank is already selected and Sub Account of shows 1112 Banks. Leave them as they are.
  2. Change Account Name to something your team will recognize — Bank of America - Operating USD.
  3. In the Bank information box:
    • Bank name: open the list. If your bank is not there, click the small add button to the right of the list. The New Bank window opens: type the Name (Bank of America) and a Description (Bank of America, N.A. - Miami) and click Accept.

Creating the bank in the New Bank window

  1. Leave Opening Balance at 0.00. We will record the initial money with a journal entry in chapter 4, which leaves a clearer audit trail.
  2. Click Save & Close.

Creating a EUR bank account

Cargo Masters USA also receives payments from European agents, so it opens a euro account.

Careful: a foreign-currency bank account needs the currency to exist first. Create the EUR currency as explained in section 3.3 before doing these steps.

  1. In Chart Of Accounts, click New.
  2. Select the type Bank.
  3. Sub Account of: 1112 Banks.
  4. Account Number: 11120004. Account Name: Bank of America - EUR account.
  5. Bank information: Bank name Bank of America, Account Type Checking, Account Number 000987654321.
  6. Currency: choose Euro - EUR - €. An Exchange Rate box appears showing 1 EUR = a value.
  7. Click Save & Close.

Creating a EUR bank account

Careful: in the screenshot the Exchange Rate box shows 0.00 even though a rate was entered when the currency was created. This is a known issue (Appendix B). It does not stop you from saving the account; just make sure you type the correct rate on every document or journal entry in euros (chapter 4 shows how).

Why it matters: a foreign-currency bank account keeps two balances: the balance in euros (what the bank statement says) and its value in dollars (what goes into your US financial statements). Keeping euros in a separate account is the only way to reconcile it with the bank statement.

1.4 Customers

A customer is anyone you send an invoice to. At a freight forwarder that can be a US exporter, an importer, or a foreign consignee who pays freight collect.

Menu: Business Elements > New Customer.

The customer window has an Options panel on the left with the tabs General Information, Contact Emails, Identification, Financial Info, Initial Balances and Freight Forward Options.

General Information

Customer General Information

  1. Type: Company or Individual.
  2. Company Name (mandatory): Sunshine Exports LLC.
  3. Representative (mandatory): the contact person — Laura Mitchell.
  4. EIN / Tax ID: 59-3456789.
  5. Category: optional; use the buttons next to it to create or edit categories.
  6. Address Type: Bill To (the address printed on invoices).
  7. Country United States, Street Address 1450 NW 87th Avenue, City Miami, State FL - Florida, Zip Code 33172.
  8. Phone, Fax and a second number (CellPhone).
  9. Language: English — the language of documents sent to this customer.
  10. Active: ticked.
  11. Foreign customer (export) and Free zone customer: tick them only when they apply.

Contact Emails

In Contact Emails, add the email addresses where invoices and notices are sent. Adding an address opens the Enter a new email address window:

Adding a contact email

Click Accept (or Save & New to add another address).

Financial Info — the tab that matters for accounting

Customer Financial Info

Initial Balances

If the customer already owed you money before you started using KeyTray, tick The customer has an initial balance in the Initial Balances tab and enter the open amounts. Otherwise leave it empty.

Freight Forward Options

Customer Freight Forward Options

Click Save & Close (or Save & New).

Careful: the pickers inside a shipment (Shipper, Consignee, Agent, Carrier...) only list participants whose main Freight Forward Category matches. Additional categories add roles, but they do not make the company appear in a picker that requires a main category. If a company does not show up in a shipment, check its main category first.

Why it matters — where are the receivable account and the tax group? You will not find an accounts receivable account on the customer. KeyTray posts every customer invoice to the default accounts receivable account (Accounts receivable - customers in the chart of accounts). The sales tax treatment is chosen on each document with the Tax group field (Taxable, Exempt, Out of State — see chapter 3). What you must get right on the customer is the Payment Term, because it drives due dates and collections.

1.5 Vendors

A vendor is anyone who sends you a bill: airlines, truckers, customs brokers, the landlord, the electricity company.

Menu: Business Elements > New Vendor.

The vendor window has the same tabs as the customer: General Information, Contact Emails, Identification, Financial Info, Initial Balances and Freight Forward Options. For carriers it also shows Air Waybill Number Assigned (see chapter 7).

Vendor General Information

  1. Type: Company.
  2. Company Name: Florida Road Logistics Inc. (a trucking company).
  3. Representative: Michael Torres.
  4. Category (optional) and EIN / Tax ID: 65-1234987.
  5. Address Type Bill To, Country United States, Street Address 2500 NW 107th Avenue, City Doral, State FL - Florida, Zip Code 33172, Phone 3055550177.
  6. Language English, Active ticked. Tick Foreign only for foreign vendors.
  7. In Financial Info, choose the Payment Term the vendor gives you (for example Net 30 Days). As with customers, this calculates the due date of each bill, which is what you use to plan payments.

Freight Forward Options for a vendor

Vendor Freight Forward Options

Click Save & Close.

Why it matters — where is the payable account and the expense account? Bills post the amount you owe to the default Accounts payable account. The cost or expense side is not chosen on the vendor: it comes from the item on each bill line (section 1.9). That is why the same trucker can be a Cost of Goods Sold for a shipment and, on another bill, an office expense for moving furniture.

1.6 Agents (Freight Agencies)

An agent (in KeyTray, a Freight Agency) is the partner forwarder at the other end of the shipment — for example, the company in Bogota that receives your air export and delivers it to the consignee. Agents often both bill you and are billed by you.

Menu: Freight Forwarding > New FF Agency.

Agent General Information

  1. Type Company, Company Name Bogota Cargo Partners S.A.S., Representative Andres Gomez.
  2. EIN / Tax ID: the foreign tax ID — 901234567-8.
  3. Address Type Bill To, Country Colombia, Street Address Calle 26 # 92-32, Bodega 4, City Bogota. The State list is empty for Colombia; leave it blank.
  4. Language: Spanish (documents to this agent will be in Spanish).
  5. Active ticked and Foreign customer (export) ticked, because the agent is outside the United States.
  6. Complete Financial Info (Payment Term) and Contact Emails as for a customer.
  7. Click Save & Close.

Why it matters: because the agent can be on both sides (you invoice them, they bill you), use Vendor related for Statements (in the customer's Financial Info) to link both records. Your accountant can then see the net balance with the agent.

1.7 Consignees

The consignee is the company that receives the cargo at destination. When freight is Collect, the consignee is also the one who pays you, so it is a customer too.

Menu: Freight Forwarding > New Consignee.

Consignee General Information

  1. Type Company, Company Name Andes Retail S.A.S., Representative Carolina Rojas.
  2. EIN / Tax ID 900876543-2, Address Type Bill To, Country Colombia, Street Address Carrera 7 # 71-21, Oficina 502, City Bogota, Phone 6015550188.
  3. Language Spanish, Active ticked, Foreign customer (export) ticked.

A consignee has extra tabs: Predefined charges, POA – FPPI and USPPI Authorization.

US export filings: POA – FPPI and USPPI Authorization are the export authorizations used in US export filings.

Freight Forward Options for a consignee

Consignee Freight Forward Options with its assigned agency

  1. Freight Forward Category is fixed to Consignee (it appears greyed out).
  2. Additional Categories: Shipper, Freight Agency, Supplier if needed.
  3. In Freight agencies to which the cargo must be assigned, pick the agency in Freight Agency — Bogota Cargo Partners S.A.S. — and it is added to the list below. This tells your team which agent handles this consignee's cargo at destination. Use the red X to remove an agency.
  4. Click Save & Close.

Why it matters: in chapter 7 the house air waybill charges freight Collect to Andes Retail S.A.S. When the shipment is settled, KeyTray creates a sales invoice to this consignee, so its Payment Term in Financial Info matters just as much as for any customer.

1.8 Shippers

The shipper is the company that sends the cargo. In an export, it is usually your US client.

Menu: Freight Forwarding > New Shipper.

Shipper General Information with the Address Type list open

  1. Type Company, Company Name Everglades Organic Foods Inc., Representative Daniel Price.
  2. Category (optional), EIN / Tax ID 59-7766554.
  3. Address Type: the list shows all the address types you can store for a participant: Bill To, Delivery To, House, Mail to, Payment to, Ship To, Shipment to, Warehouse. You can save several addresses, one per type; documents pick the right one (for example, invoices use Bill To).
  4. Fill in the rest of the address, Phone, Language (English) and Active.
  5. A shipper has the extra tab Power of Attorney (POA), where you record the power of attorney that authorizes you to act for the shipper (for example, for export filings).
  6. Click Save & Close.

Careful: in the demo shipment of chapter 7, the house shipper is Sunshine Exports LLC, which was created as a customer with main Freight Forward Category Shipper (section 1.4). Both ways work: what matters for the shipment pickers is the main category.

1.9 Items

Items are the heart of the accounting setup. Every line on an invoice, a bill, a credit note or a shipment charge uses an item, and the item decides which accounts are posted. If your items are right, your Income Statement is right almost automatically.

At a freight forwarder, items are mostly services: air freight, ocean freight, trucking, customs brokerage, bond fees, storage, handling, documentation.

Menu: Business Elements > New Item.

The item window has these tabs for a service: Item Details, List Price and Commissions, Accounting info, Tax Codes, Freight Forward Options and Shipment Settlement Options.

Step 1 — Item Details

Item Details for the customs bond fee

  1. Item Type:
    • Inventory Item — goods you keep in stock and resell (KeyTray tracks quantities).
    • No Inventory Item — goods you buy or sell without tracking stock.
    • Service — work you perform or buy: freight, fees, storage. Choose Service for almost every freight item.
  2. Category A (optional).
  3. Item ID (mandatory): a short, unique code. Use a consistent prefix so items sort together — FF-BONDFEE.
  4. Fiscal item code: leave empty unless your accountant gives you a code.
  5. Name (mandatory): Customs bond fee.
  6. Description: the text printed on documents — Annual or single-entry customs bond purchased for the client.
  7. Part Number, Category B, Category C: optional.
  8. Item Tax Type: Taxable or No Taxable. Choose Taxable only if this service is subject to sales tax in your state.
  9. Active: ticked.

Careful: whether a service is subject to Florida (or any state's) sales tax depends on state law and on the details of the transaction. Ask your tax adviser before marking freight services as Taxable. In the demo, the bond fee is marked Taxable only to show how tax is calculated.

Step 2 — Accounting info (the most important tab)

Accounting info: income account and a Cost of Goods Sold purchase account

The tab says: "Select the accounts that the system will use, to accumulate the amounts, when you sell and/or buy this item". It has two decisions.

Decision A — The income account (the field labelled "The account to use when entering an invoice, when you sale this item").

This is where the money goes when you sell the item to a customer. It must be an Income account. For the customs bond fee, the demo uses 41170002 - Customs brokerage revenue.

If you try to save the item without an income account, KeyTray stops you:

KeyTray requires an income account

The message reads "You must to choose an income account for the item". Click Accept, go back to Accounting info and choose the account.

Decision B — The purchase account (tick Do you plan to use this item for purchases as well? and choose "The account to use when entering a purchase, when you purchase this item").

This is where the amount goes when you buy this item from a vendor. Here you must answer one question:

Is this a cost of delivering the service I sell, or a cost of running the office?

Here is a second item where the purchase side is an office cost:

Accounting info: an item whose purchase account is an Expense

This item has 41170005 - Other logistics revenue as its income account (used only if you ever sell it to a customer) and 52210003 - Office supplies as its purchase account, because when Cargo Masters USA buys it, it consumes it in the office. Notice that this item shows more tabs (Packing / Sizes, Inventory, Bill of Materials, Vendors Item Numbers, Item Pictures, Technical Data Sheet) because it is not a Service: the tabs depend on the Item Type.

Decision checklist for the purchase account

Ask these questions in order. The first "yes" gives you the answer.

  1. Will it last more than a year and cost a significant amount (forklift, truck, computer, racks)? → It is not an item expense at all. Talk to your accountant: it goes to a Fixed Asset account.
  2. Are you paying it on behalf of the client, to be re-billed at exactly the same amount (customs duties, taxes paid to Customs for the importer)? → Ask your accountant. This is usually recorded as an amount the client owes you (Other Current Asset), not as income and cost.
  3. Would this cost disappear if you had not sold this specific shipment or service? → Cost of Goods Sold.
  4. Can you point to the shipment, house, master or client it belongs to? → Cost of Goods Sold.
  5. Is it paid every month regardless of how many shipments you move (rent, electricity, internet, office supplies, software, cleaning)? → Expense.
  6. Is it a financial or unusual item (bank interest, exchange loss, penalty)? → Other Expense.

Typical freight items and their accounts

Item Income account class (when you sell it) Purchase account class (when you buy it) Why
Air freight — export Income Cost of Goods Sold The airline charge exists only because of the shipment
Air freight — import Income Cost of Goods Sold Same logic
Ocean freight (FCL/LCL) Income Cost of Goods Sold Steamship line or NVOCC cost of the shipment
Inland freight / pickup / delivery trucking Income Cost of Goods Sold Trucker moves this client's cargo
Customs brokerage fee Income Cost of Goods Sold (when you pay an outside broker for the entry) Direct cost of the entry you bill
Customs bond fee Income Cost of Goods Sold Bond bought for a specific client
Terminal handling charges (THC) Income Cost of Goods Sold Charged by the terminal for this cargo
Fuel surcharge / security surcharge Income Cost of Goods Sold Passed on by the carrier per shipment
Airway bill / bill of lading documentation fee Income Cost of Goods Sold (if the carrier charges you one) Tied to the shipment document
Cargo insurance Income Cost of Goods Sold Premium for this cargo
Warehouse storage and handling (third-party warehouse) Income Cost of Goods Sold Paid to store this client's cargo
Packing, crating, palletizing materials used for a client Income Cost of Goods Sold Consumed in the client's shipment
Office rent — (you do not sell it) Expense Overhead, paid every month
Electricity, water, internet, phone — Expense Overhead
Office supplies, cleaning supplies — Expense Overhead
Accounting or TMS software subscription — Expense Overhead
Duties and taxes paid for the importer Ask your accountant Ask your accountant Usually a pass-through receivable, not income or cost
Forklift, truck, racks — Not an item: Fixed Asset Lasts several years

Step 3 — Tax Codes

Item Tax Codes

By default, This item uses specific tax code is not ticked, and the item follows the Tax group chosen on each document (chapter 3). Tick it only if this item must always use a specific tax code, then choose it in Choose a tax code (here the only option is Sales Tax).

Step 4 — Save

Click Save & Close.

Why it matters: the item is where "Cost of Goods Sold or Expense?" is answered once. After that, every bill line and every shipment charge that uses the item posts to the right place without anyone thinking about it. Review all your freight items with your accountant before you start invoicing.

2. Fiscal years and monthly periods

A fiscal year is the 12-month accounting year (for Cargo Masters USA, January 1 to December 31, 2026). Each fiscal year is divided into periods — one per month.

Why close a month? Once you have sent the monthly reports to management, the bank or the tax adviser, the numbers for that month must not change. If someone can still post an invoice dated last month, last month's report is no longer true. Closing a period locks it, so nobody changes history by accident. If a real correction is needed, the month can be reopened — with a written reason that is kept in the history.

2.1 Fiscal years

Menu: Operations > Fiscal Years.

The Fiscal Years screen

The toolbar has Refresh, Edit, New Fiscal period, Re-Open fiscal period and Close Fiscal period. The grid shows User Name Open, Start Date, Notes Open, Closed, End Date, User Name Closed and Notes Closed.

In the demo you see the year 1/1/2026 – 12/31/2026, created with the company, and a second year 1/1/2027 – 12/31/2027 with the note Fiscal year 2027.

Opening a new fiscal year

  1. Click New Fiscal period. The Open fiscal year window opens.

Opening fiscal year 2027

  1. Start of fiscal period is filled in automatically (1/1/2027, the day after the previous year ends) and cannot be changed, so there are no gaps between years.
  2. Check End of fiscal period (12/31/2027).
  3. Type Notes (Fiscal year 2027).
  4. Click Accept.

Open the next fiscal year before you need to post documents in it — for example, in December, so that January invoices can be entered on the first working day.

Closing and reopening a fiscal year

To close a year, select it and click Close Fiscal period. To undo a close, select it and click Re-Open fiscal period (this button is only available when the selected year is closed).

Careful: closing a fiscal year is a year-end accounting step. Do it only after your accountant has finished the year-end adjustments and approved the financial statements.

2.2 Monthly periods

Menu: Operations > Periods Manager.

The Periods Manager

The toolbar has Refresh, the Module list (All modules or one module), Open period, Restrict, Close period and Generate periods.

The grid shows one row per month (Year, Period, Start Date, End Date) and, for each month, a status for each module: Sales, Purchases, Inventory, Journal Entries, Payments and Freight Forward. This lets you, for example, close Sales for August while Journal Entries stay open for the accountant's adjustments.

A period can be:

Closing a month

  1. In Module, choose All modules (or only the module you want to close).
  2. Tick the checkbox at the left of the month (for example, August 2026).
  3. Click Close period.

Reopening a month

Sometimes a late document arrives — for example, a vendor bill for August that shows up in mid-September.

  1. Tick the month.
  2. Click Open period.
  3. KeyTray asks for the Reason for reopening:

Typing the reason for reopening

  1. Type a clear reason in the text box (the label on this box reads Void Reason) — for example, Late vendor bill for August from Florida Road Logistics.
  2. Click Accept.

Periods after the month was reopened: all modules Open again

After reopening, the modules show Open again, as in the screenshot above. Post the late document and close the month again.

Automatic rollover and period history

On the right side of the Periods Manager you find Automatic rollover and Period history:

Automatic rollover settings and period history

Generate periods creates the monthly periods for a fiscal year if they are missing.

Why it matters: the period history is your audit trail. An auditor or tax examiner can see who reopened a closed month, when, and why. Always write a reason a stranger could understand.

3. Taxes and currencies

3.1 How US sales tax works (the short version)

3.2 Tax codes and tax groups

Menu: Business Elements > Sale Tax Manager. The window has two options on the left: Tax Codes and Tax Code Groups.

Tax codes

The Tax Codes list

The list shows Name, Account for Sales, Use Fiscal Credit, Account for Purchases, Current Rate, Applicability Type and Apply. KeyTray created the code Sales Tax posting to Sales tax payable. In this screenshot the Current Rate still shows 0% because the Florida rate had not been added yet. Use Add new Tax Code to create other codes, and the edit button to change one.

To set the rate:

  1. Select Sales Tax and click the edit button. The Editing Tax Code: Sales Tax window opens.

Editing the Sales Tax code and adding the 7% rate

  1. In Details:
    • Name: Sales Tax.
    • Payment Term: when the tax must be paid to the state — Net 30th of Next Month.
    • Account used when tax is used for sales: 21210001 - Sales tax payable. This account is of the Tax Accounts Payable (liability) type. Do not change it to an income account.
    • This tax is eligible for the use of fiscal credit: leave it unticked for US sales tax. Because it is unticked, Account used when tax is used for purchases (11310001 - Prepaid and recoverable...) is greyed out and not used.
    • Tax Agency name: Florida Department of Revenue.
  2. In Rates, click the add button and type the new line: Rate % 7, Effective date 1/1/2026, Effective time. The older line (0.00 from 1/1/2000) stays for history. KeyTray uses the rate whose effective date applies to each document's date, so when the state changes the rate you add a new line instead of overwriting the old one.
  3. In Applicability, choose In all items (or By Type / By Category to limit the tax to some items).
  4. Click Save & Close.

Careful: after saving, reopen the tax code and check that the Tax Agency name was kept (see Appendix B).

Tax code groups

A tax group is a bundle of tax codes that you choose on each document. Instead of picking taxes line by line, you pick Taxable, Exempt or Out of State once for the whole document.

Tax Code Groups

KeyTray created three groups:

Name Default group Taxes Description When to use it
Taxable Yes Sales Tax Taxable sales A sale of taxable services to a customer in Florida
Exempt No (none) Exempt sales A sale that is exempt (for example, a customer with a valid resale or exemption certificate), and most vendor bills
Out of State No (none) Out-of-state sales A sale to a customer outside Florida where you do not collect Florida sales tax

To edit a group, select it and click edit:

Editing the Taxable tax group

Click Save & Close.

3.3 Currencies

Cargo Masters USA keeps its books in USD (the base currency). When it works with euros — a European agent, a euro bank account — it needs the EUR currency.

Menu: Business Elements > Currencies, then create a new currency.

Creating the EUR currency

  1. Currency: choose Euro - € - EUR.
  2. Description: Euro - European suppliers and agents.
  3. Exchange gain account: 42130001 - Foreign exchange gain. This must be an Other Income account.
  4. Exchange loss account: 53210001 - Foreign exchange loss. This must be an Other Expense account.
  5. In the rates grid, click Add and type Effective date 9/1/2026 and Rate 1.170000 (1 EUR = 1.17 USD). Use Remove to delete a wrong line.
  6. Click Accept.

Why it matters — exchange gains and losses: suppose an agent owes you EUR 1,000 on an invoice issued when 1 EUR = 1.17 USD (USD 1,170). When they pay, the rate is 1.20, so you receive USD 1,200. The extra USD 30 is not freight income; it is a gain caused by the currency. It belongs in Other Income, below your operating results, so it does not distort your freight margins. A loss goes to Other Expense for the same reason.

Careful: the rate you type here may not be picked up automatically by documents yet (they can show 0.00). Always check the Exchange Rate box on each document or journal entry in a foreign currency, and type the rate when needed. See Appendix B.

4. Journal entries (including foreign currency)

Most accounting in KeyTray is created automatically by documents: invoices, bills, payments, shipment settlements. A journal entry is the manual way to post to accounts directly. Use it for things no document covers: owners' capital contributions, loans, depreciation, corrections and reclassifications.

Menu: Operations > Journal Entry. The button opens a small menu:

The Journal Entry menu

4.1 The rules of every journal entry

  1. Every line uses either Debit or Credit, never both.
  2. Total Debit must equal Total Credit. KeyTray shows both totals at the bottom and will not save an unbalanced entry.
  3. Use the normal balances from section 1.1: to increase an asset or expense, debit it; to increase a liability, equity or income account, credit it.
  4. Write a Memo that explains the entry to someone reading it a year from now.

4.2 Example 1: the owners' opening capital (USD)

The owners deposit USD 50,000 into Bank of America.

  1. Click Operations > Journal Entry > Enter Journal Entry (Accountant).
  2. In the header, check Date (9/13/2026) and Currency (US Dollar - USD). Journal Number and Entry Sequence are assigned automatically.
  3. Type the Memo: Initial capital contribution by the owners.
  4. Leave Currency Revaluation and Prior period adjustment switched off.
  5. In the first line, click the magnifying glass in Account Name. The Participant search window opens.

Searching an account for the journal line

  1. In Participant Type, keep Financial Account (you can also search a Vendor, Customer or Tax Code). Type part of the name in Text to search — Bank of America.
  2. In the result line 11120003 - Bank of America - Operating USD, type 50000 in Debit. As the note in the window says: "You can type the amount in Debit or Credit: it is copied to the journal line. Fill in one of the two, not both."
  3. Click Add participant in a new line to keep searching, or Save participant and close to go back to the entry. (New Account creates an account if it does not exist; Refresh list reloads the results.)
  4. In the next line, search Capital stock and type 50000 in Credit.
  5. Check the totals at the bottom: 50,000.00 and 50,000.00.

The capital journal entry, balanced

  1. Click Save & Close (or Save & New to enter another entry).

The buttons below the grid let you delete a line, insert a line and move lines up or down.

Account Debit Credit
11120003 - Bank of America - Operating USD 50,000.00
31110001 - Capital stock 50,000.00

4.3 Example 2: a capital contribution in euros

The owners also deposit EUR 1,000 into the euro account. On that day 1 EUR = 1.17 USD.

  1. Open a new entry (Enter Journal Entry (Accountant)).
  2. Currency: choose Euro - EUR - €. The Exchange Rate box appears: 1 EUR = 1.17. If it shows 0.00, type the rate.
  3. Memo: Capital contribution received in euros.
  4. Line 1: 11120004 - Bank of America - EUR account, Debit 1,000.00.
  5. Line 2: 31110001 - Capital stock, Credit 1,000.00.
  6. The totals show 1,000.00 and 1,000.00 — in euros, because that is the currency of the entry.
  7. Click Save & Close.

Journal entry in euros with exchange rate 1.17

How the base-currency amount is computed

You typed the amounts in euros, but the company's books are in dollars. KeyTray converts every line with the exchange rate of the entry:

Amount in USD = Amount in EUR × Exchange rate
1,000.00 × 1.17 = 1,170.00

So the ledger receives:

Account Debit (EUR) Credit (EUR) Debit (USD) Credit (USD)
11120004 - Bank of America - EUR account 1,000.00 1,170.00
31110001 - Capital stock 1,000.00 1,170.00

The EUR bank account remembers both: EUR 1,000 (to match the bank statement) and USD 1,170 (for your US financial statements).

Careful: a wrong exchange rate produces a wrong dollar amount even when the entry "balances". Double-check the rate before saving.

4.4 Checking what was posted: the Accounting Explorer

Menu: Operations > Accounting Explorer.

The Accounting Explorer ribbon

Its ribbon offers Refresh list, Transaction Journal, General Ledger, Fiscal Stamping Numbers, Currency Revaluation, Revaluation Register, VAT Settlement, Cash Flow: accounts, Closing Workpaper and Batch write-off.

In the Transaction Journal of the demo you can see both journal entries: voucher 1 (Capital stock credit 50,000.00 / Bank of America debit 50,000.00) and voucher 2, where the euro entry appears in dollars: Capital stock credit 1,170.00 and Bank of America EUR debit 1,170.00.

4.5 Journal templates

A journal template stores the accounts of an entry you repeat: the bank fee, the rent, the payroll, a transfer between your own accounts. When you use it, the accounts come already filled in and cannot be changed; you only enter the amounts. That way someone who does not know accounting can post it without inventing the entry, and the free journal entry (section 4.2) stays with the accountant.

Your company already comes with a set of factory templates for the most common movements, using the account names of your chart. The screenshots in this section are from the Cargo Masters USA demo company: in your company the currency and the bank account names will be your own.

4.5.1 Using a template

  1. Click Operations > Journal Entry. The menu lists the templates by name (up to 14) and ends with See all templates....
  2. Pick the template. A new journal entry opens with its accounts.
  3. The template's accounting explanation appears at the top right: what it debits, what it credits and why. Hover over it to read it in full.
  4. Enter the amounts in Debit and Credit. If the template has a fixed amount, it comes filled in and cannot be changed.
  5. Click Save & Close.

The accounts in the grid cannot be changed and lines cannot be added or removed: the set of accounts is the one the template defines. If another account is needed, fix the template (section 4.5.4), not the entry.

4.5.2 When the template asks for the bank in every entry

Some movements always use the same accounts except the bank: the fee is charged by whichever bank the operation went through, and a transfer between your own accounts leaves one account and arrives in another. You do not need one template per bank: the template leaves that line to be picked, and you pick the bank in each entry.

  1. Pick the template, for example Bank fee or charge.
  2. In the grid, the bank line has no account: it shows the question (Which bank account charges this fee?).
  3. Below the grid the box Choose the accounts of this entry appears, with the question, the side (Credit) and a list.

The bank fee: the bank is picked below the grid

  1. Enter the amount and pick the bank from the list. The list offers only the cash and bank accounts in the template's currency: an entry in one currency never offers a bank account in another. Once picked, the bank moves down to its line in the grid.

The bank picked and the entry balanced

  1. Click Save & Close.

If you try to save without picking the bank, KeyTray does not save and tells you what is missing:

The bank still has to be picked

The Transfer between own accounts template asks for two accounts: Which account does the money arrive in? (Debit) and Which account does the money leave from? (Credit).

A transfer between own accounts, with its two accounts picked

Account Debit Credit
The account the money arrives in (in the screenshot, 11110001 - Petty cash - local currency) 1,000.00
The account it leaves from (in the screenshot, 11120003 - Bank account - USD) 1,000.00

Careful: cash accounts that have no bank behind them (Cash on hand, Petty cash, Undeposited funds) have no declared currency. KeyTray offers them only when the entry is in the company currency.

4.5.3 When the template asks for the bank only once

Other templates are always paid from the same bank (rent, payroll, taxes). When your company was created it had no bank yet, so those templates are born with the bank account pending: in the menu they show (*) after the name.

The first time someone uses one, KeyTray asks which account it is, showing the accounting explanation on top and only cash and bank accounts:

The rent template asks for its bank only once

The account picked is saved in the template, for everyone: from then on the entry opens straight away, without asking. Only someone with the access Allow completing the missing accounts of a journal template (section 4.5.6) can pick it; everyone else is told that whoever handles the accounting has to complete it.

4.5.4 Creating or changing a template: the Journal Template Manager

Menu: Operations > Journal Entry > Open Journal Template Manager.

The Journal Template Manager

The Templates tab lists them all, with their currency, how amounts are entered and their schedule. The buttons on top: New template, Edit template, Use in a new journal entry, Duplicate, Activate / deactivate and Delete template. The Pending tab shows the scheduled entries waiting for confirmation (section 4.5.5).

You can also create a template from an open journal entry with the Save as template button (below the grid): the editor opens with the entry's lines.

In the editor:

The editor, with the bank line picked when posting

4.5.5 Scheduling a template

Tick Schedule this template so KeyTray reminds you every day, week, month or year (Repeat every, Starting on, Last day of the month, Ends). In When it is due choose:

A template with a line to pick cannot be scheduled as Automatic

If an automatic entry fails (for example, because the period is closed), the schedule switches to Reminder and you are notified. In How do you want to be notified? choose In KeyTray, when I log in and/or By email to: (several emails separated by commas). The entries KeyTray posted on its own are listed in Automatic Journals, in the List Explorer.

4.5.6 Who can do what

There are three accesses in the role editor:

Access What it allows
Allow entering free journal entries (without a template) Posting entries with any account (section 4.2). Without it, entries are posted only with templates and with their accounts.
Allow editing journal templates Creating, changing, duplicating, scheduling and deleting templates.
Allow completing the missing accounts of a journal template Picking, once, the pending bank of a template (section 4.5.3).

Careful: while nobody has been granted one of these accesses, KeyTray does not restrict anything: everyone can. The restriction starts once the access is granted to some role. The company owner always has every access.

5. Commercial documents

Commercial documents are the day-to-day paperwork: invoices to customers, bills from vendors, credit notes, payments received and payments made. Each one creates its own accounting entry automatically, using the accounts from the item, the tax code and the defaults you set up in chapters 1 and 3.

All of them are on the Operations ribbon:

The story in this chapter:

  1. Cargo Masters USA invoices Sunshine Exports LLC for a customs bond fee (INV-000001, 374.50).
  2. It receives a trucking bill from Florida Road Logistics Inc. (FRL-2026-0915, 180.00).
  3. It gives Sunshine a discount through a credit note (CN-000001, 53.50) and applies it when Sunshine pays the rest (RC-000001, 321.00).
  4. Florida Road Logistics admits an overcharge and issues a vendor credit (FRL-CR-0031, 30.00), which is applied when the bill is paid (VP-000001, 150.00).

Careful: when a document already has data, clicking Close can close it without asking whether to save. Always save with one of the Save buttons first (see Appendix B).

5.1 Sales invoice

Menu: Operations > New Invoice.

Sales invoice INV-000001 for Sunshine Exports LLC

  1. Date: 9/13/2026. The Document Number INV-000001 is assigned automatically.
  2. Currency: US Dollar - USD.
  3. Customer: choose Sunshine Exports LLC. KeyTray fills in the Billing Address (Bill To) and the Payment Term (Net 30 Days) from the customer, and calculates the Due date (10/13/2026).
  4. Shipping Address, Job / Proyect, Salesperson (the screenshot shows its list open), Shipping date and Delivery Appointment: fill them in if you use them. Customer PO: PO-55821.
  5. In the lines, type Quantity 1.00, choose the Item FF-BONDFEE - Customs bond fee (its Description is copied automatically) and type the Price 350.00.
  6. Tax group: Taxable. KeyTray applies 7.00% Sales Tax to the line: 24.50.
  7. Check the totals at the bottom right: Total Taxable Lines 350.00, Taxes 24.50, Discounts 0.00, USD 374.50, Payments Applied, Balance.
  8. Optional: Template (the print layout) and Notes.
  9. Save with Save & Close. The other buttons are Save & New, Save & Print and Save & Pay (saves and goes straight to receiving the payment).

The line buttons are Delete row, Row up, Row down and Insert row.

Accounting entry created by INV-000001 (as shown in the Transaction Journal):

Account Debit Credit
11210001 - Accounts receivable - customers 374.50
41170002 - Customs brokerage revenue 350.00
21210001 - Sales tax payable 24.50
Total 374.50 374.50

Read it like this: the customer now owes you 374.50 (asset up); you earned 350.00 (income up); you owe the state 24.50 (liability up). In the Transaction Journal the receivable appears in two lines (350.00 and 24.50) that add up to 374.50.

5.2 Vendor bill

Menu: Operations > New Bill.

Vendor bill FRL-2026-0915 from Florida Road Logistics

  1. Date: 9/13/2026.
  2. Document Number: type the vendor's own bill number — FRL-2026-0915. This is how you will find the bill when the vendor calls about it.
  3. Vendor: Florida Road Logistics Inc. The Billing Address, Payment Term (Net 30 Days) and Due date (10/13/2026) are filled in.
  4. Currency: US Dollar - USD. Job / Proyect: optional.
  5. Line: Quantity 1.00, Item FF-INLAND - Inland freight, Price 180.00. Discount and Unit are optional.
  6. Tax group: Exempt (no sales tax is added on this bill).
  7. Totals: Total Taxable Lines 180.00, Taxes 0.00, USD 180.00, Balance 180.00.
  8. Click Save & Close.

Accounting entry created by the bill:

Account Debit Credit
51170008 - Local transport cost 180.00
21110001 - Accounts payable 180.00

The cost account (Local transport cost) came from the purchase account of the item FF-INLAND. That is the decision from section 1.9 at work: trucking for a client's cargo is a Cost of Goods Sold.

5.3 Customer credit note

A credit note (credit memo) reduces what a customer owes you: a discount agreed after invoicing, a billing error, a service not delivered. Never edit a sent invoice to give a discount — issue a credit note, so both documents tell the story.

Menu: Operations > Customer Credit Note.

Customer credit note CN-000001

  1. Date 9/13/2026. Document Number CN-000001 (automatic).
  2. Customer: Sunshine Exports LLC.
  3. Source invoice: choose INV-000001. This links the credit note to the invoice it corrects.
  4. Line: Quantity 1.00, Item FF-BONDFEE - Customs bond fee, Price 50.00.
  5. Tax group: Taxable. Because the original invoice charged tax, the credit also returns the tax: 7.00% = 3.50.
  6. Totals: Total Line 50.00, Taxes 3.50, USD 53.50.
  7. Notes: Discount agreed on customs bond fee.
  8. Click Save & Close.

Accounting entry created by CN-000001:

Account Debit Credit
41170002 - Customs brokerage revenue 50.00
21210001 - Sales tax payable 3.50
11210001 - Accounts receivable - customers 53.50

It is the invoice in reverse: income goes down, the tax owed to the state goes down, and the customer owes you less.

5.4 Receiving a customer payment and applying the credit note

Sunshine Exports pays the invoice minus the credit: 374.50 − 53.50 = 321.00, by check number 2045.

Menu: Operations > Receive Payments.

Receiving payment RC-000001 with the credit note applied

  1. Date 9/13/2026. Document Number RC-000001 (automatic).
  2. Payment Method: Check.
  3. Currency: US Dollar - USD.
  4. Customer: Sunshine Exports LLC. The number in brackets ((1)) is the number of open documents. The grid lists the open invoices.
  5. Deposit in: 11120003 - Bank of America - Operating USD — the account where the money goes.
  6. Amount received in: 321.00.
  7. Check reference: 2045. Receipt number, Check deposit date and Memo/Reference are optional.
  8. In the grid, tick the line of INV-000001. You see Total Document 374.50, Paid so far 0.00 and Balance 374.50.
  9. Apply the credit note: click the Credit to be Applied cell of the invoice line. The window Select the credit(s) you want to apply to the document opens, showing the balance of the invoice (374.50):

Applying credit note CN-000001 to the invoice

  1. Back on the payment, the line shows Credit to be Applied 53.50, Payment 321.00 and Total line 321.00.
  2. Leave Discounts, Write Off, Retentions and Bank Charges switched Off unless they apply (for example, Bank Charges when the bank deducts a wire fee).
  3. Save the payment.

Accounting entry created by RC-000001:

Account Debit Credit
11120003 - Bank of America - Operating USD 321.00
11210001 - Accounts receivable - customers 321.00

Applying the credit note does not create another entry: the credit note already reduced the receivable in 5.3. Applying it only tells KeyTray which invoice the credit belongs to, so that the invoice is fully settled. Check it: 374.50 (invoice) − 53.50 (credit note) − 321.00 (payment) = 0.00.

Careful: in the footer of the payment grid, Paid so far and Credit to be applied can show misleading totals (in the screenshot, 374.50 and 0.00). Trust the values on the invoice line. See Appendix B.

Why it matters: if you save the payment without applying the credit, the invoice keeps an open balance of 53.50 and the credit note stays "available". Both look like pending items in your receivables, and someone may try to collect 53.50 the customer does not owe.

5.5 Vendor credit note

Florida Road Logistics agrees it overcharged USD 30.00 for waiting time and sends a credit memo.

Menu: Operations > Vendor Credit Note.

Vendor credit note FRL-CR-0031

  1. Date 9/13/2026. Document Number: the vendor's credit memo number — FRL-CR-0031.
  2. Vendor: Florida Road Logistics Inc.
  3. Source invoice: FRL-2026-0915 (the bill being corrected).
  4. Line: Quantity 1.00, Item FF-INLAND - Inland freight, Price 30.00.
  5. Tax group: Exempt. Totals: USD 30.00.
  6. Notes: Overcharge on inland freight - waiting time not applicable.
  7. Click Save & Close.

Accounting entry created by the vendor credit note:

Account Debit Credit
21110001 - Accounts payable 30.00
51170008 - Local transport cost 30.00

You owe the vendor less, and the cost of the trucking goes down by the same amount.

5.6 Paying a vendor and using the vendor credit

You now owe Florida Road Logistics 180.00 − 30.00 = 150.00. You pay with check 5001.

Menu: Operations > Pay Bills.

Paying bills with VP-000001 and the vendor credit applied

  1. Date 9/13/2026. Document Number VP-000001 (automatic).
  2. Payment Method: Check. Currency: US Dollar - USD.
  3. Vendor: Florida Road Logistics Inc.
  4. Pay from: Bank of America - Operating USD.
  5. Check reference: 5001.
  6. Tick the line of bill FRL-2026-0915 (Total Document 180.00, Balance 180.00).
  7. Click the Credit to be Applied cell to open the credit window:

Applying vendor credit FRL-CR-0031

The window shows the bill balance (180.00) and the Vendor Credit Memo FRL-CR-0031 with Total credit 30.00. Apply it so that Amount to use is 30.00 (Amount Available becomes 0.00) and click Accept.
8. The line now shows Credit to be Applied 30, Payment 150.00, Total line 150.00.
9. Save the payment.

Accounting entry created by VP-000001:

Account Debit Credit
21110001 - Accounts payable 150.00
11120003 - Bank of America - Operating USD 150.00

Check: 180.00 (bill) − 30.00 (credit) − 150.00 (payment) = 0.00 owed.

Careful: when you tick a bill that has a credit or discount applied, check that the Payment column shows the net amount (150.00), not the full bill (180.00). Paying the full amount would leave you with a USD 30 credit sitting at the vendor.

5.7 Finding and editing a document: the Operation List Explorer

Menu: Operations > List Explorer.

The explorer's ribbon lists every type of operation:

The Operation List Explorer ribbon

Journal Entries, Adjust Inventories, Quotes, Sales Orders, Invoices, Customer Credit Notes, Received Payments, Purchase Orders, Received Inventories, Bills, Vendor Credit Notes, Paid Bills, Checks, Deposits, Cash In Advanced Payments, Transfered Funds, Credit Card Charges and Bank Reconciliations.

Click one of them — for example Invoices — to open its list in a tab:

The Invoices list with the document actions

On the right, the actions for the selected document are Edit, Send, Void, Payment, Copy Document, Export To Excel and Assign Fiscal Stamping, plus Settings. Use the filter button on the left and Apply Filter to narrow the list (by date, customer, number...). Refresh list reloads it.

To edit invoice INV-000001:

  1. In Invoices, select the row of INV-000001.
  2. Click Edit. The invoice opens:

Editing INV-000001 after it was paid

  1. The Document Number is shown in green, meaning it is an existing, saved document. The totals now show Payments Applied 374.50 and Balance 0.00: the credit note and the payment are applied.
  2. Make the change — in the demo, the Notes are completed: Customs bond for September import - paid by check 2045 and credit note CN-000001.
  3. Click Save & Close.

Careful: editing descriptive fields (notes, references) is harmless. Changing amounts, items, customer, date or tax group on a document that already has payments applied, or that belongs to a closed period, changes the accounting of the past. For amount corrections, prefer a credit note (or Void and re-enter, if your accountant agrees), and remember that closed periods must be reopened with a reason (chapter 2).

5.8 The Transaction Journal: seeing the accounting behind the documents

Menu: Operations > Accounting Explorer > Transaction Journal.

The Transaction Journal for September 2026

The Transaction Journal tab (2026 - September) shows every accounting line with VoucherNumber, AccountNumber, AccountName, Date, RegisterNumber, DocumentNumber, Details, Debit and Credit. Use the pager (Page 1 of 2) to move through the pages, and Show void to include voided entries. Total rows shows how many lines there are.

In the demo you can follow the whole chapter:

Voucher Document What it shows
1 Journal entry 1 Bank of America debit 50,000.00 / Capital stock credit 50,000.00
2 Journal entry 2 Bank of America EUR debit 1,170.00 / Capital stock credit 1,170.00 (the euro entry in dollars)
3 INV-000001 Accounts receivable debit 350.00 and 24.50 / Sales tax payable credit 24.50 / Customs brokerage revenue credit 350.00
4 FRL-2026-0915 Accounts payable credit 180.00 / Local transport cost debit 180.00
5 CN-000001 Accounts receivable credit 50.00 and 3.50 / Sales tax payable debit 3.50 / Customs brokerage revenue debit 50.00
6 RC-000001 Accounts receivable credit 321.00 / Bank of America debit 321.00
7 FRL-CR-0031 Accounts payable debit 30.00 (the matching credit line continues on page 2)

Why it matters: when a report looks wrong, the Transaction Journal is where you find out which document posted which account. If an airline charge shows up in an office expense account, this is where you will see it — and the fix is almost always in the item (section 1.9).

5.9 Quotes and sales orders

A quote is the offer to the customer and a sales order is the commitment once the customer accepts. Both use the same window as the sales invoice (customer, currency, lines, taxes), but they do not post a journal entry and are not fiscal documents: the entry and the fiscal document come with the invoice. They convert into each other without retyping anything, per line and partially: the quote becomes a sales order and the sales order an invoice, or the quote an invoice directly.

Menu: Operations > New Quote and Operations > New Sales Order (Customer Operations group). The lists are under Operations > List Explorer, which opens the Operation List Explorer with the Quotes and Sales Orders buttons.

The Operations tab, with New Quote and New Sales Order

Creating the quote with its template

  1. Click New Quote. Choose the quote template opens, with the General template and the ten KeyTray Cargo templates.
  2. Choose the template of the service you are quoting. In the example, Air freight.

Choosing the quote template

Template For Calculates by itself
General Any quote: items, prices and taxes, plus customer reference and delivery time. —
Ocean FCL Full containers (20' GP, 40' GP, 40' HC, 40' reefer). Total containers and TEU.
Ocean LCL Consolidated cargo per W/M. Tons and chargeable W/M.
Air freight Air cargo per chargeable weight. Volumetric weight (m3 × 166.67) and chargeable weight.
Express courier Door-to-door express parcels. Chargeable weight with divisor 5000.
Road freight (FTL/LTL) Full or partial truckload. —
Door to door Pickup, freight, customs and delivery in one price. —
Project cargo Heavy or oversized pieces. Revenue tons.
Warehousing Monthly storage plus inbound and outbound moves. Pallet-months.
Customs clearance Brokerage fee, third-party costs and duties. Fee (% of CIF with a minimum).
Cargo insurance Premium on the insured sum. Insured sum (CIF + 10%) and premium.
  1. On the Document tab enter the customer, the payment term and the lines, as in an invoice. Quotes have their own numbering (QT-1, QT-2...) and Valid until starts 30 days ahead.

The quote: 412 kg of air freight and handling

  1. On the Template data tab fill in the form: route, cargo and service. Fields with an asterisk are required; fields in the Calculated group are filled in by KeyTray as you type (the Refresh button recalculates them). In the example, 412 kg gross and 2.36 m3 give 412 kg chargeable.

Template data, still empty

Template data filled in, with the calculated chargeable weight

  1. Save. If a required field is missing, KeyTray says so and takes you to the tab. Save & Print opens the Operations quote formats, which include the template data meant for the customer.

Save & Print: the quote format

Converting to a sales order and invoicing

  1. With the quote saved, click Convert to sales order. A new sales order (with its own numbering, SO-1, SO-2...) opens with the customer, the template and what is still pending on each line. If the customer confirms only part of it, lower the quantity: in the example, 300 of the 412 kg.

The sales order with 300 kg

  1. On the saved sales order, Invoice opens a regular sales invoice (with its journal entry, fiscal numbering and, where applicable, e-invoice) for what is pending on the order.

The invoice built from the sales order

  1. What remained pending on the quote (112 kg) can go to another sales order or be invoiced directly: the quote's Conversions tab > Invoice.

The Conversions tab shows the source document and the generated documents, each with Open. It also has Mark as accepted, Mark as rejected (a rejected quote cannot be converted) and Reopen.

Conversions of the quote: the sales order and the invoice

If you void a sales order or an invoice that came out of a conversion, its quantities become pending again on the source document.

Following up in the lists

The Quotes list shows the status of each quote (Open, Expired, Accepted, Partially converted, Converted, Rejected or Voided), the quantity still pending and the generated documents. Sales Orders also shows the source quote and the invoices.

The Quotes list

From the CRM: an accepted CRM quote has the Formal quote button, which creates this Operations quote with the template of the transport mode and the cargo data already filled in (chapter 15).

6. Warehouse Receipt, Repacking and Dispatch

This chapter follows the physical cargo: three boxes of organic dried fruit arrive at the Miami warehouse by courier, are consolidated on one pallet, and are dispatched to be loaded on the air shipment of chapter 7.

All the warehouse operations are on the Freight Forwarding ribbon:

The Freight Forwarding ribbon

Why it matters — accounting: warehouse operations track cargo, not money. A pre-reception, a warehouse receipt, a repacking or a dispatch does not post anything to the ledger by itself. Money only enters the books when charges are invoiced or billed — for example when the shipment is settled (chapter 7).

6.1 Pre-Reception

A pre-reception registers packages at the door, usually by scanning the courier's tracking numbers, before the full warehouse receipt is prepared.

Menu: Freight Forwarding > New Pre-Reception.

Pre-reception PRE-000001 with three tracking numbers

  1. Number: PRE-000001 (automatic). Date: 9/13/2026.
  2. Carrier: the courier that delivered — Speedy Parcel Couriers Inc.
  3. Click in Scan a tracking number: and scan (or type) each tracking number. Each one is added to Pre-Reception Trackings with Tracking Number, Scanned (how many times it was scanned) and Used in (the warehouse receipt that later uses it). Use the trash button to remove a wrong line.
  4. Check Totals: 3 packages.
  5. The Driver License tab records the delivery driver's license if needed.
  6. Click Save & Close.

6.2 Warehouse Receipt

The warehouse receipt (WR) is the official record that you received the cargo: who sent it, who it is for, how many pieces, their dimensions and weight.

Menu: Freight Forwarding > New Warehouse Receipt.

Warehouse receipt WR-000001

  1. Number: WR-000001 (automatic). Date: 9/13/2026.
  2. Shipper: Sunshine Exports LLC. Consignee: Andes Retail S.A.S. Carrier: Speedy Parcel Couriers Inc. Supplier: empty. Freight Agency: Bogota Cargo Partners S.A.S.
  3. Tick The Warehouse is Bonded or This Cargo is considered dangerous only when they apply. Tick Bill to different consignee if someone other than the consignee pays the warehouse charges.
  4. Location: the warehouse where the cargo is stored. If it does not exist yet, click the add button next to the field (see 6.3).
  5. In Commodities, click New to describe the cargo (see 6.4).
  6. The header shows Total Commodities 1 and Total Pieces 3.
  7. Click Save & Close (or Save & Print to print the receipt for the driver).

The left panel has many more tabs for export and compliance work: Freight charges, Commercial Info, Notes, Internal Transaction Number (ITNs), Attachments, Invoices, AES/EEI, SED, Bond Export Receipt, Driver License, Freight Images, Signatures and Settings.

US export filings: Internal Transaction Number (ITNs), AES/EEI, SED and Bond Export Receipt are for US export filings.

6.3 Creating a warehouse

From the Location field, the add button opens the Warehouse window:

Creating the Miami Main Warehouse

  1. Warehouse block: Name Miami Main Warehouse, Location MIA-01 (a short code).
  2. Address block: Address Line 1 8200 NW 25th Street, Bay 4, Address Line 2 Doral, FL 33122, Country United States.
  3. Contact block: Phone +1 305 555 0142, Email warehouse@cargomastersdemo.com.
  4. Notes (optional).
  5. Click Save & Close.

6.4 Adding the commodity

In the warehouse receipt, Commodities > New opens Adding new Commodity:

Adding the commodity: three boxes of dried fruit

  1. Package Type: Box. Equal Pieces: 3 (three identical boxes).
  2. Dimensions and weight expressed by: Per piece (each box) or Total of pieces. Here, Per piece.
  3. Length 24 in, Width 20 in, Height 18 in. Weight per piece 42 lb.
  4. KeyTray calculates Actual Weight 126 lb, Volume per piece 0.14 m³, Total Volume 0.42 m³ and Volumetric Weight 70.83. The units are shown on the right: Unit of Measure for Sizes Inches, for Weights Pounds, for Volumes Cubic meters.
  5. Items Quantity: 0 (use it if you count items inside the boxes).
  6. Tracking number: the tracking numbers from the pre-reception are listed and marked with a green check. Click Click here to add new item to add more.
  7. Commodity Description: Organic dried fruit - 3 boxes. Notes: Received in good condition.
  8. The Pieces tab shows the individual pieces.
  9. Click Save & Close.

Why it matters — volumetric weight: airlines charge by the greater of the actual weight and the volumetric (dimensional) weight, because a light but bulky box takes space that could carry heavier cargo. Measuring dimensions accurately at reception is what protects your margin when the airline bills you.

6.5 Repacking

Repacking combines pieces into a new package — here, the three boxes are placed on one pallet and stretch-wrapped.

Menu: Freight Forwarding > New Repacking.

Repacking REP-000001: General Info

  1. Number: REP-000001 (automatic). Date: 9/13/2026.
  2. Consignee: Andes Retail S.A.S. (only this consignee's pieces can be repacked together).
  3. Include in a Shipment: optional; search a shipment if the pallet is already assigned to one.
  4. Packing Type: Pallet.
  5. Dimensions of the new package: Length 48.00, Width 40.00, Height 30.00, Weight 140.00 (the boxes plus the pallet).
  6. Notes: Three boxes consolidated on one pallet and stretch-wrapped.
  7. Go to the pieces section to choose what goes inside:

Selecting the pieces to repack

  1. The window Pieces for: Andes Retail S.A.S. lists the consignee's available cargo. The counters at the top show how many pieces are in each status (in warehouse, repacked, ready to load, loaded, selected, etc.). Show unit measure in: Kgs/Cm/M3 or Lbs/In/Ft3.
  2. On the row WR-000001 (Total Weight Kgs 57, Total Volume M3 0.42, Total Pieces 3, Available Pieces 3), use the buttons under Use a button to select pieces (or the checkbox) to select them. Selected Pieces shows 3, Selected weight Kgs 57.15, Selected volume M3 0.42.
  3. The toolbar has Select all, Unselect all, Show only selected, Show all and Search warehouse.
  4. Click Save & Close.

6.6 Dispatch

A dispatch records that cargo leaves the warehouse (or is prepared to leave).

Menu: Freight Forwarding > New Dispatch.

Dispatch DSP-000001: General Info

  1. Number: DSP-000001 (automatic). Date: 9/13/2026.
  2. Type: Prepare to Load, Load, Dispatch to Carrier or Delivery. Here, Prepare to Load (the pallet is staged for the air shipment).
  3. Consignee: Andes Retail S.A.S.
  4. Include in a Shipment: optional.
  5. Notes: optional.
  6. Go to the pieces section:

Selecting the repacked pallet for dispatch

  1. The list now shows REP-000001: Total Pieces 1, Contained pieces 3 (the three boxes inside the pallet), Selected Pieces 1, Selected weight Kgs 57.15.
  2. Select it and click Save & Close.

Careful: type the dispatch Notes last, right before saving; notes can be lost when you switch sections (see Appendix B).

6.7 Cargo Release

A cargo release records that cargo leaves the warehouse without going on a shipment: the customer, or someone on its behalf, picks it up with its own truck. KeyTray takes the pieces out of inventory, keeps proof of who received them and bills the charges straight from the release.

In the example, Andes Retail Corp picks up with its own truck, at the Miami Main Warehouse, the 5 boxes of stainless steel kitchenware of receipt WR-000001; under Bonded cargo below, it withdraws 60 of the 240 bottles of olive oil kept in the Miami Bonded Warehouse.

Menu: Freight Forwarding > New Cargo Release.

Cargo release REL-000001: General Info

  1. Number: REL-000001 (automatic). Date: 9/23/2026. If the company has no numbering for cargo releases, KeyTray does not save and says: There is no document numeration defined for this document type.
  2. Release type: Release by pieces (you pick the pieces) or Release by units (you take out a quantity of a commodity; see below). The type is chosen when the release is created and cannot be changed afterwards.
  3. Cargo belongs to: the consignee — Andes Retail Corp. Only freight participants appear (consignees, agents, carriers...). Check Bill to a different entity if someone other than the owner pays the charges.
  4. Released to: who picks up the cargo. If left empty, it is the owner.
  5. Release address: Warehouse (the cargo is picked up at the warehouse; choose which one) or Freight participant (it is delivered to one of the participant's addresses). Here, Warehouse — Miami Main Warehouse.
  6. Transport: Inland carrier (optional), PRO number (PRO-88213), Inland tracking, plate (FL 7XK-219) and driver (Mike Torres). Check Proof of delivery required if the customer must sign on receipt (see Delivery and proof of delivery).
  7. Notes: Customer picks up with its own truck.

The pieces

Release by pieces: the pieces of WR-000001

  1. The Pieces section lists the owner's warehouse receipts that have pieces in the warehouse. Select them with the same buttons as in repacking and dispatch (sections 6.5 and 6.6).
  2. Pieces staged in a Prepare to Load dispatch that is not on a shipment can be released: the release takes them out of that dispatch. If the dispatch is included in a shipment, KeyTray does not allow it: that cargo is already travelling on the shipment.
  3. A piece that already left on another release cannot be released again.
  4. Click Save & Close. The pieces become Released and the warehouse receipt shows the release in its Pieces Used In sub-tab.

Freight charges and the invoice

Freight charges of the release: its own charge and the WR charge

  1. One list holds every charge of the release: its own charges, added with New Charge as on a shipment (section 7.6) —in the example, Handling for 30.00 (handling and truck loading)— and the open charges of the warehouse receipts it takes out, which move to the release on their own when it is saved: here, the Storage charge of 45.00 of WR-000001.
  2. The first release that takes cargo from a receipt takes all its open charges, even if it releases only part of the pieces: a charge is never split. If you later unselect every piece of that receipt, its charges go back to it.
  3. On a release that has not been saved yet, New Charge asks whether to save it: charges are saved at once and need the release number. KeyTray saves it, re-opens it and you keep working in the same window. If you then close without saving, the release stays saved and re-opened.
  4. Generate invoices creates the customer invoice (and the vendor bill, if there are costs) from the release charges, without going through a shipment. It works on a closed release (if it is re-opened, click Save & Close first) and requires the access Allow billing from a cargo release. The Billing status goes from Assigned to Billed (or Several Status when part is still open).
  5. The invoice is built like a shipment settlement invoice (section 7.8), with the sales tax of each service according to the tax setup (chapter 3). In the example the release is already billed: its charges show Billed and the invoice appears under the Billing Documents sub-tab of the list.

Why it matters — the accounting: like every warehouse operation, a release tracks cargo, not money: by itself it posts nothing. Money enters the books when the invoice is generated. If the invoice is voided, its charges become open again on the release.

Delivery and proof of delivery

Delivery: status, received by and actions

  1. A saved release is Closed and its delivery is Pending delivery. In transit and Delivered follow the trip; Back to closed returns it to pending.
  2. Received by, Delivery date and Comments are the proof of delivery. If the release requires proof of delivery, KeyTray does not mark it delivered without Received by and says: This cargo release requires a proof of delivery: enter who received the cargo.
  3. Print produces the Cargo Release form (A4): owner, released to, address, transport, one row per piece, total pieces, weight and volume, and the Received by line with date, time and signature.
  4. Re-open lets you change it. Delete release returns the pieces to the warehouse and the charges to the receipt. With billed charges it cannot be re-opened or deleted: void the invoice first, or ask for the access Allow deleting or re-opening a cargo release with billed charges.

Release by units

When the commodity leaves by quantity instead of whole pieces, choose Release by units. The Units section replaces Pieces:

Release by units: 60 of the 240 bottles under entry KTD-0426199-3

  1. The list shows the owner's commodities that have a quantity and a unit on the warehouse receipt (entered with the commodity, section 6.4): WR, Commodity, Part number, Unit, Received and Available.
  2. Type the Quantity to release. KeyTray does not allow more than what is available.
  3. The balance stays on the receipt: the next release offers what is left.

Bonded cargo (U.S. customs bonded warehouse)

Cargo stored in a bonded warehouse leaves by units against its customs entry, as 19 CFR 19.12 requires: every withdrawal is traced to the original entry, with its type, date, quantity and unit, and KeyTray keeps the running balance per entry.

  1. On the warehouse receipt, check The Warehouse is Bonded, use a bonded warehouse and type the Customs entry number and date (here KTD-0426199-3). For each commodity enter its quantity, unit and part number (here 240 bottles, part EVOO-1L).
  2. A bonded receipt is released by units: in Units, each line carries its Customs entry and its Dutiable value (60 bottles, 510.00).
  3. The Customs section records the withdrawal:

Customs: withdrawal type, CBP entry type and duties paid

  1. A closed bonded release cannot be re-opened or deleted: customs requires the audit trail from deposit to withdrawal.

The list and the reports

The cargo release list

Bonded balance by entry: 240 received, 60 withdrawn, 180 left

Careful: bonded records must be kept at least 5 years; the Bonded balance report shows each entry's age and its 5-year limit. The Adjustments columns (shortage, damage, overage) are part of the balance, but in this version adjustments are not entered from a screen.

7. Shipments

In this chapter Cargo Masters USA exports the pallet by air from Miami (MIA) to Bogota (BOG):

7.1 Before the first air shipment: the airline and its AWB stock

Creating the airline as a carrier

Menu: Freight Forwarding > New Carrier.

Fill in General Information as for any vendor (Sky Andina Cargo S.A.), then open Freight Forward Options:

The airline carrier with IATA prefix 999

  1. Freight Forward Category: Carrier (fixed for a new carrier).
  2. Carrier-assigned account number: your account with the airline, if any.
  3. IATA Prefix: 999 — the 3-digit code that starts every air waybill number of this airline.
  4. SCAC: SKYA.
  5. Click Save & Close.

Assigning AWB stock

Airlines give forwarders blocks of air waybill numbers ("AWB stock"). You load the block into KeyTray so each master uses the next valid number.

  1. Open the carrier and go to Air Waybill Number Assigned. Create a new assignment.

Assigning AWB stock 1234560 to 1234569

  1. Date Assignment: 9/13/2026. IATA Prefix: 999-.
  2. From: 1234560 and To: 1234569. KeyTray shows the count: 10 number(s).
  3. Sample and Numbers to be Generated show the real AWB numbers: 999-12345605, 999-12345616, 999-12345620, 999-12345631, 999-12345642, 999-12345653, 999-12345664, 999-12345675, 999-12345686, 999-12345690.
  4. Notes: Stock assigned by Sky Andina Cargo for September 2026.
  5. Click Save & Close.

Why it matters — the check digit: an AWB number is 8 digits after the prefix: a 7-digit serial number plus a check digit, which is the remainder of dividing the serial by 7. For 1234560, 1234560 ÷ 7 leaves a remainder of 5, so the AWB is 999-1234560-5 (written 999-12345605). KeyTray calculates it for you, which prevents invalid numbers that the airline would reject.

7.2 Creating the shipment

Menu: Freight Forwarding > New Shipment.

Choosing the shipment type, direction and consolidation

  1. The screen asks: "Please select the shipment type, direction, and optionally, whether the shipment is consolidated:"
  2. Shipment type: Air (the others are Ocean and Ground).
  3. Shipment Direction: Export (or Import).
  4. Tick Consolidated shipment and set Houses to 1. (Sub Houses is for houses that contain sub-houses.)
  5. Click Create Shipment.

KeyTray creates the master and its house:

The new shipment MAWB-000001 with house HAWB-000001

7.3 Master: General Information

Open the MASTER tab and General Information:

Master general information with carrier, AWB and routing

  1. Issue Date: 9/13/2026. Shipment Number: MAWB-000001.
  2. Service Type: Door to Door. Currency: US Dollar - USD. Transportation Mode and Booking number: optional.
  3. Carrier: Sky Andina Cargo S.A.
  4. Air Waybill Number: click the hand button next to the field. The Choose a AWB number window lists the airline's available stock:

Choosing the next AWB number from the stock

Select 999-12345605 and click Save & Close. (User Locked and Lock End Date show whether another user has reserved a number.) The field now shows 999-12345605.
5. Loaded Date: 9/13/2026.
6. Routing: Flight Number SK123. Departure: Airport MIA - MIAMI, FL - United States, with Date and Time. Final Arrival: Airport BOG - Bogotá - Colombia, with Date and Time.
7. Declared value: for Carriage, for Customs, Insurance (0.00 in the demo).
8. Execution: Date, Location, By.
9. Description of Goods: CONSOLIDATED CARGO - ORGANIC DRIED FRUIT. You can reuse Saved Descriptions and Saved Handling Information, choose SHC (special handling codes).

US exports: use Add ITN / Entries to description of goods and Add EEI Status in Cargo Manifest when the shipment is a US export.
10. Accounting Information and Overwrite Payment Terms (WT/VAL and Other, each PPD or COLL) are printed on the air waybill.

7.4 Master and house participants

Master — Shipment Participants:

Participants of the master air waybill

On a consolidated master, the airline's customer is your company:

House — Shipment Participants:

Participants of the house air waybill

On the house, the real parties appear:

Careful: the participant lists only show companies whose main Freight Forward Category is the right one (Shipper, Consignee, Agent, Carrier...). If a company is missing, open it and check its main category (section 1.4). Additional categories do not make it appear.

7.5 Loading the cargo into the house

  1. In the Commodities panel, click Load. The Pieces selection opens:

Selecting the dispatched pieces for the house

  1. Shipment: MAWB-000001. Choose House and HAWB-000001 (or MASTER to load directly on the master). Freight Age: 1 Month limits the list to recent cargo.
  2. The available cargo for the consignee appears — here the dispatch DSP-000001 with Total Pieces 1 and Contained pieces 1. Select it; Selected Pieces shows 1.
  3. Click Save & Close.

The house with the pallet loaded

The Commodities panel now shows House: HAWB-000001, Consignee: Andes Retail S.A.S., and inside it REP-000001: 63.50 Kgs, 0.94 m³, 157.38 VKgs, linked to Dispatch: DSP-000001. The Waybill Metrics show Pieces 1, Weight 140 lb / 63.50 kg, Volume 0.94 m3 and Volumetric Weight 157.38. The tree shows the house's own Airway Bill and Loading Guide.

Notice that the volumetric weight (157.38 kg) is much larger than the actual weight (63.50 kg): the pallet is bulky. That is the weight the freight will be charged on.

7.6 Charges: income and cost

Charges are the money side of the shipment. Each charge has a direction (Income or Expense), a payment type (Prepaid or Collect) and the participant it applies to.

House income charge: freight Collect to the consignee

Open the HOUSE tab > Charges > New Charge:

New income charge on the house: 157.38 kg x 3.20 = 503.62 Collect

  1. Charge Direction: Income.
  2. Charge Type: Freight Air charge (others: Freight Other Charge, Other charge).
  3. Payment Type: Collect.
  4. Apply To: click ULT Consignee (the buttons are Carrier, Shipper, ULT Consignee, Intermediate CNEE, Notify Party, Forward Agent, Destination Agent). The list shows Andes Retail S.A.S.
  5. Select Charge Item: FF-FLT-AEREXP - Freight - air export. Description (optional) and Currency US Dollar.
  6. Apply by: Volumetric Weight (others: Pieces, Weight, Pallets, Shipments, Volume m³, Container, Total Amount, Days in Warehouse).
  7. KeyTray shows the shipment metrics: Pieces 1, Weight 63.50 kg, Volume 0.94 m3, Volumetric Weight 157.38 kg.
  8. Rate: 3.2. Total Amount: 503.62 (157.38 × 3.20).
  9. Click Save & Close.

Master expense charge: freight Prepaid to the airline

Open the MASTER tab > Charges > New Charge:

New expense charge on the master: 157.38 kg x 2.10 = 330.50 Prepaid

  1. Charge Direction: Expense.
  2. Charge Type: Freight Air charge.
  3. Payment Type: Prepaid.
  4. Apply To: Carrier — Sky Andina Cargo S.A.
  5. Select Charge Item: FF-FLT-AEREXP - Freight - air export (the same item: its income account is used for the sale and its purchase account for the cost).
  6. Apply by: Volumetric Weight. Rate: 2.1. Total Amount: 330.5 (157.38 × 2.10).
  7. Click Save & Close.

The charge list

The charge list with the airline expense

The Charge List shows each charge with Status (Assigned), Automatic Charge, Charge Direction (Expense), Service Name (FF-FLT-AEREXP-Freight - air export), Quantity / Pieces (157.38), Rate / Price (2.10), Amount (330.50), Currency (USD), Apply to (Sky Andina Cargo S.A.), Payment Type (PrePaid), Apply rate by (Volumetric Weight), Charge Type, Description and Source Operation.

Its toolbar has Reload, New Charge, Edit Charge, As Agreed, Set Participant for All Incomes, All Collect, All Prepaid, Charge by Lower Weight and Remove Charge. At the bottom, the Income and Expense boxes total Prepaid and Collect (here Expense Prepaid 330.50), and Default values for the next Charge lets you preset the Participant and Prepaid/Collect/Income/Expense for the next charges.

Why it matters: the item on the charge (FF-FLT-AEREXP) decides the accounts when the shipment is settled. If its purchase account is a Cost of Goods Sold account, the 330.50 airline cost lands in COGS and your gross margin is right. Check it in Accounting info (section 1.9) before your first settlement.

7.7 Profit

Click Profit (hint: See the profit of this shipment):

The Profit dashboard of the shipment

The dashboard shows:

503.62 − 330.50 = 173.12. Check the profit before settling: a negative or unusually high profit usually means a missing or duplicated charge.

7.8 Liquidation and settlement

Liquidation (settlement) is the step that turns the shipment's charges into accounting documents.

  1. Click Liquidation. The tab shows Status: Unsettled:

Liquidation of the house before settlement

The grid lists, per house and participant: Way Bill Number (HAWB-000001), Apply to (Andes Retail S.A.S.), Charge Name (Freight - air export), Cost Prepaid 330.50, % 100, Cost Collect 0.00, Income Prepaid 0.00, Income Collect 503.62, Gross Profit 173.12, Agent Participation, Agent Profit 0.00, Company Profit 173.12 and Agent Balance 503.62. The toolbar has Reload, Edit Charge, Settle Shipment, Send Report, Set Agent Participation and Description language (English).
2. If the destination agent shares the profit, use Set Agent Participation first. In the demo the agent does not participate.
3. Click Settle Shipment. The Settle Shipment preview opens:

Settle Shipment preview: the bill and the invoice that will be created

  1. Click Settle Shipment to confirm (or Cancel).

The shipment after settlement: Status Settled

The liquidation now shows Status: Settled, the master in the tree is highlighted with a check mark, and Settle Shipment has become Unsettle Shipment (use it only to correct a mistake before the documents are paid). At the bottom:

7.9 The documents created: Transactions

Click Transactions:

The accounting documents generated by the settlement

The list (Total rows: 2) shows:

Document Type Document Number Transport Document Participant Total Payment Status Balance
Purchase 999-12345605 999-12345605 Sky Andina Cargo S.A. (C-4) 330.50 Not Paid 330.50
Sale INV-000002 999-12345605 Andes Retail S.A.S. (C-3) 503.62 Not Paid 503.62

Other columns include Master, House, Is Voided, Date, Currency Symbol, Total Taxes (0.00 — no sales tax on this export freight), Discounts, Payments Applied, Payment Term Name, Due Date and Sales Tax Group Name. The toolbar has Reload list, New Transaction, Edit, Change Number or Date, Void, Link Transaction and Unlink Transaction.

These are normal commercial documents: you will find the invoice under Invoices and the purchase under Bills in the Operation List Explorer (section 5.7), and you collect and pay them exactly as in sections 5.4 and 5.6.

Accounting entries created by the settlement:

Sales invoice INV-000002 to Andes Retail S.A.S.:

Account Debit Credit
Accounts receivable - customers 503.62
Income account of item FF-FLT-AEREXP (air export freight income) 503.62

Purchase bill 999-12345605 from Sky Andina Cargo S.A.:

Account Debit Credit
Purchase account of item FF-FLT-AEREXP (should be a Cost of Goods Sold account) 330.50
Accounts payable 330.50

Effect on the Income Statement: Income +503.62, Cost of Goods Sold +330.50, Gross profit +173.12 — the same figure the Profit dashboard showed.

Why it matters: a forwarder's whole business model is in this one screen: sell freight for more than it costs. When the settlement uses items with the right income and COGS accounts, the accounting profit of every shipment matches the operational profit, and management can trust both.

7.10 The Shipments list and the shipment tree

Every shipment you create appears in Freight Forwarding > List Explorer > Shipments:

The Shipments list

Double-click a row to open the shipment. On the left of the shipment tab, the tree holds the master, its houses and a set of nodes that work on the selected waybill:

New Attachment: select up to 3 PDF files

The list shows the files you added (for example the commercial invoice and the packing list) and, below them, the files inherited from the warehouse receipts loaded into the shipment:

Shipment Attachments

Internal Notes and Destination Agent Notes

7.11 A straight (direct) air export

A straight shipment has a single air waybill: the airline carries the cargo directly for one shipper and one consignee, without a house. In the demo, AWB-000001 goes from Miami to Bogota.

  1. In the Shipments tree select the folder where the shipment will live. If no folder is selected, KeyTray stops and asks for one:

A folder is required

  1. Click New Shipment and choose Air, Export and leave Consolidated shipment unchecked:

New straight air export

The shipment opens with a single tab and its documents in the tree:

The straight shipment just created

  1. General Information: pick the carrier, take the air waybill number from the airline's stock (section 7.1) and complete the flight and the routing:

General Information of the straight shipment

  1. Shipment Participants: the shipper, the ultimate consignee and the destination agent:

Participants of the straight shipment

  1. Add commodity when the cargo did not go through your warehouse. Select the waybill card first and type the pieces: in the demo, 20 boxes of 16 x 12 x 10 in and 18 lb each:

Add commodity

KeyTray calculates the line: 20 boxes, 360 lb, 231.33 lb volumetric, 0.6293 m3:

The commodity line added

7.12 Charges in depth

Each charge is a line with a direction (Income or Expense), a type (Freight Air, Freight Ocean, Freight Ground, Freight Other or Other), a payment (Prepaid at origin or Collect at destination), the participant it is applied to, and how it is calculated (Apply by weight, volumetric weight, volume, pieces, pallets, or None for quantity x price).

Income freight Collect

An income needs a customer

Other charge: quantity x price

Fuel surcharge by weight

Carrier freight expense

Security surcharge expense

To correct a charge, select it and click Edit Charge. In the demo the carrier freight was changed from Pieces to Weight:

Editing a charge

The Charge List of AWB-000001 ends with three incomes Collect and two expenses Prepaid:

Charge list of the straight shipment

Profit shows the result before settling: revenue 494.05, cost 285.76, company profit 208.29:

Profit of the straight shipment

7.13 Sharing the profit with the destination agent

Many forwarders split the profit of a shipment with the agent at the other end. KeyTray records that split in the Liquidation tab, before settling.

  1. Before the split, the liquidation has one line per charge and all the profit (208.29) belongs to the company:

Liquidation before the agent share

  1. Click Set Agent Participation. Type the value: with the % sign it is a percentage (50%); without it, a fixed amount. Choose where it applies — All Charges, All Incomes, All Expenses, All Prepaid or All Collect — and click Save & Close:

Set Agent Participation

Every line now shows the agent's part: agent profit 104.15 and company profit 104.15:

Liquidation with 50% agent participation

You can also type the participation on a single line. In the consolidated shipment of section 7.15, 40% of one house freight gives the agent 51.43 and leaves 77.15 to the company on that line.

  1. The agent's share is invoiced with a service marked for profit sharing. The company is created with these services; open Business Elements > List Explorer > Items to see them with their income, expense and cost accounts:

The freight services

In the item, Shipment Settlement Options decides how lines are merged into invoices and bills, and Use this service for agent profit sharing in Settled documents? must be Yes for the profit-sharing service:

Settlement options of the service

  1. Click Settle Shipment. The proposal now has three documents: the Purchase Bill to the carrier (numbered with the air waybill, 999-12345616, 285.75), the Sales Invoice to the consignee (494.05) and a Customer Credit Note to the destination agent for its share (104.15). At the bottom, Service name to be used for agent profit sharing shows Profit - air export:

Settle proposal with the agent credit note

The + of a row shows the lines of that document before you confirm:

Lines of a proposed document

  1. Confirm with Settle Shipment. The tab shows Status: Settled, the button becomes Unsettle Shipment and Add House is disabled:

The shipment settled

Transactions lists the three documents: purchase bill 999-12345616, sales invoice INV-000003 and credit note CN-000002 to the agent:

Transactions with the agent credit note

A settled shipment opens read-only: the fields are greyed, Add House is disabled and each waybill in the tree has a check mark:

A settled shipment is read-only

Accounting entries of this settlement (as posted in the demo):

Purchase bill 999-12345616 (Sky Andina Cargo S.A.):

Account Debit Credit
Freight cost - air export 261.26
Surcharges cost 24.49
Accounts payable - suppliers 285.75

Sales invoice to the consignee:

Account Debit Credit
Accounts receivable - customers 494.05
Freight revenue - air export 391.90
Documentation revenue 45.00
Surcharges revenue 57.15

Credit note to the agent (50% of each income, less 50% of each cost):

Account Debit Credit
Freight revenue - air export (50% of 391.90) 195.95
Documentation revenue (50% of 45.00) 22.50
Surcharges revenue (50% of 57.15) 28.58
Freight revenue - air export (50% of the 261.26 cost) 130.63
Surcharges revenue (50% of the 24.49 cost) 12.25
Accounts receivable - customers (net) 104.15

Why it matters: the agent's share reduces your revenue, not your cost, and it is a credit to the agent's receivable. If the agent also owes you invoices, the credit note is applied against them like any other credit note (section 5.4), and the income statement shows the profit that really stayed in the company.

7.14 Undoing a settlement, labels, drafts, cargo wizard and sending to the agent

Unsettle Shipment. If something was wrong, click Unsettle Shipment. KeyTray voids every document of the settlement, as long as none of them has payments applied:

Unsettle confirmation

The documents stay in Transactions as voided (turn Show void on to see them). Each void posts the exact reverse entry, so the accounts return to where they were; when you settle again, new documents are created (in the demo INV-000004 and CN-000003):

Voided documents after unsettling

Print Labels. Choose the printer, the label form (Shipment Label Direct) and the waybills to print:

Print Labels

Draft Manager. When part of the cargo travels first, create a named draft with its own values and print the shipment documents with them, without touching the shipment. In the demo, the draft Partial - first 10 boxes has Pieces 10, Chargable Weight (Kg) 81.65, Gross Weight (Kg) 81.65 and Measurement (m3) 0.31; on the right, tick the documents (Airway Bill, Delivery Order, Security Certification, Loading Guide, Cargo Manifest) and click Print Selected. The draft also has the Print As Agreed option:

Draft Manager

Cargo Wizard. The 3D loading optimizer has Container, Cargo, Rules and Advisor tabs. It works with the pieces received in your warehouse and loaded into the shipment; with commodities typed by hand it reports that the shipment has no cargo pieces to load:

Cargo Wizard

Send to Agent. If your destination agent also works with KeyTray, you can send the shipment to the agent's company. The agent must be linked to that company first; otherwise KeyTray tells you:

Send to Agent needs a linked company

To link it, open the agent (New Freight Agency; in the demo the agent in Panama, marked as foreign customer):

The destination agent

In Freight Forward Options > Select Company Linked to Agent choose, from the KeyTray companies you can reach, the agent's company:

Companies that can be linked

The agency linked to its KeyTray company

Now Send to Agent sends the shipment to Cargo Masters Panama. KeyTray shares it again automatically when the weight, the carrier or the pieces change. If the agent has no email, no notification is sent:

Shipment sent to the agent

7.15 A consolidated air export with two houses

A consolidation puts the cargo of several shippers under one master air waybill (MAWB) issued by the airline to you; each shipper gets its own house waybill (HAWB).

  1. For a new consignee, create it first (New Consignee):

New consignee

  1. New Shipment: Air, Export, Consolidated shipment checked, 2 houses. (Sub Houses is only for houses that contain sub-houses.)

New consolidated air export with 2 houses

  1. Master MAWB-000002: Sky Andina Cargo, air waybill 999-12345620, flight SK210 Miami to Panama City:

Master general information

  1. Master participants: your own company as shipper and the destination agent:

Master participants

Each house has its real shipper and consignee; the destination agent is inherited from the master:

House participants

  1. Add commodity: pick the house card first. 12 boxes go to HAWB-000002 and 8 boxes to HAWB-000003:

Commodities to each house

  1. Charges on the houses (what you sell). HAWB-000002: air freight Collect to the consignee applied by Volumetric Weight (146.9 kg):

House freight by volumetric weight

  1. Charges on the master (what the airline sells to you): the freight of the whole consolidation, 190.51 kg x 1.40 Prepaid to the carrier:

Master freight expense

  1. Liquidation: the master cost of 266.71 is prorated to each house by chargeable weight (72.96% / 27.04%), so each house shows its own profit:

Master cost prorated to the houses

Agent participation typed on one line (40% of the HAWB-000002 freight):

Agent share on one line

  1. Settle Shipment proposes one purchase bill for the airline, one sales invoice per bill-to party and the credit note for the agent share:

Settle proposal of the consolidation

Transactions of the consolidation

Why it matters — how many invoices come out: charges do not come out one by one; KeyTray groups them into documents. For a customer it builds one invoice per house, per currency, with its prepaid and collect charges on the same document. The destination agent is handled differently: the collect revenue of the whole shipment goes on one single invoice (the master and all its houses together), and the prepaid revenue on one invoice per waybill. So if the master has no destination agent, those same charges are invoiced like a regular customer's and one invoice per house comes out: the amount and the recipient are the same, but split across more documents. If you see more invoices than you expected, look at the destination agent on the master: the houses may have it while the master does not. A service configured as "one document per charge" always breaks out on its own.

Accounting entries (demo):

Document Account Debit Credit
Purchase bill 999-12345620 Freight cost - air export 266.71
Accounts payable - suppliers 266.71
Invoice INV-000005 Accounts receivable - customers 323.18
Freight revenue - air export 323.18
Invoice INV-000006 Accounts receivable - customers 35.00
Documentation revenue 35.00
Invoice INV-000007 Accounts receivable - customers 144.75
Freight revenue - air export 119.75
Handling and terminal revenue 25.00
Credit note CN-000004 (agent) Freight revenue - air export 51.43
Accounts receivable - customers 51.43

7.16 Numbering for other kinds of shipments

A new company comes with a numbering for air exports only. The first time you create another kind of shipment, KeyTray says:

No numbering found

Create it in Template & Forms > New Numbering. For the air import master: Freight Shipment, Air, Import, Consolidated, Master, prefix IMAWB- with 6 digits (sample IMAWB-000001):

New numbering for the air import master

Repeat for each combination you use. In the demo: IMAWB / IHAWB / IAWB for air imports, MBL / HBL / BL for ocean, TRK / MTRK / HTRK for ground.

7.17 An air import: settling a house before the master

  1. New Shipment: Air, Import, Consolidated with 1 house, in the folder Air > Import:

New air import

  1. For a shipper abroad, create it (New Shipper; in the demo Flores de la Sabana S.A.S., Colombia):

Shipper abroad

  1. The import has its own documents in the tree (Delivery Order, Security Certification, Cargo Manifest); Print Labels and Send to Agent do not apply:

The air import created

  1. Master: the air waybill number is typed, because it comes from the airline at origin and not from your stock. Flight SK125 Bogota to Miami:

Import master general information

Master participants: the foreign shipper, the local consignee and the agent in Colombia:

Import master participants

On the house, the address lines of a participant can be completed right on the shipment:

Completing an address on the house

  1. Charges: on the house, destination charges Collect to the local consignee (for example the Import fee 85.00); on the master, the airline's Terminal Handling Charge 60.00 Prepaid:

Import fee on the house

Terminal handling on the master

Liquidation: company profit 270.00:

Liquidation of the import

  1. Settle only the house. Often you must invoice the consignee before the airline's bill arrives. Open House > Liquidation, which lists only the house charges, and click Settle House:

House liquidation

The proposal is a single sales invoice of 330.00 to Miami Floral Distributors LLC (the three charges merge into one document):

Settle House proposal

The shipment is now Partially Settled:

Partially Settled

  1. When the airline bill arrives, Settle Shipment proposes only what is still open: the 60.00 purchase bill, numbered with the air waybill:

Settling the rest

Transactions of the import

7.18 An ocean export (FCL) with a container

  1. The shipping line. Create the carrier with Freight Forward Options: the SCAC code (ABLU) and the account number the line gave your company:

Ocean carrier with SCAC

  1. The vessel. Add it from the Vessel Name list: name, operator, flag, TEU and IMO number:

New vessel

  1. Master MBL-000001: bill of lading and booking numbers, routing (point of origin and port of loading Miami, point of unloading Manzanillo), exporting carrier, vessel and voyage:

Ocean master

  1. House HBL-000001: shipper, consignee and destination agent. The house tree has Loading Guide and Bill of Lading:

Ocean house participants

  1. Cargo: 24 pallets of 48 x 40 x 60 in and 1,100 lb each (26,400 lb, 45.31 m3):

Pallets on the ocean house

  1. Container Manager > Add Container: a 40' High Cube (12032 x 2352 x 2698 mm, max 26480 kg) under Containers to be used:

Container Manager

A container cannot be saved without cargo, and the Container Manager assigns warehouse pieces loaded with Load. With commodities typed by hand it reports Selected shipment has no cargo pieces to load; receive the cargo in the warehouse (chapter 6) when you need to plan containers:

A container needs cargo

Container Manager needs warehouse pieces

  1. Charges: on the house, Freight Ocean Collect to the consignee by Volume m3 (45.31 m3 x 85.00); on the master, the line's freight for the container as Total Amount 2,850.00 Prepaid. In ocean, pick the shipping line in the Apply To list:

Ocean freight by volume

Line freight as a total amount

  1. Liquidation: the 2,850.00 cost goes 100% to the only house; company profit 1,076.35. The purchase bill is numbered with the booking number:

Ocean liquidation

Ocean settle proposal

Ocean transactions

7.19 A ground (trucking) shipment

  1. Straight ground shipment TRK-000001: departure Miami 9/15 7:00 AM and final arrival Atlanta 9/16 9:00 AM. Ground shipments have no carrier field in General Information; the trucker is chosen on the charges:

Ground shipment

  1. Charges: Freight Ground Collect to the consignee, 6 pallets x 140.00, the fuel surcharge, and the trucker's freight 520.00 Prepaid (trucker searched in Apply To):

Ground freight by pieces

Trucker freight

Ground charge list

  1. Liquidation: income 903.00, trucker cost 520.00, company profit 383.00:

Ground liquidation

  1. Settle Shipment asks for a destination agent:

The shipment has no destination agent

Domestic trucking usually has none. Turn on System Options > Freight Forward > Allow settling GROUND shipments without a Destination Agent (section 11.2). The shipment then settles with a purchase bill to the trucker numbered with the shipment number (TRK-000001) and the invoice to the consignee:

Ground settle proposal without agent

Ground transactions

8. Advanced accounting and month-end

This chapter covers what an accountant does around the monthly close: checking the books, revaluing foreign currency, settling sales tax, reconciling banks, cleaning old balances and preparing the cash flow. Every section starts with the idea behind the task (Lesson) and then shows how to do it in KeyTray.

8.1 Where everything is

Operations holds the daily and month-end work: the List Explorer, the Accounting group (Fiscal Years, Periods Manager, Journal Entry, New Adjust Inventory, the registers, Depreciation Manager and the Accounting Explorer), Customer Operations, Vendor Operations and Banking:

Operations tab

Business Elements holds the accounting set-up: accounts and chart of accounts, predefined accounts, currencies, initial balances, the sales tax manager, data import, electronic invoicing and deferred checks:

Business Elements tab

Reports holds the financial statements and every report of chapter 10:

Reports tab

The Accounting Explorer groups the accounting tools in one toolbar: Transaction Journal, General Ledger, Fiscal Stamping Numbers, Currency Revaluation, Revaluation Register, VAT Settlement, Cash Flow: accounts, Closing Workpaper and Batch write-off:

Accounting Explorer toolbar

8.2 The books: Transaction Journal and General Ledger

Lesson — journal and ledger. Every transaction is first written in the journal, in date order, as a balanced entry (debits = credits). The ledger is the same information sorted by account: for each account, its opening balance, every movement and the running balance. The journal answers "what happened on this day?"; the ledger answers "why does this account have this balance?".

Transaction Journal (year 2026, month September): one line per debit or credit, with the voucher, account, register number, document and details. Show void includes voided documents; the filters and Export To Excel work as in any list:

Transaction Journal

General Ledger for the month: account number, account, control number, date, document, detail, debit, credit, opening and balance:

General Ledger

The printable versions of both books are in chapter 10.2.

8.3 Registers: one account, one customer, one vendor

A register shows the history of a single account, customer or vendor for a period, with the running balance.

Account Register (Operations > Account Register) — the bank account Bank of America - Operating USD for September: initial balance, each movement (journal entry, received payment, vendor payment) with its running balance, company-currency columns and the ending balance 50,171.00:

Account Register

Customer Register (Operations > Customer Register) — choose the Currency first (in a multicurrency company KeyTray asks for it), then the customer. Each document shows type, number, due date, aging, status, the amount in the document currency and in company currency, and the register ends with the initial and ending balance (Distribuidora Istmena, S.A.: two invoices, ending balance 4,249.53):

Customer Register

Vendor Register works the same way for a vendor (Sky Andina Cargo S.A.: four bills, ending balance 942.96):

Vendor Register

Tip: a customer's ending balance in the register must equal the customer's line in the A/R Aging Summary (section 10.3) and, added over all customers, the balance of Accounts receivable in the Balance Sheet. When they agree, the subledger and the ledger are in balance.

8.4 Foreign currency revaluation

Lesson — why revalue. An account in a foreign currency (a bank account in euros, an invoice to be collected in euros) is booked in your company currency at the rate of each transaction. At month-end the rate is different, so the balance in dollars no longer tells the truth. Revaluation restates the balance at the closing rate and books the difference as a foreign exchange gain or loss. It is an unrealized result: nothing was bought or sold, the value of what you hold changed.

In Accounting Explorer > Currency Revaluation choose the closing date and the rates. In the demo, at 9/30/2026 for EUR (buy 1.20 / sell 1.21): the EUR bank account holds 1,000.00 EUR, booked at 1,170.00 USD; at 1.20 it is worth 1,200.00 USD, so the adjustment is +30.00:

Currency revaluation calculation

When you confirm, KeyTray posts the entry at the end of the closing day:

Account Debit Credit
Bank of America - EUR account 30.00
Foreign exchange gain 30.00

The Revaluation Register keeps every closing revaluation with its rates, entries, gain, loss and net adjustment. A row opens the detail by account; Edit and Void act on the whole revaluation:

Revaluation Register

Which accounts KeyTray revalues

Lesson — an account's currency is declared, not guessed. An account is in a foreign currency because it was defined that way, not because most of its movements happen to be in dollars. KeyTray revalues everything that has a declared foreign currency.

An account without a chosen currency is still revalued if all its movements are in the foreign currency, or if the movements in other currencies cancel each other out. That is only a safety net for older accounts: if the account is in a foreign currency, choose its currency. A single adjustment in the company currency on an account without a chosen currency is enough for the safety net to leave it out.

How the adjustment is calculated

  1. Balance in currency: the sum of the movements recorded in that currency, and only those.
  2. Current balance (company currency): the sum of all the account's movements, including adjustments recorded directly in the company currency.
  3. Target (balance x rate): the balance in currency times the closing exchange rate. KeyTray uses the buying rate when the balance is a debit (what you own or are owed) and the selling rate when it is a credit (what you owe).
  4. Adjustment: target minus current balance. The offset goes to the exchange gain or exchange loss account configured for the currency.

If the balance in currency is zero but a residue remains in the company currency (everything was collected or paid at another rate), the adjustment takes that residue to zero: it is exchange difference of the year. Only a residue that already existed when the fiscal year opened, with no foreign currency left, is kept.

If a foreign currency account is missing from the list

When you calculate, the accounts that have a balance in the currency but are not taken by the revaluation are shown apart, in the yellow box below the list, with the reason for each one: a bank set up in another currency, or an account without a chosen currency that also has movements in other currencies. If any of them is really in the foreign currency, follow these steps:

  1. Open the account in Business Elements > Chart Of Accounts, choose its currency and save.
  2. If the account already has movements, KeyTray lets you choose the currency only when the history does not contradict it: every movement in that currency, plus adjustments in the company currency. With movements in a third currency, or if the account already had another currency, it cannot be changed.
  3. Calculate the revaluation again: the account appears with its adjustment.
  4. If the account was missing from months already revalued, the next revaluation brings the whole backlog at once. To spread it month by month, void the revaluations from the first missing month on and redo them in order: KeyTray does not allow a revaluation dated before another one that is still active.

Warning: do not choose a foreign currency for accounts that are really in the company currency even if they receive documents in dollars (sales tax, withholdings, local currency banks). They would be revalued when they should not, and from then on KeyTray would reject entries in the company currency on that account.

Accounts that are not revalued: the "Revalue foreign currency balance" box

Lesson — not everything in dollars is revalued. Revaluation updates what will be collected or paid in money: banks, cash, customers, vendors, loans. An advance is different: the customer already paid and you owe a service, not dollars. The accounting standard (IAS 21) treats it as a non-monetary item: it stays at the rate of the day it was received and produces no exchange difference at closing.

Each account of the chart decides whether it is revalued. In Business Elements > Chart of Accounts, open the account and use the Revalue foreign currency balance box:

The Revalue foreign currency balance box in the account settings (Paraguay screenshot)

Advances accounts are proposed unchecked (see section 8.12). Uncheck only the accounts your accountant considers non-monetary.

Good practice: revalue once per month, after all the month's documents are entered and before closing the period. If you correct a document later, void the revaluation, correct, and revalue again, so the gain or loss is never counted twice.

8.5 Sales tax settlement

Lesson — tax you collect is not income. The sales tax you charge on an invoice belongs to the tax authority: it goes to a liability (Sales tax payable). The tax you pay on purchases, where it is recoverable, is an asset. Each period you compare both, file the return and move the balance to the account from which it will be paid.

Accounting Explorer > VAT Settlement checks the period first. For September 2026: output tax 21.00 (24.50 of sales tax less 3.50 of the credit note), input tax 0.00, and the accounting agrees with the documents book. Settle the period posts the balance to the account you choose:

VAT settlement period check

The settlements already posted and the settings of the module:

VAT settlements posted

VAT settlement settings

8.6 Bank deposits of deferred checks

A check received with the Deferred check payment method is not money in the bank yet: it waits in a portfolio until its date. Operations > Make Deposit opens that portfolio; select the checks, the bank account and the credit date, and deposit them. The registered deposits are listed below, where you can void them or change the exchange rate:

Deferred checks portfolio

8.7 Bank reconciliation

Lesson — two records of the same money. The bank keeps its record of your account and you keep yours. They differ for timing (a check you wrote that the bank has not paid yet, a deposit in transit) and for errors or charges you have not recorded. Reconciling means matching both records line by line and explaining every difference. An unreconciled bank account is the most common hiding place for mistakes and fraud.

Operations > Banking > Reconcile Banking Accounts opens the screen. Pick the Bank Account at the top left. Each reconciliation is a bank statement (a period, with an opening and a closing balance) compared with the ledger of that account; the Statement box lists the account's statements, with the number of lines still to resolve in brackets.

The reconciliation screen with the account chosen

You can work without AI (Excel, CSV, OFX or manual entry, plus rules) or with KeyTray AI (it reads a PDF or a photo of the statement and suggests accounts). AI is optional: the Owner turns it on in My Company, with a monthly spending limit.

Bringing in the statement

There are three ways:

  1. Import statement with the file your bank gives you: Excel (.xlsx), CSV or OFX/QFX. No AI involved. With an Excel or CSV file, KeyTray shows File columns: a preview and which column is the date, the description, the debit, the credit, the balance, the reference, the counterparty and the check number. It proposes everything; review it and click Import. That reading setup is saved for the bank account: next time it comes ready.
  2. PDF or image of the statement: only with KeyTray AI (see below). The Read with KeyTray AI box makes an Excel or CSV file go through the AI too.
  3. Manual statement: you type the header (bank, from, to, opening and closing balance) and add the lines with Add line.

File columns: KeyTray proposes what each column is

In Date format, Automatic looks at the whole column: if any day is greater than 12, it knows whether the file is month/day or day/month. If every date is ambiguous (1 to 12), choose it yourself.

When importing, KeyTray warns in orange about what deserves a look: rows it ignored (titles, totals, previous balance), an opening balance that does not match the previous statement's closing balance, a currency different from the account's, or movements that were already imported (it does not repeat them). It will not load two statements of the same account whose dates overlap.

The example: September

The September statement of account 11120003 - Bank account - USD has nine lines:

Date Description Amount
09/01/2026 INCOMING WIRE CAPITAL CONTRIBUTION 50,000.00
09/07/2026 CHECK PAID NO. 1001 −1,200.00
09/16/2026 CHECK DEPOSIT 3,000.00
09/20/2026 CHECK PAID NO. 1002 −350.00
09/24/2026 ACH DEPOSIT IN ERROR 800.00
09/25/2026 ACH DEPOSIT IN ERROR REVERSAL −800.00
09/30/2026 CASH DEPOSIT 640.00
09/30/2026 MONTHLY SERVICE FEE −15.00
09/30/2026 CHECKBOOK CHARGE −25.00

Opening balance 0.00, closing balance 52,050.00. On import, KeyTray matches what it can on its own and tells you: 4 line(s) matched with the ledger.

The imported statement: four lines matched automatically and one suggested by a rule

Automatic matching looks in the account's ledger for:

The Status column says Matched, Unmatched, Entry created or Not applicable. The service fee already shows Suggested: 53110001 - Bank fees and charges (rule): a rule prepared it (see Rules). Match with the ledger runs the automatic matching again, for example after you record a missing receipt.

Outstanding in the ledger

The Outstanding in the ledger tab shows the opposite: what the ledger has up to the statement date that the bank has not shown yet. In the example, two cash collections on 09/12 (400.00 and 240.00) and the Transfer to petty cash on 09/29 (−500.00).

Outstanding in the ledger

Resolving each line

Pick a line and the Selected line panel on the right offers three ways out:

  1. Match with ledger movements. The candidates are the account's movements not matched yet, sorted by how close the amount and date are. Select one, or several with Ctrl+click; below you see Selected and Missing. When they add up exactly to the line, click Match selected. In the example, the CASH DEPOSIT of 640.00 is the two collections of 09/12 (400.00 + 240.00): they were deposited 18 days later, too far apart for automatic matching.

    Manual match: two collections selected with Ctrl+click add up to the line

  2. Create entry. For what is missing in your books: a fee, interest, a bank charge. Choose the Account, check the Memo and the Entry date (for a foreign-currency account, also the Exchange rate) and click Create entry: the bank account goes on one side and the chosen account on the other. If you tick Remember: when the description contains and type a text, KeyTray also creates a rule for the months to come. In the example, CHECKBOOK CHARGE goes to 53110001 - Bank fees and charges and is remembered with the text CHECKBOOK.

    Creating the checkbook charge entry and remembering it as a rule

  3. Not applicable. For a line that must not be reconciled against anything: a bank error the bank itself reversed, a movement under dispute. KeyTray asks for the reason, and the reason stays in the Detail column. In the example, the ACH DEPOSIT IN ERROR of 800.00 and its REVERSAL of −800.00.

    The reason for a line that is not applicable

An unresolved line also has Edit line and Delete line, to fix a statement typed by hand or read wrong. A resolved line shows Undo: it removes the match or the not applicable and the line goes back to Unmatched. If the line created an entry, Undo voids the entry in accounting, and KeyTray asks first.

A matched line: the panel offers Undo

Rules and "Accept suggestions"

A rule says: when the description (or the counterparty, or the reference) contains / starts with / equals this text, the account is this one. It can apply to money in only or money out only, and to this bank account only or to all. The Rules button opens the list to create, change or deactivate them; the Uses column counts how many times each one was applied.

Reconciliation rules: the service fee one and the one born from "Remember"

When a line meets a rule, it shows as Suggested with the account. Accept suggestions creates in one go the entries for every unresolved line that has a suggested account, after asking how many it will create. Nothing is posted without your click.

Accept suggestions asks before creating the entries

With KeyTray AI

With KeyTray AI Model on, the screen adds two things. Each use shows what it cost (cents of a dollar), which counts against the monthly limit the Owner set. Without AI, the Read with KeyTray AI box and the Suggest accounts with AI button show disabled, with the explanation; and a PDF tells you to export the statement as Excel, CSV or OFX.

Review every suggestion before accepting it. The AI does well with fees, interest and charges; but if it proposes Accounts receivable - customers for a customer's wire, the right thing is to record the customer receipt (or the vendor payment) and then match the line with that document, not a direct entry against receivables.

If you imported a statement by mistake, Void statement removes it with its lines and matches, without touching accounting. If a line already created an entry, undo it first.

Balancing and closing

At the bottom, the summary compares both sides:

Bank Ledger
Statement closing balance 52,050.00 Ledger balance at 9/30/2026 51,550.00
(−) Not applicable lines 0.00 (−) Outstanding in the ledger (1) −500.00
Adjusted bank balance 52,050.00 Adjusted ledger balance 52,050.00
Difference 0.00

The two not-applicable lines add up to zero (800.00 − 800.00). The only outstanding item is the petty-cash transfer of 09/29, which the bank will show in October. When it applies, the summary also adds what was booked in the ledger after the statement date and subtracts items before the start not yet seen by the bank.

Everything resolved and the difference at zero: it can be closed

Next to the summary are the counters (Matched, Entries, Not applicable, Unresolved) and, in orange, whatever still prevents closing: unresolved lines, a difference other than zero, a statement without an opening or closing balance, an opening balance plus movements that does not give the closing balance (a line is missing or extra), or the account's previous statement still open.

Close reconciliation is enabled only when everything balances. It asks for confirmation and freezes the reconciliation: the top says Closed by whom and when, and the statement box marks it with a check. Only the Owner can Reopen, only the account's latest closed reconciliation, and a reason is required.

September's reconciliation, closed

Closing does not lock the ledger: if someone later changes or voids a movement that was already reconciled, the reconciliation warns you when you open it.

History

List Explorer > Bank Reconciliations lists every reconciliation of the company: account, currency, bank, period, balances, lines, unresolved, status, difference, who closed it and when, and where it came from (KeyTray IA, CSV / Excel, OFX or Manual). Double-click opens the reconciliation.

The reconciliation history in the List Explorer

Careful: an entry created from the reconciliation is undone from the reconciliation (Undo on the line), which voids the entry and leaves the line unmatched in one step. If you void it from the General Journal instead, the line still says Entry created and the summary stops showing zero.

8.8 Writing off old balances in batch

Lesson — the allowance for doubtful accounts. When a customer will not pay, the receivable is no longer an asset. Removing it is a write-off. If you had already estimated the loss in an allowance for doubtful accounts, the write-off uses that allowance; otherwise it goes to bad-debt expense. Small differences (rounding, residual exchange differences) are written off to their own accounts. Always keep the reason: auditors ask for it.

  1. Accounting Explorer > Batch write-off. Search the open customer (or vendor) documents as of a date, by minimum age, and optionally only those from closed fiscal years:

Batch write-off search

  1. Each document needs a reason from the catalog (commercial agreement, negotiated reduction, minor difference/rounding, residual exchange difference, collection efforts exhausted, customer insolvent, customer untraceable…):

Write-off reasons

  1. The reason proposes the offsetting account. In the demo, invoice INV-000006 (35.00) with reason Customer insolvent or bankrupt proposes the Allowance for doubtful accounts:

Ready to write off

8.9 Cash flow: assigning accounts

Lesson — profit is not cash. The income statement counts an invoice when it is issued; the cash flow statement counts it when it is collected. The cash flow statement explains how the cash at the beginning of the period became the cash at the end, in three blocks: operating (customers, suppliers, employees, taxes), investing (buying and selling long-term assets) and financing (loans and capital).

Accounting Explorer > Cash Flow: accounts shows each account with the cash flow line it feeds. Cash and bank accounts are the cash itself; for the rest, KeyTray suggests the line from the account type. The grid shows the movement of the period and the status; Edit Mode lets you assign a different line:

Cash flow accounts

The statement itself is in section 10.1.

8.10 The Closing Workpaper

Before closing a month, open Accounting Explorer > Closing Workpaper. It runs automatic checks by section — integrity, subledgers against the ledger, activity of the period, foreign currency, tax and statutory forms, documents — and shows each check with its status, amount and detail:

Closing Workpaper

Work down the list until every check is green, then close the period in the Periods Manager (chapter 2).

Month-end checklist: 1) all documents of the month entered; 2) bank accounts reconciled (8.7); 3) deferred checks deposited (8.6); 4) foreign currency revalued (8.4); 5) sales tax settled (8.5); 6) Closing Workpaper green (8.10); 7) financial statements reviewed (10.1); 8) period closed (2.2).

Accounting auditor: the accounting auditor runs these same checks every day, shows them on the dashboard, e-mails what is new and, if you ask it to, does not let the fiscal year close while a blocking one fails. See chapter 16.

8.11 Fixed assets and depreciation

Lesson — spreading the cost. A truck or a computer is used for years, so its cost is not an expense of the month you buy it. It is recorded as an asset and its cost is spread over its useful life as depreciation. Each month: debit Depreciation expense, credit Accumulated depreciation. The net book value is cost minus accumulated depreciation.

Operations > Depreciation Manager opens a window with six pages in the Options panel: Dashboard, Fixed Assets, Depreciation Journals, Asset classes, Reports and Help.

The Depreciation Manager dashboard (Cargo Masters USA screenshot)

The Dashboard sums up where you stand: Total asset cost, Accumulated depreciation, Net book value and Depreciation expense (period), plus the counters Depreciating, To review, Fully depreciated and Discarded. The Year and Month filter at the top narrows what the cards and the lists show; with nothing selected, it shows everything.

Asset classes

A class says how long an asset lasts, at what rate it depreciates, what it is worth at the end (salvage value) and which accounts it is recorded in. Every company is born with the classes of its country, taken from the tax rules, and you adjust them.

Asset classes with their accounts (Cargo Masters USA screenshot)

Class Annual rate Useful life Legal reference
Nonresidential real property 2.56% 39 years IRS Pub. 946 MACRS: 39-year, straight-line, mid-month
Office furniture and fixtures 14.29% 7 years IRS Pub. 946 MACRS: 7-year (asset class 00.11; tax method 200% DB, half-year)
Computers and peripherals 20% 5 years IRS Pub. 946 MACRS: 5-year (asset class 00.12; tax method 200% DB, half-year)
Automobiles and trucks 20% 5 years IRS Pub. 946 MACRS: 5-year (tax method 200% DB; IRC 280F limits)
Machinery and equipment 14.29% 7 years IRS Pub. 946 MACRS: 7-year default; depends on the activity class (Rev. Proc. 87-56)

That is how some of the classes of the United States arrive, each with the rule behind it.

Each class carries three accounts: the asset account, the accumulated depreciation account and the depreciation expense account (plus, for disposals, the gain or loss account). If your chart of accounts is not the country standard, KeyTray leaves the class with no accounts instead of guessing, warns you in orange at the top and will not let you activate assets of that class until you choose them. That is on purpose: the same account number means different things in different companies.

New class creates one of your own; Save class stores your changes. Changing the rate or the useful life does not touch assets that are already activated: each asset keeps the ones it had when it was activated.

Adding an asset

The Fixed Assets page (Cargo Masters USA screenshot)

There are three ways, all on the Fixed Assets page:

  1. Detect assets. KeyTray looks through your purchase invoices for lines posted to fixed asset accounts and brings them in as assets To review. You give each one its class and its in-service date and click Activate. Whatever does not belong, Discard.
  2. New asset / opening balance. For what has no invoice in KeyTray: an asset that was already in the ledger when you started with the system, or one bought without a purchase invoice. If it was already depreciating, enter the accumulated depreciation as of the cut-off date: KeyTray carries on from the following month. Adding it posts no journal, because the asset and its accumulated depreciation are already in the ledger.
  3. Construction in progress. A building or a machine still being assembled does not depreciate. It is recorded in a construction-in-progress class and, when it goes into service, Capitalize CIP turns it into an asset that does depreciate.

Once an asset is activated you can only edit its descriptive fields (brand, model, serial, location, custodian): its cost and its class have already moved the ledger.

Running the depreciation

On Fixed Assets, at the top right: pick the year and month in Depreciate through and use

Depreciation journals, month by month (Cargo Masters USA screenshot)

Two cases KeyTray handles on its own, with nothing for you to do:

The run is idempotent: running it twice for the same month duplicates nothing.

Operations on an asset

Pick the asset in the list and use the buttons at the top. Each operation posts on its own:

Operation What it does
Disposal / sale Brings depreciation up to the date, disposes of the asset and posts the result. On a sale you invoice as usual against a bridge account and choose that same account here: the bridge nets to zero and the difference against net book value goes to the gain or loss on disposal.
Void disposal Undoes the disposal and its journal; the asset returns to its previous state.
Revaluation By factor (tax revaluation, inflation adjustment) or to fair value (IAS 16). With no asset selected, it revalues every asset in service.
Impairment Debits the impairment expense and credits accumulated impairment. Future depreciation is recalculated on the net book value.
Transfer Changes the class (reclassifying the accounts with a journal), the location or the custodian. Useful life and method do not change.
Capitalize CIP Moves one or more construction-in-progress items into an asset in service.

Disposing of an asset (Cargo Masters USA screenshot)

Revaluation by factor (Cargo Masters USA screenshot)

The two books

KeyTray keeps two books per asset:

Each asset can have its own useful life and its own method in the tax book; leave it empty and the tax book matches the accounting one.

Reports

On the Reports page, choosing the Book (book or tax):

The asset register (Cargo Masters USA screenshot)

The movement schedule (Cargo Masters USA screenshot)

Careful: depreciation, disposal and revaluation journals are not edited or voided from the General Journal. Use the Manager's own buttons (Revert last run, Void disposal), which undo the journal and the asset's sub-ledger. If you edit them by hand, the ledger and the asset's record stop matching and the movement schedule no longer ties.

8.12 Customer and vendor advances

Lesson — the advance is a document of its own. When a customer pays before the invoice, the money comes into the bank but does not settle anything yet: it is a debt with the customer. KeyTray records the advance with its number and its balance, and later applies it to the invoice or refunds it. You do not choose accounts: KeyTray always uses the advances account of the currency.

Operation Debit Credit
Customer advance Bank or cash Customer advances (liability)
Application to an invoice Customer advances Customer accounts receivable
Refund Customer advances Bank or cash

A vendor advance is the mirror, with the Vendor advances account (asset). The application also records a receipt that settles the invoice; if the invoice has a different exchange rate, the difference goes to realized exchange difference. The advance is not a tax document: the invoice is issued as usual and the advance settles it.

1. Set up the accounts (once). Business Elements > Predefined Accounts, Advances tab: for each currency, the customer advances account (liability) and the vendor advances account (asset). In a foreign currency, Do not revalue is proposed.

The advances accounts per currency (Paraguay screenshot)

If a currency has no account, the advance window says so and does not save in that currency.

2. Record the advance. Operations tab, Banking group, Advances button. Choose Customer or Vendor, the participant, the date and the money account (bank or cash): the currency comes from the account. In a foreign currency KeyTray proposes the official rate of the day (buying for what you receive, selling for what you pay); check it. Fill in Amount, Reference and Memo and click Save advance. KeyTray numbers it ANC-000001 (customers) or ANP-000001 (vendors).

A customer advance in dollars (Paraguay screenshot)

3. Apply it to an invoice. Apply and refund tab: it lists the open documents of the same customer (or vendor) in the currency of the advance. Check the invoices, adjust the Amount to apply for a partial application and click Apply to the selected documents.

Applying the advance to an invoice (Paraguay screenshot)

When you save a sales (or purchase) invoice for a customer (or vendor) with unapplied advances in that currency, KeyTray tells you and offers to open this tab with the invoice already checked.

4. Refund. In the same tab, in the Refund to the customer / from the vendor box, type the amount, choose the money account and click Refund. If you refund at a different exchange rate, type it: the difference goes to exchange gain or loss.

5. Movements and voiding. The Movements tab shows each application and refund with its Void button. Voiding an application voids its receipt and its entry, and gives the balance back to the advance and to the invoice.

The movements of the advance (Paraguay screenshot)

An advance can be changed or voided only while it has no live applications or refunds: void them first. The full list is in the Advances List button (Operations tab, Banking group), with the amount, applied, refunded, balance and status (Open, Partial, Applied, Refunded, Void); you can also edit, void, apply and refund from there.

6. Receipt. In the advance window, Print receipt produces the Advance Receipt for the customer:

The advance receipt (Paraguay screenshot)

Caution: the entries and receipts of an advance cannot be edited or voided from the General Journal or from the receipts or payments lists: KeyTray blocks it and tells you to use Banking > Advances List. That way the advance, its balance and its entries never drift apart. For the same reason, do not post manual entries to the advances account: its balance must equal the sum of the open advances.

8.13 Payment processors (PayCargo)

Lesson: the processor pays for you, but the debt stays with the carrier. Services such as PayCargo pay airlines, warehouses and truckers on behalf of your company, and later the bank debits everything together in one movement. In KeyTray each carrier bill is paid with a normal vendor payment, but from a clearing account (for example PayCargo clearing), and the bank debit empties that account. Each carrier is paid with its own payment, and the bank statement reconciles against a single debit.

Operation Debit Credit
The processor pays each bill Carrier's accounts payable Processor clearing account
The bank debits the batch Processor clearing account Bank

The processor is not the vendor's "Pay to" vendor. With "Pay to" the debt moves to another vendor. With a processor the debt stays with each carrier, and the processor only provides the money.

1. The clearing account (once). In Business Elements > Chart of Accounts, create a current liability account with a clear name, for example PayCargo clearing (to be debited). When you create it from the Chart of Accounts, KeyTray enables it to record payments from it.

2. The processor profile (once). In Business Elements > List Explorer, open the Payment processors list and click New. In our example the PayCargo profile already exists:

The payment processors list

The PayCargo profile

Field What to enter
Name The service: PayCargo.
Processor vendor Optional: PayCargo's own vendor record, if you buy services from it.
Debits from (bank) The bank or card the processor debits. The processor's currency comes from this account.
Clearing account The account from step 1. KeyTray rejects a customer or vendor account, and the bank itself.
Processor fee Included in the carrier bill if the fee is already inside the bill you rebill to the customer. Separate expense if your company absorbs it; then choose the Expense account.
Bank debit Consolidated per batch (the usual case with PayCargo) or Per transaction.
Mode Immediate payment and/or Processor credit (the processor pays now and debits later). Both use the same clearing account.
Debit text in the bank statement How the debit appears in the bank statement, for example ACH PAYCARGO.

On the right, Carrier names in the report links each name in the PayCargo report to the KeyTray vendor. It fills itself: when you save a batch, KeyTray remembers which vendor each name was. In the example, Atlantic Air Cargo Services (MIA) is the vendor Atlantic Air Cargo. The first time, KeyTray deduces the vendor from the bill number and tells you so in blue.

3. Which vendors the processor pays. In each carrier's record, Financial Info page, choose the processor in Payment processor. If the vendor is paid directly, leave (none).

The vendor record with its payment processor

4. Paying the bills with the processor. Open Pay Bills. On the right of the document's blue bar is the Pay with payment processor switch:

Pay Bills with the switch off

Turning it on changes the window:

The bills of all of PayCargo's vendors

Tick the bills you are paying through PayCargo, even if they belong to different vendors:

Three bills from three vendors

Click Save & Close (or Save & New to go on). KeyTray saves a batch and, inside it, one vendor payment per carrier, all from the clearing account:

The batch saved message

Important: the processor pays only the bill amount. Discounts, write-offs, retentions and credit notes are applied with a normal vendor payment, with the switch off.

5. When the PayCargo report arrives. PayCargo emails an Excel file with what it paid (the ACH Report). Now that report only verifies: it confirms what you already paid and pays whatever is missing. Open Processor payments, choose the processor and click Choose the report...:

The report in the preview

Each line shows, with a color, what will happen to it:

Color Meaning What to do
Purple The bill was already paid from Pay Bills in a batch: the report confirms it. Nothing: it is not paid twice.
Black It matches an open bill: it is paid now. Nothing.
Blue The vendor was deduced from the bill number; when you save, KeyTray remembers the name. Check the vendor is right.
Red There is no open bill, or the vendor is unknown. Enter the bill or choose the vendor in the line's combo; if it does not belong, tick Remove from batch.

At the top, File notices sums up how many bills were already paid and in which batch, and how much the new batch will be. While there are red lines, Save batch is disabled. In the example, bill 7781 from Miami Airport Storage has no bill in KeyTray, so it is marked Remove from batch:

Ready to save: bill 7781 removed

When you click Save batch:

The new batch, saved

If the report brings only bills that were already paid, KeyTray confirms them and creates no batch. The same report cannot be used twice.

6. The bank debit. When the debit appears in the bank statement, open Processor debit. KeyTray lists the processor's batches waiting for the debit: tick the ones the bank debited together and enter the Amount debited exactly as it appears in the statement. It must match the total of the ticked batches.

The bank debit covering both batches

Save debit records the entry debit clearing account / credit bank. The clearing account goes back to zero, and the bank shows a single movement, the same as the statement, which reconciles like any other (section 8.7).

The saved debit, with its journal entry

7. The lists and voiding. Operations > List Explorer (the Operation List Explorer) has the Processor batches and Processor debits lists. The batches list shows where each batch came from (Pay Bills or the report) and whether a report confirmed it:

The processor batches list

When you open a Pay Bills batch, its footer shows the source and which report confirmed it:

The Pay Bills batch, confirmed by the report

To undo, the order is: Void the debit first, then the batch. A batch covered by a live debit cannot be voided, and a payment that belongs to a batch cannot be voided on its own from the payments list.

Caution: do not post manual journal entries to the clearing account. Its balance must always equal the batches waiting for the debit; the profile shows it at the top as Awaiting debit.

9. Security: users, roles and access

9.1 The principle of least privilege

Give each person only the access they need to do their job — nothing more. A warehouse clerk needs to receive, repack and dispatch cargo; they do not need to see bank balances, void invoices or change tax codes.

This protects the company from mistakes (fewer people can break things), from fraud (fewer people can move money), and it protects the employee (nobody can blame them for something they could not do).

In KeyTray you apply this principle in two steps:

  1. Create a role: a named set of permissions.
  2. Create an access (a user) and assign them one or more roles in one or more companies.

All of it is on the Security ribbon:

The Security ribbon

The ribbon has List Explorer, New Role and New Access.

9.2 Creating a role: Warehouse Clerk

Menu: Security > New Role.

The Warehouse Clerk role

  1. Type of the application for the role: KeyTray Cargo.
  2. Role Name: Warehouse Clerk.
  3. To be consumed by participant type: User.
  4. Description: Receives, repacks and dispatches cargo.
  5. Choose the platform tab: Desktop (the other tabs are Web and Mobile). Select all and Deselect all tick or clear everything.
  6. In the tree Tabs and Access KeyTray, each ribbon tab has Visible (the user sees it) and Enabled (the user can use it). Tick only what the clerk needs:
    • Operations: Visible and Enabled.
    • Freight Forwarding: Visible and Enabled, and inside it:
      • Data Explorer: Visible and Enabled.
      • Operations: Visible and Enabled.
    • Leave Company, Business Elements, Human Resources, Template & Forms, Reports, Security, Government, KeyTray Configuration and Dashboards unticked, as well as Mobiles and Business Elements inside Freight Forwarding.
  7. Inside Freight Forwarding > Operations, each operation has detailed permissions: Visible, Enabled, Allow View, Allow New, Allow Edit, Allow Remove, Allow New Attachment, Allow View Attachment and Allow Delete Attachment. For the clerk, tick on New Warehouse Receipt, New Repacking and New Dispatch:
    • Visible, Enabled, Allow View, Allow New, Allow Edit (and, in the demo, Allow View Attachment).
    • Leave Allow Remove unticked on purpose: a clerk can create and correct warehouse documents but cannot delete them. Deleting cargo records should be a supervisor's decision.
    • Leave the other operations (New Booking, New PickUp Order, New Inland Order, New Pre-Reception, Shipment Request, New Cargo Release, New Shipment) unticked.
  8. Click Save & Close.

Careful: after Save & Close the role is saved, but the tab may stay open without a confirmation message. Do not click again (see Appendix B); close the tab and check the role in Security > List Explorer.

9.3 Creating a user: Maria Lopez

Menu: Security > New Access.

User Info

New access for Maria Lopez

  1. Access Type: User.
  2. Name: Maria Lopez.
  3. Email Address: maria.lopez@keytray.com — this is her login.
  4. Click Validate. A green check next to the address confirms that it is valid and available.
  5. Language: English.
  6. Gender: Female.
  7. This user can sign Freight Shipments: leave it unticked for a warehouse clerk.
  8. Country: United States.
  9. Security options:
    • Password: Type or generate the new password. Type one or click Generate. The small green buttons below indicate the character types used (uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols, length). The check next to the password confirms it meets the rules.
    • Pin for mobiles and 2FA (two-factor authentication) are in the other tabs. Turning on 2FA is strongly recommended for users who handle money.

Careful: give the password to the user through a private channel and ask them to change it. Never send it in the same email as the login.

Assign Companies and Roles

Assigning Cargo Masters USA and the Warehouse Clerk role

  1. Open Assign Companies and Roles.
  2. Tick the company Cargo Masters USA.
  3. Under Select at least one role for the company, tick Warehouse Clerk (leave General Access unticked). The selected role appears in green next to the company name.
  4. A company needs at least one role: if you tick a company without a role, the user could not do anything in it.
  5. Click Save & Close.

Maria can now sign in, choose Cargo Masters USA, and use only the warehouse operations of her role.

Why it matters: when an employee changes jobs, change their roles; when they leave, deactivate their access the same day. Review users and roles at least once a year, and always when someone leaves the company.

10. Reports

Most reports start with a window of options and open in the report viewer. The viewer toolbar has the dates, Modify Parameters, Reload Report, page navigation, print and export, and zoom:

Report viewer toolbar

Two options appear in many reports:

Date Periods

Express report in another currency

10.1 Financial statements

Reports > Financial Statements: Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Trial Balance, Cash Flow Statement and Profit Bridge:

Financial Statements menu

Options (date range, predefined dates, year and month, another currency):

Report options

Income Statement (Profit & Loss). Page 1: income by revenue group and cost of sales, with the current period, the fiscal year to date and the percentage of income. Page 2: gross profit, operating expenses, other income and expense (the 30.00 foreign exchange gain of section 8.4) and net income:

Income Statement page 1

Income Statement page 2

Balance Sheet as of 9/30/2026: current assets, current liabilities (including 21210001 Sales tax payable 21.00), capital and the net income of the year:

Balance Sheet

Lesson — the equation. Assets = Liabilities + Equity, always. The net income of the year is part of equity until the year is closed. If your balance sheet does not balance, a transaction was posted to an account type that the statement does not read; the Trial Balance will show it.

Trial Balance to 9/30/2026: the debit or credit balance of every account with movement; both totals must be equal (62,338.33):

Trial Balance

Cash Flow Statement. Choose the period and the Method: Direct shows the cash actually collected and paid line by line; Indirect starts from net income and adjusts for everything that is not cash. You can exclude prior period adjustments and express the report in another currency:

Cash flow options

The direct method shows operating, investing and financing activities, the net increase in cash and, at the bottom, the control against the book balance of cash and banks — both must agree:

Cash Flow Statement, direct method

Profit Bridge explains why the profit changed since a date. Options:

Profit Bridge options

It starts from the profit at the cut date, adds the new activity by group (sales, cost of sales, expenses, exchange difference), shows separately the entries of prior periods that moved after the cut, lists warnings (for example invoiced sales still without their cost) and ends with the current profit. In the demo since 9/1/2026: 0 + 6,804 − 4,463 + 30 = 2,371:

Profit Bridge

Why it matters: comparing two profit figures taken on different days usually mixes new business with corrections of the past. The Profit Bridge separates them, so you know whether the month is really better or whether someone reopened last month.

10.2 Accounting reports

Reports > Accounting Reports: Chart of Accounts, Transaction Journal and General Ledger:

Accounting Reports menu

Chart of Accounts: every account with its type and its balance at the beginning of the cut date (an entry dated on the cut date itself is not included). Change Cut date and click Update Report to refresh:

Chart of Accounts report

Transaction Journal (printed as General Journal). Pick the period by dates or with Date Periods / Month / Year:

Transaction Journal options

Every entry of the period with its date, register number, document, accounts, detail and balanced debit and credit totals:

General Journal report

General Ledger. Choosing a predefined period fills the dates:

General Ledger options

Per account: the opening balance, each movement with its running balance, and the period and year-to-date totals. Expressed in EUR, the EUR bank account keeps its original 1,000.00 and the rest is translated at 1.20 (50,000.00 USD of capital become 41,666.67 EUR):

General Ledger in EUR

10.3 Customer and vendor reports

Reports > Customers:

Customer reports

A/R Aging Summary. Options: reference date (or all dates), currency selection, customer selection (all customers, a group or only one), number format, decimals and, optionally, reading the data from the General Ledger:

A/R Aging Summary options

The balance of each customer split into Current, 1-30, 31-60, 61-90 and Over 90 days. The total (6,504.37) equals the balance of Accounts receivable:

A/R Aging Summary

A/R Aging Detail. Options: cut date, customer currency, optional conversion, customer selection, number format and decimals:

A/R Aging Detail options

The open documents of each customer with number, date, due date and amount due; credit notes appear negative:

A/R Aging Detail

Customer Statement. Choose the customer and currency, whether to include vendor-related documents (when the customer is also a vendor), the statement period or all history, only unpaid documents and payment details; then Print, Attach to email or View PDF. The statement is printed with the company's statement template:

Create Customer Statement

Reports > Vendors has the same reports for what you owe:

Vendor reports

A/P Aging Summary (total 4,312.96 = Accounts payable) and A/P Aging Detail:

A/P Aging Summary

A/P Aging Detail

Lesson — reading an aging. Current and 1-30 days is normal business. Balances over 60 days need a phone call; over 90, a decision (collection agency, payment plan, write-off, section 8.8). On the payables side, the aging is your cash plan: it tells you what must be paid and when.

10.4 Sales reports

Reports > Sales Reports: by customer and by item:

Sales reports

Sales Report by Customer. Options: predefined dates or a From/To range, one customer (leave it empty for all), currency and optional conversion:

Sales by Customer options

Page 1 shows the share of each item in the sales amount and in the quantity (the nine largest plus Other items). The next pages show the summary by year and month, the summary by item and packing with totals, and the detail by document. Amounts are net of taxes (in the demo, 7,009.95 for September, the sum of the nine invoices before sales tax):

Sales by Customer charts

Sales summary by year and month

Sales summary by item

Sales detail by document

Sales Report by Item. Options: period, item, packing or size (optional; without it quantities are in units) and optionally one customer:

Sales by Item options

A 48-month comparison chart, the summary by month, the summary by customer and the invoice history of the item (Freight - air export: four invoices, 1,338.45):

Sales Report by Item

10.5 Other reports

Jobs/Projects reports

Profit by Job/Project options

Inventory reports

Dispatch Report parameters

10.6 Monthly income statement and cash flow

Two reports show the company month by month, side by side, with each month's change against the previous one:

They are on the Reports tab of the ribbon, Management Reports group: click Financial Statements and, in the list that drops down, pick Monthly income statement or Monthly cash flow (they are next to the Income statement and the Cash flow). If they are not there, your role does not have that access: ask your administrator for it.

The Monthly income statement and Monthly cash flow buttons on the Reports ribbon

The parameters window. When you click one, the period window opens:

The parameters window of the Monthly cash flow

The printable report. It shows one month per column and the Total at the end. With the change ticked, each line has, underneath and in grey, how much it went up or down against the previous month. It prints and exports (PDF, Excel, Word) like any other report.

Monthly cash flow, direct method, broken down by nature

The grid. With Open as a grid the numbers show in a grid, with a Change column after each month. At the top it has:

Monthly income statement in the grid, with each month's change

The Monthly result and cash gadget on the Operations dashboard (chapter 17) shows the net result and the net cash flow of the last months with these same numbers; its Open detail button opens this grid. All three (report, grid and gadget) use the same calculation, so they always agree.

The cash flow classifies accounts like the Cash flow report: if an account shows on the wrong line, check section 8.9, Cash flow: assigning accounts.

11. Company settings

11.1 The Company tab

Company holds the company-wide tools: List Explorer, System Options, New Company, New Branch, My Account, My Payment Method, My Payment History, My Invoices, Shared Printers, Warehouses, Terms and Conditions and the OFAC group:

Company tab

11.2 System Options

Company > System Options is organized in sections.

General: the default units of measure for sizes, weights, volumes and volumetric weights. They are the units KeyTray proposes in warehouse receipts and shipments:

System Options > General

Customers, Vendors and Accounting: the defaults for new customers, vendors and accounting documents:

System Options > Customers

System Options > Vendors

System Options > Accounting

Freight Forward: the options of the freight module:

System Options > Freight Forward

For example, Allow settling GROUND shipments without a Destination Agent lets domestic trucking shipments be settled without an agent (section 7.19):

Ground without agent turned on

14. Human Resources and payroll

This chapter covers the Human Resources module. Sections 14.11 to 14.18 explain KeyTray Clock, punching in from the phone: work sites, phones and kiosks, reviewing punches and what employees request from the app.

14.11 KeyTray Clock: punching in from the phone

KeyTray Clock is the app employees use to punch in and out. It runs on Android and iPhone and works in two ways:

Every punch reaches KeyTray with the time, the place and the nearest site. If the phone has no signal, the punch is kept on the phone and uploads by itself when the connection returns. In KeyTray, punches feed Attendance and payroll, just like the punches of a time clock.

From the app, employees can also request leave or vacation, claim a punch they forgot and see and sign their payslip. Human Resources receives and handles all of that in KeyTray, as the following sections explain. How to use the app is covered in the KeyTray Clock manual for employees.

Everything about Clock is in Human Resources > Attendance, on the Work sites, Punches to review and Devices and faces pages on the left. The screenshots in this part come from the sample company Cargo Masters English.

14.12 Work sites and geofence

Video: Work sites and geofence (English voice and subtitles).

A work site is a place where people work: the warehouse, the office, a branch. It has a center (latitude and longitude) and a radius. The circle they form is called a geofence: a punch made inside the circle is a punch made at the site.

On the Work sites page, click the new button (top left) and fill in:

Click Save site.

Work sites and the employees assigned

Below, in Employees who may punch at this site, check Assigned for each employee who works there and Main site for the site where they usually work. Click Save assignment. An employee can be assigned to several sites.

Why it matters: an employee with no site assigned can still punch, but every punch goes to review with the reason No site assigned.

14.13 Setting up phones and kiosks

Video: Setting up phones and kiosks (English voice and subtitles).

The Devices and faces page has the two kinds of code at the top and, below, the devices that are already working.

An employee's phone. In Set up an employee's phone, choose the Employee and click Generate phone code. KeyTray shows a code and its QR:

Phone code with its QR

The employee scans the QR with KeyTray Clock (or types the code) and then types their employee code. The code is shown only once and expires after the hours set in Code valid for (hours). If it gets lost, generate another one: the previous one stops working.

Caution: setting up a new phone does not remove the previous one: both keep working. When an employee changes phones, remove the old one with Remove device (below).

A kiosk. In Turn a device into a kiosk, choose the Site, type a Supervisor PIN (4 to 8 digits) and click Generate kiosk code. On the device that will stay at the site, scan this code without typing an employee code. The supervisor uses the PIN at the kiosk to register each employee's face.

Kiosk code

Devices set up lists every phone and kiosk: the employee or site, the model, the system, when it was set up and when it was Last seen. To take a device out of service (a lost phone, an employee who leaves), select it and click Remove device: from then on it cannot punch. Include removed also shows the removed ones.

Faces. When an employee registers their face from the phone, it appears under Faces as Waiting for approval. Select it: the Profile picture they took when registering appears on the right. If it is that person, click Approve face; if not, Reject face (it is deleted and the person can register again).

Devices and a face waiting for approval

Why it matters: while the face is not approved, the employee can punch, but all their punches go to review with the reason Face waiting for HR approval. That way nobody can register someone else's face to punch for them.

Faces registered by the supervisor at a kiosk (with the PIN) are approved from the start. Delete biometric data really deletes an employee's face samples and records that they withdrew their consent; the profile picture is not deleted.

14.14 Punches to review

Video: Punches to review (English voice and subtitles).

Some punches arrive with something odd. KeyTray records them anyway, so nobody is left without their punch, but lists them in Punches to review so that someone looks at them. Choose From and To, keep Only pending checked and click Show:

Punches to review

Each row shows where the punch came from (Source), the Site, the Distance to the site, the GPS accuracy, the Location and, most important, the Reason:

Reason What happened
No position The phone could not give its location.
Imprecise position The location had more error than the site's tolerance.
Mock location The phone was using an app to fake its location.
Device clock is off The phone's time was more than 5 minutes off.
Impossible speed Between this punch and the previous one, the employee would have had to travel impossibly fast.
Device is not the enrolled one The punch came from a phone other than the one set up.
No site assigned The employee has no site assigned.
Face waiting for HR approval The employee's face is not approved yet (see 14.13).
Missing punch claimed by the employee The employee reported they forgot to punch (see below).

Select a row. Open in Google Maps shows where the punch was made and Address the street. Type a Review note and click Accept or Reject.

A mock location

Claims. When an employee forgot to punch, they can claim the punch from the app, with the time and the reason. It arrives with the source Employee claim:

An employee claim

Caution: a punch under review counts for attendance as long as nobody rejects it. A claim is the opposite: it does not count until you accept it.

Punches made outside a site that blocks them never reach this list: the app does not let them through and tells the employee right away.

14.15 From punches to attendance

Video: From punches to attendance (English voice and subtitles).

On the Attendance page, choose From and To and click Calculate from time clock. KeyTray builds one workday per employee and per day from the phone, kiosk and time clock punches, and compares it with each person's schedule:

Attendance calculated from KeyTray Clock punches

Each workday shows the time in, the time out, the status (Present, Absent, Rest day...), the regular, night, overtime and holiday hours, and late minutes. After accepting a claim or rejecting a punch, calculate the range again so that the workday picks it up.

14.16 Leave requested from the app

Video: Leave requested from the app (English voice and subtitles).

What can be requested. In Human Resources > Absence types, each type has the box Can be requested in the app. Only the checked types appear in KeyTray Clock. Vacation, Personal leave and Hourly leave come checked; sick leave or a suspension, on the other hand, are entered by Human Resources.

The box Can be requested in the app

Approving or rejecting. Requests arrive at Attendance > Absences and leave with the From the app column checked and the status Pending. Select the request, type a note if needed and click Approve or Reject:

Requests made from the app

The employee sees the answer and the note in the app. While the request is pending, they can cancel it themselves; once answered, they cannot. Approved leave counts for attendance and payroll just like leave entered by Human Resources.

14.17 The payslip in the app and its acknowledgment

Video: The payslip in the app and its acknowledgment (English voice and subtitles).

When a payroll is approved, each employee sees their payslip in KeyTray Clock: it is the same PDF that Employee payslip generates in Run payroll. After reading it, they tap I received it and KeyTray records the date, the time, the device and the net pay shown at that moment.

In Run payroll, the Payslip received (app) column shows who has already signed it and when:

Who signed the payslip from the app

Why it matters: it is proof that the employee received their payslip, without paper. If a hand-signed payslip is needed, it is still printed as always.

14.18 Who can do what in Clock

Seeing the lists (sites, punches, devices) only requires the Attendance button. Each action, on the other hand, has its own access, which is granted in the role editor under the Attendance button:

Access Allows
KeyTray Clock: allow managing work sites and who punches at each Creating and changing sites and assigning employees.
KeyTray Clock: allow accepting or rejecting punches under review Accept and Reject in Punches to review.
KeyTray Clock: allow setting up employee phones Generate phone code.
KeyTray Clock: allow turning a device into a kiosk Generate kiosk code with its PIN.
KeyTray Clock: allow removing (revoking) phones and kiosks Remove device.
KeyTray Clock: allow approving or rejecting faces Approve face and Reject face.
KeyTray Clock: allow deleting face biometric data Delete biometric data.

The company owner has every access without anyone granting it. If someone tries an action without the access, KeyTray does not do it and tells them which access is missing.

15. CRM: leads, opportunities, quotes and after-sales

The CRM organizes the company's sales work: from the first contact with a possible customer to the sale and everything that happens after it. It works the same in every KeyTray application (commercial, cargo, services); in a cargo company it adds what is specific to freight: the route, rates per kilo and the shipment request.

This is the flow:

  1. A lead is a company that is not a customer yet. You enter its details and its contacts.
  2. Each call, email or meeting is logged as an activity, with its next step.
  3. When there is a concrete deal, you open an opportunity, which moves through the stages of the pipeline until it is won or lost.
  4. Prices come from the rates. With them you build the quote, send it as a PDF by email and, if the customer accepts it, invoice it with the regular sales invoice.
  5. Each invoice generates the salesperson's commission.
  6. After the sale, the customer's claims and questions are after-sales cases, with response deadlines (SLA).
  7. The dashboard shows everything together.

Everything is in the CRM tab of the ribbon, in three groups: Sales, After-sales and Setup. The CRM Explorer brings together the lists: My Day, Leads, Opportunities, Activities, Contacts, Quotes, Rates, Commissions and Cases.

The CRM tab of the ribbon

Who sees what: the company owner, managers and developers see every CRM record. Other users see only their own: the leads, opportunities, activities, quotes and cases where they are the Owner. The owner decides which CRM buttons each user sees in the role editor.

The screenshots in this chapter are from the sample company Cargo Masters (English).

15.1 Setting up the CRM

The owner or a manager sets it up once, in CRM > Pipelines & lists.

Pipelines. A pipeline is the list of stages a deal goes through. KeyTray comes with the Sales pipeline and eight stages: New, Contacted, Qualifying, Proposal, Negotiation, Won, Lost and On hold. You can rename, add or remove stages, and create more pipelines with New pipeline (for example, one for exports and another for imports). For each stage you define:

Pipelines and stages

Lists. The values you pick in the CRM screens are edited here: Lead sources, Activity channels, Lost reasons, Party roles, Discard reasons and Case categories. Choose the list at the top, rename values, add new ones or uncheck Active on those you no longer use.

CRM lists: activity channels

In the Lost reasons list each reason also has a Group: Price, Competitor, Customer handled it, Service or mode change, Postponed or no decision, Requirements changed, Not a real deal, Our capacity or service or Other. Each company can name its reasons as it likes; the group is what lets the dashboard show why quotes are lost.

Lost reasons with their group

Quotes. The Quotes page sets how KeyTray follows up sent quotes:

Quote settings

Email templates. A template is a ready-made email. The subject and the message can use variables that KeyTray replaces when you write the email: {{Company}} (the lead's or customer's company), {{Contact}} (the contact), {{Opportunity}}, {{User}} (the sender), {{UserEmail}} and {{MyCompany}} (your company).

An email template

Email accounts. The CRM sends emails from the company's mailboxes. They are set up in System Options > Emails, with Add:

Test sends a test email to the address you type.

Email accounts

Why it matters: passwords and secrets are stored encrypted and are never shown again: the field says it is already saved. To change it, type the new one.

15.2 Leads

Create a lead with CRM > New Lead. In General, fill in the Company name (the only required field), tax ID, email, phone, website, country and city. Below:

A lead

In Contacts, enter the people at that company, with job title, email, phone, WhatsApp and LinkedIn. Check Primary on the usual contact and Decision maker on whoever makes the decision.

The lead's contacts

Duplicates: when you save, KeyTray looks for the company among leads, customers and vendors, by name, tax ID and email. If it finds it, it shows the possible duplicates and asks whether to save anyway.

The actions are at the top of the record: Log activity, Send email, New opportunity, New quote, Convert and Discard. The Leads list in the CRM Explorer shows the status of each one (New, Working, Converted, Discarded), its open opportunities and its next activity:

The leads list

Convert into a customer. When the lead buys, click Convert. Choose the customer or vendor it becomes, or create it with the + button (the regular customer window). Its contacts, opportunities and activities move with it, and its history is still visible from the customer.

Converting the lead

Discard. If there is no deal, Discard asks for the reason (the Discard reasons list). A discarded lead can be Reopened.

15.3 Activities and My Day

Each call, email, WhatsApp or meeting is an activity. Log it with Log activity from the lead, the opportunity or the ribbon:

Logging an activity with its next step

Next step notice

The Activities page of the record shows the full history:

The lead's activities

My Day (in the ribbon and in the Explorer) brings together the activities scheduled for today and the overdue ones, across all leads and opportunities. It is the list a salesperson starts the day with. Complete logs the result of the selected activity.

My Day

Why it matters: a completed activity cannot be edited; if it was entered wrong, it is voided with a reason and the trace remains. That keeps the customer history reliable.

15.4 Sending emails from KeyTray

Send email (in the lead, the opportunity or the quote) opens the email window. Choose the account in From account and, optionally, a Template: KeyTray fills in the subject and the message with the lead's and the contact's details. The suggested recipient is the primary contact; Add recipient adds more.

Writing an email with a template

When you click Send, the email goes out from the company mailbox and is logged as an activity with the Email channel. If it could not be sent (for example, with no connection), it stays registered and KeyTray retries it automatically.

15.5 Opportunities and the pipeline

An opportunity is a concrete deal with a lead or a customer. Create it with New opportunity and fill in:

An opportunity in negotiation

To move the deal forward, change the Stage and save. Every change is kept in Stage history, with the date, amount, probability and user:

Stage history

When a deal is lost, choose the Lost stage: KeyTray asks for the Lost reason and lets you note the details and the competitor. Those reasons feed the lost-deals chart of the dashboard.

An opportunity lost on price

The Opportunities list in the Explorer shows the amount, weighted amount, stage and next activity of each one:

The opportunities list

In cargo: Parties records who else takes part in the deal (for example, the customs broker who brings the cargo when the owner of the goods is someone else), with their Role.

15.6 Rates

Rates are the sales price list. Quotes take their prices from here. Create them in the CRM Explorer > Rates > New; each rate has:

A rate

KeyTray picks the price like this: the one valid on the quote date and in its currency; first the customer's price and, if there is none, the general one; within the rate, the break for the quoted quantity. It never charges less than the minimum.

The rates

In a cargo company, a rate can also have a Mode (air, ocean, ground), an Origin and a Destination, a Carrier and a Container type. A surcharge (fuel, security) is another rate, for its own item, on the same route.

Why it matters: only the owner or a manager changes the rates. Salespeople quote with those prices and, when needed, change the price of a line in their quote.

15.7 Quotes

Create a quote with New quote from the ribbon, a lead or an opportunity. Fill in the Title, Quote date, Valid until (it comes with the company's default validity) and Currency, and enter the Lines with Add line: when you choose the item and the quantity, the price and the cost come from the rates. You can change the price and enter a Disc. %. Below you see the Sale, the Cost and the Margin.

A draft quote

In a cargo company there is also the Cargo and route block: mode, origin, destination, carrier, incoterm, pieces, weight, volume and containers. Rate it brings all the rates of that route at once. For air it charges the volumetric weight (the greater of the kilos and the m³ times 167).

Rate it: the rates of the route

PDF and email. PDF creates the quote with the company logo, ready to send. Email PDF opens the email window with the PDF attached and marks the quote as Sent.

The quote PDF

Accept. When the customer accepts, click Accept: the opportunity is marked as won with the quote amount. Only a customer's quote can be accepted: if it belongs to a lead, KeyTray asks you to convert it first.

In a cargo company, accepting also creates the Shipment request as a draft, with the customer and the cargo of the quote.

An accepted quote

Invoice. An accepted quote shows Invoice. It opens the regular sales invoice window with the customer and the lines of the quote. Review it, complete whatever is needed (taxes, numbering, electronic invoicing) and save: the invoice is linked to the quote and it cannot be invoiced twice.

The sales invoice prefilled with the quote lines

The invoice linked to the quote

Follow-up and "No response". A sent quote does not stay open forever. After the configured days, if the customer has not answered, the salesperson finds the Follow up quote activity in My Day. If the quote expires and the grace days go by with no answer, KeyTray closes it as No response. A quote with no response can no longer be edited or accepted: if the customer answers later, Reject it with the real reason or make a New version.

Reject. If the customer does not accept, Reject asks for the Reason and lets you record who you lost to: the Competitor and their Price, with the currency.

In a cargo company you also record the carrier the customer went with and the mode they changed to (for example, from ocean to air).

Why the quote was lost

A rejected quote shows the reason and who it was lost to in red, next to the status:

A quote lost to a competitor

New versions and history. To change a quote that was sent, rejected or got no response, click New version: a draft copy is created with the same number and the previous one becomes Superseded. The Versions page shows every version and, below, the Status history of the open one: each change with its date, who made it and the reason. What KeyTray does on its own shows as KeyTray (automatic).

Versions and status history

The Quotes list in the Explorer shows the number, version, status (Draft, Sent, Accepted, Rejected, No response, Void, Superseded, Expired), sale, cost, margin, loss reason and week:

The quotes list

15.8 Commissions

KeyTray calculates salespeople's commissions with the rules defined by the owner or a manager, in CRM > Pipelines & lists > Commissions. With New rule:

A commission rule on profit

Whose commission is it? For each invoice, the owner of the quote it came from. If it did not come from a quote, the owner of the customer in the Customer portfolio (lower on the same page), or the owner of the lead the customer came from.

Rules and customer portfolio

Calculate. In the CRM Explorer > Commissions, click Calculate and choose the period. KeyTray calculates one commission per invoice and tells you how many there are:

Calculating the commissions of the period

Calculated commissions

Then Approve the correct ones and, once they are paid, Mark as paid. Credit notes subtract.

Why it matters: recalculating never changes an approved or paid commission. If a rule changes later, it only affects commissions that are still calculated.

15.9 After-sales: cases and SLA

A case is a claim, request or question from a customer after the sale. Each case has deadlines: respond by one time and resolve by another. That is the SLA.

SLA policies. In CRM > Pipelines & lists > SLA policies, define the deadlines, in hours, by Category and Priority. If one of them is left empty, it applies to any; the most specific policy wins. Deadlines count calendar hours.

SLA policies

A case. Create it with CRM > New Case: the customer, Category, Priority, Subject, Reference (for example, the invoice or shipment number) and Owner. At the top, KeyTray shows the policy that applies and both deadlines, in green (On time), yellow (Due soon) or red (Breached).

A case with its deadlines

The buttons move the case forward: Take (in progress), Wait for customer, Resolve, Close case, Reopen and Void case. The first comment or the first status change counts as the first response. Everything is kept in History:

The history of a case

Alerts: if a deadline is breached, KeyTray sends an email and a phone notification to the case owner and the managers, once per deadline.

The Cases list in the Explorer shows the status and deadlines of each case:

The cases list

15.10 The dashboard

CRM > Dashboard shows the sales work of a period: new leads, conversion, open, won and lost opportunities, win rate, quotes sent and accepted, activities done, open cases and breached SLAs. Below, the open pipeline by stage and lost deals by reason.

The CRM dashboard

Further down, amounts by currency (pipeline, weighted, quoted, accepted and invoiced), activity by salesperson and commissions. The owner and managers can choose one salesperson or see everyone; other users see only their own numbers.

Amounts, activity and commissions

Why it matters: amounts are shown per currency: KeyTray never adds dollars to another currency.

The Quotes page of the dashboard measures how much you quote and how much you win. Choose the period, the salesperson and Group by week, month or quarter:

In a cargo company it adds routes and carriers, with won with change: accepted quotes whose shipment left with another carrier or through other ports.

The Quotes page of the dashboard

Each quote number counts once, with its status at the end of the period, so you can see how any past week stood. If the company chose it in the setup, managers and the owner also get the weekly summary with these numbers by email.

16. The accounting auditor

The accounting auditor reviews the company's books every day, without anyone asking, and tells you what is missing before you close. It uses the same checks as the Closing Workpaper (section 8.10), but instead of waiting for someone to open it:

  1. It shows on the dashboard what needs fixing, with the period it reviewed.
  2. On the Auditor screen, every finding comes with its fix: Revalue now, Mark as reviewed with the reason, See the documents to void a duplicate, or See in the Closing Workpaper.
  3. If you ask it to, it does not let the fiscal year close while a blocking check fails.
  4. A robot runs it once a day and e-mails you only when something new shows up, with a reminder on the 5th of every month.
  5. With KeyTray AI Model (optional) it explains each finding, proposes fixes and answers questions about the books.

The screenshots in this chapter come from the sample company Cargo Masters Paraguay.

16.1 What the auditor checks

The auditor runs the Closing Workpaper checks over the period reviewed: the oldest finished fiscal year that is still open or, if there is none, the current fiscal year up to the last day of the previous month. Each check comes out with one of three statuses:

Status What it means What the auditor does
Blocks the close An error that leaves the financial statements wrong. With the block on, it does not let the fiscal year close. It gets fixed; it is never marked as reviewed.
To review Something that may or may not be right: someone has to look at it. It gets fixed, or marked reviewed with the reason.
OK The check passed. It does not show.

The blocking checks are the ones that leave the balance sheet wrong: 1.1 and 1.2 (the books balance and every entry balances), 2.1 and 2.2 (the customer and vendor detail adds up to its account), 3.1 (opening balance plus movements gives the closing balance) and 4.1 (foreign currency is revalued at the closing rate). All the others are to review: manually keyed entries (3.3), foreign currency accounts that their type keeps out of the revaluation (4.2), the statutory form checks (5.x), documents voided and reissued (6.1), numbers repeated for the same customer or vendor (6.2) and twin documents on the same day (6.3).

Materiality: differences smaller than the materiality do not count. Without it, the auditor would flag rounding differences of a few cents and you would lose the afternoon. It is set in the next section.

16.2 Setting up the auditor

The settings are in My Company > Auditor. Only the company Owner (or a KeyTray developer) can change them; the other users see them greyed out.

My Company > Auditor

Click Save changes. Underneath you can see who made the last change and when.

Watch out: for the robot to send the notices, the company needs an e-mail account in System Options > Emails. If it has none, the screen says so in red.

16.3 The auditor on the dashboard

On the Operations tab of the dashboard, add the Accounting auditor widget. It shows the period reviewed and each finding with its amount: first the ones that block, in red, then the ones to review.

The Accounting auditor widget on the dashboard

The button in the widget header opens the Auditor screen.

16.4 The Auditor screen

At the top it shows the period reviewed and how many findings block the close, how many are to review and how many are marked as reviewed. Each finding is a card with a colour bar (red blocks, yellow to review, grey reviewed), the check, the amount and the explanation. The ones that appeared since the previous run carry the NEW label.

The Auditor screen

Buttons at the top: Refresh runs the checks again right away; Open the Closing Workpaper opens the full detail. On each card, See in the Closing Workpaper opens the Closing Workpaper on that check.

Who sees what: the screen is available to whoever has the widget on their dashboard. Marking a finding as reviewed requires access to the Closing Workpaper in the user's role.

16.5 Marking a finding as reviewed

A finding to review may be correct. For example, 4.2 warns that a dollar account has an account type that the revaluation wizard does not take; if that account is revalued with its own entry, it is fine. Click Mark as reviewed, write why it is correct and click Confirm:

The reason for the review

The card turns grey, with who marked it, when and the reason. The reason has to explain the finding to someone who was not there: KeyTray rejects a reason that is too short.

A finding marked as reviewed

A review holds as long as the figure does not change: if the amount of the finding moves, it comes back to review. Remove the review mark puts it back on the list. A blocking finding cannot be marked as reviewed: it gets fixed.

16.6 Revalue now: the missing closing revaluation (4.1)

4.1 blocks when there are accounts with a foreign currency balance and no closing revaluation was recorded on the last day of the period. The card shows the estimated adjustment at the reference rate. Click Revalue now: the revaluation wizard (section 8.4) opens with the closing date, the currency and the reference rate already filled in.

The revaluation wizard, preloaded by the auditor

Watch out: the reference rate comes from the documents of that day, not from the official rate. Before you click Generate entries, correct the buy and sell rates with those of the closing day. That click is the authorization: the auditor never records entries on its own.

Once the revaluation is recorded, 4.1 disappears from the next run.

16.7 Duplicate documents: see, open and void (6.2 and 6.3)

6.2 finds the same document number twice, live, for the same customer or vendor. 6.3 finds twin documents: same customer or vendor, same date, same amount and same type, under different numbers. They are often legitimate (two different shipments, for example), but this is where the invoice entered twice shows up.

Click See the documents. The card shows each group with the type, number, date, amount with its currency, the customer or vendor and the attachments. If you used Analyze with AI first (section 16.11), the row the AI says to void carries the AI: void this one mark.

The documents of each group, with Open and Void

Open shows the document in its window so you can compare. To void the duplicate, click Void on its row. The steps are the same as the Void button on that document's list:

  1. KeyTray asks you to confirm, with the number, date and amount:

    Confirm the void

  2. For a sale or a credit note it asks whether the void stays in the books (Yes: the document stays in the journal marked as voided; No: it is removed and the next document inherits its number). Answer according to your fiscal numbering.

  3. Type the reason. It is saved on the document as Auditor 6.3: …:

    The reason for the void

KeyTray voids the document, reverses its entry and runs the auditor again: if the group is left with a single document, it disappears.

The usual rules: voiding from the auditor goes through the same checks as from the list: if the month is closed (chapter 2), KeyTray does not void and says why; if you do not have the Void button of that list in your role, the button shows disabled. And the auditor never lets you void every document in a group: one always stays.

16.8 The fiscal year close, blocked

With Block the fiscal year close on (section 16.2), when you close a fiscal year in Fiscal Years (chapter 2) KeyTray runs the auditor over that fiscal year. If a blocking check fails, it does not close and explains why: the message names the Closing Workpaper checks that fail, with their detail.

Open the Auditor screen, fix what blocks and close again. Only the company Owner can turn the block off, in My Company > Auditor, and the change is recorded with their name.

16.9 The e-mail notices

The KeyTray robot runs the auditor once a day, from 6 in the morning, in every company with the auditor enabled. It e-mails the list in My Company > Auditor only when a new finding appears or one that was already there changes, plus a monthly reminder on the 5th with what is still pending. If there is nothing new, it does not write. My Company > Auditor shows the robot's last check and the last notice sent.

16.10 KeyTray AI Model: the terms and the monthly limit

KeyTray AI Model is optional. To use it, the company Owner accepts the KeyTray AI Model Terms of use in My Company > Auditor: click Read and accept the terms, read them (the button at the top switches the language), tick I have read these terms and I accept them on behalf of the company and click I accept.

The KeyTray AI Model terms

Then tick Use KeyTray AI Model, type the monthly limit in dollars and click Save AI settings. The box shows who accepted the terms and the usage for the month.

KeyTray AI Model on, with its limit

16.11 The AI on each finding and "Ask the auditor"

With the AI on, every card gets more buttons:

At the bottom of the screen, Ask the auditor answers questions about the company's books, with KeyTray's data: balances, aging, documents, accounts.

Ask the auditor

Watch out: the AI never records anything: it proposes, and a user decides. Read every result before using it, as you would read the work of a new assistant.

17. Dashboard and gadgets

The dashboard is KeyTray's home screen: a blank sheet where you place the numbers you want to see as soon as you sign in, without opening reports. Each number, chart or table you place on it is a gadget.

The Operations dashboard with four gadgets

The screenshots in this chapter come from the sample company Cargo Masters, with made-up data.

17.1 Opening the dashboard and who can see it

The dashboard is a fixed tab of the work area, at the top left, right below the ribbon: the one with a package icon (the one next to it, with a network icon, is the operations flow). The screens you open are added to its right; to go back to the dashboard, click that tab.

At the top of the dashboard is the blue bar:

The blue bar of the Freight Forwarding dashboard

Who can see it. The account owner sees every dashboard. Other users see the Operations and Freight Forwarding dashboards only if their role has the matching access, in the Dashboards group of the role editor. The Company and Security dashboards are seen only by the owner. If you switch tabs and the dashboard stays blank, with no buttons to add gadgets, your role does not have that access: ask your administrator for it.

17.2 Adding, moving, resizing and removing gadgets

Add. Click the gadget's + button on the blue bar. It appears at the top left of the dashboard, already showing its data. If you add several in a row, each one lands a little lower and to the right of the previous one, so all of them stay visible.

The full list (⋯). If the window is narrow, the buttons that do not fit on the bar are hidden. The ⋯ button always shows every gadget of the tab. Click one to add it. Next to each one there is Hide / Show: hiding removes the button from the blue bar (so the ones you do not use stay out of the way), but the gadget is still in this list and you can still add it. What you hide is saved per user and per tab.

The full list of gadgets, with Hide and Show

Move. Drag the gadget by its header (the blue strip with the title) and drop it wherever you want.

Resize. Click the gadget and drag the handles that appear on its edges and corners. The chart or table adjusts to the new size.

Remove. Click the × in the header. Removing a gadget does not delete any data: it only takes it off your dashboard. You can add it again whenever you want, although it comes back with its default settings.

Every change (add, move, resize, set up, remove) is saved on its own a moment later. The Save button on the bar does the same thing right away.

17.3 Setting up a gadget: the gear

Each gadget's header has three buttons:

Some gadgets also have a button of their own in the header: View table / View chart on the ones that have both views, Open the auditor on the accounting auditor, and Open detail on Monthly result and cash.

A gadget's settings

The settings show only the options that make sense for that gadget:

Giving a gadget your own name

The header shows your own name

To close the settings, click outside them. Changes apply and are saved immediately.

17.4 Freight Forwarding gadgets

They are on the Freight Forwarding tab's dashboard and read the cargo operations: pre-receptions, warehouse receipts, dispatches and shipments.

Pre-Reception history. How many pieces were scanned at pre-reception, day by day, in an area chart. Use it to see the pace at which cargo comes in. Option: Period (starts at the last 7 days).

Pre-Reception history

Top 7 carriers. The seven carriers that brought the most air waybills to pre-reception in the period, in columns. Option: Period (starts at the last 6 months).

Top 7 carriers

Flown kilos (year over year). One big number: this year's kilos to date, compared with the same period last year, with the percentage change (green if it went up, red if it went down). Options: Weight (Actual or Chargeable) and Source (Shipments, Dispatch to load or Warehouse): where the kilos are taken from.

Kilos by destination (YoY). A table with the ten destination airports with the most kilos this year, next to last year's kilos and the change. Option: Weight (Actual or Chargeable).

Monthly kilos (YoY). Paired columns: each month's kilos this year next to the same month last year. Options: Weight and Source, as in Flown kilos.

Received pieces (by period). How many pieces were received at the warehouse each day, week or month, depending on the length of the period. Option: Period (starts at the last 3 months).

Received pieces

Pieces by warehouse stage. Where the pieces that came in during the period are today: Received, On Hand, To Load, Loaded and Dispatched. Use it to see what is waiting to go out. Option: Period (starts at the last 6 months), which filters by the date the pieces came in.

Pieces by warehouse stage

Kilos per AWB. A table with one row per air waybill, grouped by consignee: pieces and kilos of each one. Options: Period (starts at This week) and Departure: Whole week, Weekend (Fri-Sat) or Thursday, to see only the waybills of that departure day.

Kilos per AWB, by consignee

17.5 Accounting gadgets (Operations and Company)

These twelve are on the Operations and Company dashboards. They read the accounting: customer and vendor balances, banks and checks. They are all money gadgets: their gear has Currency and Exchange rate.

Receivables aging and Payables aging. A donut with what customers owe you (AR) or what you owe vendors (AP), split by age: Current (not yet due) and what is 1-30, 31-60, 61-90 and +90 days overdue. The total goes in the middle; on the right, each bucket with its amount and percentage. It is the same calculation as the aging report.

Receivables aging

Payables aging

Overdue receivables and Overdue payables. One big number: the overdue total of customers or vendors, and what share of the total it is.

Overdue receivables

Top receivables and Top payables. The customers you have the most to collect from, or the vendors you owe the most. They start as a donut with the top ten and the rest under Others; with View table they become a list with each one's balance. In the gear you choose How many by name.

Top receivables

Checks in portfolio. The customer checks you are holding and have not deposited yet, in a donut by due date. With View table you see each check in its own currency, with the total per currency at the bottom. In the gear, Totals chooses between Total by currency and Grand total in one currency (with its exchange rate).

Bank balances. A table with the balance of each bank and cash account, each in its own currency, as of the date. At the bottom, the totals per currency or a grand total in one currency (Totals option). Under Accounts shown you untick the accounts you do not want to see (a petty cash box, for example): they leave the table and the total.

Bank balances

Accounting auditor. The closing checks that are not right in the fiscal year under review: in red the ones that block the close, in amber the ones to review. The Open the auditor button takes you to the auditor screen, where each finding has its fix. See chapter 16, The accounting auditor.

The accounting auditor on the dashboard

AR - Accounts receivable and AP - Accounts payable. The total owed to you (or by you) net of advances and credit notes, with a bar split into Overdue and Not yet due, the number of customers or vendors, and the trend against the end of last month.

Accounts receivable: the total, overdue and not yet due

Financial Position. How much money you would have if you collected everything and paid everything today: it starts from Banks, adds Overdue receivables, Receivables not yet due and Checks in portfolio, subtracts Overdue payables, Payables not yet due and Issued checks not yet cashed, and ends at the Net position. It shows as a waterfall or, with View table, just the numbers. In the gear, Position date calculates it at another date; empty (or with Use today) it is always today.

Financial position

17.6 Operations analysis gadgets

These three are only on the Operations dashboard. They show the company's results and cash.

Cash flow. The summarized cash flow statement of the period: the cash and bank balance it started with, how much each activity (operating, investing and financing) brought in, and the balance it ends with, with the control line against the ledger. It starts as a table; with View chart it becomes columns. Options: Period (starts at This year), Method (Direct method or Indirect method) and the Exclude prior period adjustments box (ticked, as in the report: those entries correct the starting point, they are not movement of the period). Accounts are classified as in section 8.9, Cash flow: assigning accounts.

Cash flow

Monthly result and cash. Two bars per month: the net result (the month's profit or loss) and the net cash flow (how much cash went up or down). Bars for a loss or for cash going down hang below zero. Under the chart, the change of the last month against the previous one, for the result and for the cash; the line is green if the net result improved and red if it got worse. With View table you see the numbers of each month. The Open detail button opens the Monthly income statement grid with every account, month by month (section 10.6).

Gear options:

Monthly result and cash

Profit bridge. Why the year's profit changed since the last time you looked at it. It starts from the Previous profit (the one on that day) and reaches the Current profit, separating two things that always get mixed up:

The gadget keeps the comparison date itself: it is the last day before today on which you opened it (the first time, yesterday). If there are Sales without cost (sales whose cost has not arrived yet), it warns you; with the Estimate the missing cost box it also shows the Profit with estimated cost. The Exclude the year-end closing entry box comes ticked, so the bridge does not show zero on closing day.

Profit bridge

17.7 Security gadgets

They are on the Security tab's dashboard, which only the account owner sees. They show the company's users and their KeyTray certification.

Certification progress. The percentage of mandatory modules already passed by the active users, with a bar split into Approved and Pending.

Certification by user. A donut with how many users are Certified, In progress and Not started. With View table, the list of each user with their modules passed out of those required, the furthest behind first.

Users by type. How many active users the company has of each type (internal, customers, vendors...), in a donut with the total in the middle or in a table with each type's percentage.

Appendix A: Glossary

Accounting terms

Term Meaning
Accounting equation Assets = Liabilities + Equity. Every entry keeps it true.
Accounts payable (AP) Money you owe vendors for bills not yet paid. A liability.
Accounts receivable (AR) Money customers owe you for invoices not yet collected. An asset.
Asset Something the company owns or is owed: cash, receivables, equipment.
Balance Sheet Report showing assets, liabilities and equity on a specific date.
Base currency The currency the books are kept in. USD for Cargo Masters USA.
Bill A document from a vendor asking you to pay.
Chart of accounts The list of all accounts the company uses.
COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) Direct costs of delivering what you sold: airline freight, trucking, outside broker fees for a shipment.
Credit The right-hand column of an entry. Increases liabilities, equity and income.
Credit note / credit memo A document that reduces what a customer owes you (customer credit note) or what you owe a vendor (vendor credit note).
Debit The left-hand column of an entry. Increases assets and expenses.
Default account An account KeyTray uses automatically, such as the default accounts receivable.
Depreciation Spreading the cost of a fixed asset over its useful life.
Double entry Every transaction touches at least two accounts, with equal debits and credits.
Due date The date a payment must be made, calculated from the payment term.
Equity The owners' part of the company: capital plus retained profits.
Exchange rate How many units of base currency one unit of foreign currency is worth (1 EUR = 1.17 USD).
Expense (operating) Cost of running the business not tied to a specific sale: rent, utilities, office supplies.
Fiscal year The 12-month accounting year.
Fixed asset Equipment or property used for more than a year: forklifts, trucks, computers.
Foreign exchange gain / loss The difference caused by exchange-rate changes between the date of a document and the date it is paid. Posted to Other Income / Other Expense.
General Ledger The record of all movements and balances by account.
Gross profit Income minus Cost of Goods Sold.
Income (revenue) What you earn from selling your services.
Income Statement (P&L) Report of income, costs and expenses over a period, showing profit or loss.
Journal entry A manual accounting entry with debits and credits.
Liability Something the company owes: vendor bills, sales tax payable, loans.
Net profit Gross profit minus operating and other expenses.
Normal balance The side (debit or credit) that increases an account.
Payment term The agreed time to pay, such as Net 30 Days.
Period (accounting period) One month of the fiscal year; it can be Open, Restricted or Closed.
Principle of least privilege Give each user only the access their job requires.
Reclassification A journal entry that moves an amount from a wrong account to the right one.
Sales tax A state and local tax collected from customers on taxable sales and paid to the state.
Sales tax payable The liability account holding sales tax collected and not yet paid to the state.
Tax group A set of tax codes chosen on a document: Taxable, Exempt, Out of State.
Undeposited funds A cash account for payments received but not yet deposited in the bank.
Vendor A supplier that bills you.
Void Cancel a document so that it no longer affects the accounts, keeping it on record.

Freight terms

Term Meaning
Actual weight The real weight of the cargo on the scale.
Agent (Freight Agency) Partner forwarder at the other end of the shipment.
AWB (Air Waybill) The transport document of an air shipment.
AWB stock A block of AWB numbers an airline assigns to a forwarder.
Carrier The company that physically transports the cargo: airline, shipping line, trucker.
Chargeable weight The weight used to bill freight: the greater of actual and volumetric weight.
Check digit The last digit of an AWB number: the serial number modulo 7.
Collect Charges paid at destination, normally by the consignee.
Commodity A line of cargo in a warehouse receipt: package type, pieces, dimensions, weight, description.
Consignee The party that receives the cargo at destination.
Consolidated shipment Several houses traveling under one master waybill.
Destination agent The agent that handles the cargo at the destination.
Dispatch Operation that records cargo leaving (or prepared to leave) the warehouse.
EEI / AES Electronic Export Information filed through the Automated Export System for US exports.
HAWB (House Air Waybill) The waybill the forwarder issues to its client.
IATA prefix The 3-digit airline code at the start of every AWB number.
ITN Internal Transaction Number returned when EEI is filed.
Liquidation (settlement) Turning a shipment's charges into invoices and bills.
MAWB (Master Air Waybill) The waybill the airline issues to the forwarder for the consolidation.
POA (Power of Attorney) Authorization for the forwarder to act on behalf of the shipper or importer.
Pre-reception First registration of arriving packages, usually by scanning tracking numbers.
Prepaid Charges paid at origin.
Repacking Combining pieces into a new package, such as boxes on a pallet.
SCAC Standard Carrier Alpha Code identifying a carrier.
SHC Special Handling Codes on an air waybill.
Shipper The party that sends the cargo.
USPPI US Principal Party in Interest — the party that benefits from a US export.
Volumetric (dimensional) weight A weight calculated from volume, used when cargo is bulky.
Warehouse Receipt (WR) The official record that cargo was received in the warehouse.

Appendix B: Known issues found while writing this manual

While preparing this manual we found the following issues that were still open or under review at the time of writing. They may already be solved in your version. Where possible, we give you a way to work around them.

# Where What happens What to do meanwhile
1 Vendor and Shipper forms The Representative you type may be stored as the company's legal name. (Under review.) After saving, check the legal name shown on printed documents and correct it if needed.
2 Vendor and Shipper forms If you type the EIN / Tax ID right after the Representative, the first character may be lost because the cursor jumps to Category. (Under review.) Click inside EIN / Tax ID before typing, and check the number before saving.
3 Currency list Delete does nothing. Edit opens with the currency and the rates grid empty; pressing Accept there can fail. Do not use Edit or Delete on currencies for now; close the window with Close. Contact support if a currency must be changed or removed.
4 Currency list Account names can show an extra suffix, such as Foreign exchange gain___168. Cosmetic only; the right account is used.
5 Periods Manager > reopening a month The reason box is labelled Void Reason instead of a reopening reason. Type the reason for reopening anyway; it is saved in Period history.
6 Sale Tax Manager > editing a tax code The Tax Agency name you type may not be saved. (Under review.) After saving, reopen the tax code and check the field.
7 New currency and foreign-currency documents The exchange rate entered when creating a currency is not picked up by documents, which show 0.00 in Exchange Rate. Type the exchange rate on each document, bank account or journal entry in a foreign currency before saving.
8 Open invoices and bills Clicking Close on a document with data closes it without asking whether to discard the changes. Always click a Save button before closing.
10 Receive Payments / Pay Bills grid The footer can show the document total under Paid so far and 0.00 under Credit to be applied even when a credit is applied. Trust the values on each document line (Credit to be Applied, Payment, Total line).
11 Credit notes > Source invoice The date next to the invoice number is shown as day/month/year (for example 13/09/2026) instead of the US format. Read the date carefully; the stored date is correct.
12 Operation List Explorer The button is spelled Transfered Funds. Cosmetic only.
13 Security > New Role Save & Close saves the role but does not close the tab or show a confirmation. Click only once; close the tab yourself and confirm the role exists in Security > List Explorer.
14 Repacking and Dispatch > piece selection (also shipment loading) Some rows show weight 0 even though the real weight is stored correctly. Check weights in the warehouse receipt or in the shipment's Waybill Metrics.
15 Dispatch The Notes are lost if you move to another section before saving. Type the notes last, just before saving.
16 Shipment > Commodities tree The tree can show the wrong shipper for a piece (for example, a trucking vendor). Rely on Shipment Participants on the house for the real shipper.
17 Warehouse window Some checkboxes are partly covered by the buttons at the bottom of the window. Enlarge the window if your screen allows it, and check the boxes before saving.
18 Operations > Write Check, Credit Card charge These two buttons show a message that the function is not available yet. (Transfer Funds and Cash in Advanced Payment open normally.) Pay vendors by check from Pay Bills (section 5.6); record credit card charges with a Journal Entry (chapter 4).
19 Operations > New Quote, New Sales Order, New Purchase Order, New Receive Inventory KeyTray shows This function is not available yet. Issue the invoice or the bill directly (sections 5.1 and 5.2).
20 Reports > Customers and Vendors Received Payment Report, Open Invoices List, Customer Transaction History, Open Vendor Bills and Vendor Payments show Report unavailable; Pre-Reception Summary and Repacking Report too. Use the Customer / Vendor Register (section 8.3), the agings (10.3) and the Operation List Explorer (5.7).
21 Customer and Vendor Statement A new company has no statement template, so View PDF and Attach to email show Template missed. Ask support to install the statement template for your company; meanwhile send the A/R Aging Detail (10.3).
22 Batch write-off (section 8.8) The write-off can fail in new companies because some accounts are not yet classified for cash-basis reporting. (Under review.) Write off a single document from Receive Payments with the write-off payment method, or ask support.
23 Cash Flow Statement, direct method The exchange gain of a bank account revaluation is added to Collections from customers instead of Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, and amounts show without decimals. (Under review.) The control line at the bottom is still correct; move the revaluation amount mentally from collections to the exchange-rate line.
24 Reports > Inventory and Reports > Jobs/Projects The inventory valuation reports and the job profit reports end with an error. (Under review.) Use the General Ledger (10.2) filtered by the inventory or job accounts.
25 Depreciation Manager The panel texts appear in Spanish in an English session. Fixed on 2026-09-23: the screen is fully bilingual. The layout is the one described in section 8.11.
26 Report option windows (Sales by Customer, Sales by Item) The customer, item and packing boxes extend past the right edge of the window. Type in the visible part of the box; the selection works normally.