Run an export business on Finocket

An exporter's money has three clocks: the shipping bill that proves the goods left, the foreign remittance that proves the money came back, and the incentive claim that is still owed to you. Finocket keeps all three next to the invoice, in the same books as everything else you sell.

Switch it on

These screens sit behind the wholesale exporters pack. Until it is switched on for your workspace, Outstanding looks exactly as it did before and the shipping-bill register does not exist.

Register the shipping bill

Open Shipping bills and register each bill: its number, its date, the port code, the FOB value and the currency. A bill is unique by port, number and date, so typing the same one twice is refused rather than doubled. The form opens on those five; the Customs clearance and Export invoice sections open by themselves once they hold something. You can also fill in the LEO date and Scroll status now, or later with Edit bill. A bill entered by mistake is not deleted: Cancel bill keeps it in the register struck out, with no deadline running on it, and Restore bill brings it back.

If the invoice is already in Finocket, open Export invoice and pick it under Export invoice (optional) when you register the bill. The list offers both your export invoices and your ordinary tax invoices, and labels each one Export invoice or Invoice, so you can tell them apart. The bill then shows that invoice's number, and the register knows which buyer and which sale it belongs to. You can leave it at No invoice linked, register the bill first and link the invoice later with Edit bill.

The Export realisation card on Outstanding lists open invoices whose document type is export invoice. A tax invoice linked to a bill shows on the bill, but not on that card.

Correct a bill: LEO date and scroll status

On a bill that is not cancelled, Edit bill opens every field with its current value: the shipping bill number and date, the port code, the FOB value, the currency, the linked invoice, the LEO date (the let export order date customs gave) and the Scroll status, a short note in your own words of where the bill stands in the customs scroll for drawback or RoDTEP. Tap Save changes, or Close to leave it.

• The LEO date cannot be before the shipping bill date. The form refuses it with The LEO date cannot be before the shipping bill date.
• Saving with nothing changed is refused with Nothing has changed.
• Changing the shipping bill date moves the date to realise by, because the rule is read on that date.

Record the money that came back

Against a bill, record each foreign inward remittance: the IRM number, its date and the amount. A receipt starts as Proposed; only once you Confirm the match does it count towards the bill. A bill is shown as realised when the confirmed receipts reach its FOB value. Rejected receipts count for nothing and stay on the record.

eBRC status and correcting an amount

Every receipt that is not rejected shows its eBRC status: Not started, Prepared or Self-certified. Move it with the select beside the receipt as your eBRC progresses on the DGFT side. It is a note for you: Finocket does not prepare, file or fetch an eBRC.

If an amount was typed wrong, tap Correct amount on the receipt, enter the right Amount received in rupees or the invoice currency, and tap Save amount.

Where the deadline comes from

The date to realise by is never a constant in the code. It is the period in the RBI rule in force on the shipping bill date, counted from that date, with the rupee rule used when the export is invoiced or settled in rupees. If you hold an extension letter from your bank, the workspace owner can record an override with the reason, and it is shown beside the RBI rule it replaces. Where no rule is in force the row says rule pending and shows no date, because a made-up date is worse than none. The rule rows are taken from the RBI texts and have not yet been signed off by counsel, so confirm a period you are about to rely on with your authorised dealer bank or your CA.

RoDTEP and duty drawback

On Outstanding, the incentive card lets you record what you claimed per shipping bill and mark it received, and ages what is still owed. You type the amounts; Finocket does not know, show or compute a notified rate.

Shipping bill details on the invoice

The export invoice form has the pack's Shipping bill no. and Shipping bill date fields. Fill them in on the invoice: the exports rows of GSTR-1 report the shipping bill number and date from them, and the Export realisation card counts the deadline from that shipping bill date (from the invoice date when it is blank, and the row says so). To correct either, edit the invoice. These fields are separate from the register on Shipping bills, so keep the two the same.

ITC-HS codes on your export invoice

Fill in the ITC-HS code field on each item you export, an item field that comes with the wholesale exporters pack. When an export invoice is printed with the Export & commercial template, its HS column prints each item's ITC-HS code, and the item's HSN when it has none. Every other template, and an ordinary tax invoice even on that template, prints the HSN. See document templates to choose the template.

What prints in the Shipment block

On a workspace set up with the wholesale exporters pack, the Export & commercial template prints a Shipment block with what you typed on the invoice: INCOTERM, IEC, port of loading, port of discharge, country of origin, packages, gross weight, bill of lading no., vessel or flight no. and container no.; each line also prints its Marks & nos.. The shipping bill, the FIRC or FIRA reference, the export incentive and the settlement currency stay on the record and are not printed unless you switch them on. You choose what prints on Fields in your profile: a field you have switched off stays off, and a workspace that set the pack up earlier can switch these on there.

Who can change the register

The owner, admins and assistants can register and edit bills, record receipts, set eBRC status and add incentive claims. A team member who can only view sees the register, the receipts and the claims, under the workspace's read-only banner, and none of the buttons or forms that would be refused.

What your buyer sees on the portal

When you share a buyer's portal link, it shows a Your shipments section: each shipping bill linked to one of that buyer's invoices, with three milestones, Invoice issued, Shipping bill filed and Cleared customs (let export order), each with its date. The last one says Not yet until you record the LEO date on the bill, so recording it is what moves your buyer's view. A cancelled bill, or one with no invoice linked, does not show. The section has no documents to download and sends the buyer nothing; vessel and delivery tracking are not shown. Until the shipping-bill register is set up on your workspace, the section does not appear at all.

If you title your estimates Proforma Invoice under Document titles on the template customiser, the buyer sees that title on the portal's approval list and on the estimate page they accept it from.

What this does not do

It files nothing with DGFT, ICEGATE or your bank, and it stores no credential for any of them. It is the register you reconcile against. An export invoice cannot get an e-invoice IRN from Finocket yet: the IRN Finocket generates is for a B2B supply only (see e-invoicing and e-way bills).