Principal accounts: foreign currency and the owner portal

For a shipowner, an agent is not a one-off supplier but a running account that lasts months. This article, on the owner-facing side of ship agency software, covers how to keep an owner’s foreign-currency ledger accurate, and how the owner follows their own calls, statement and documents through a portal.

Why an owner’s account is different

A relationship with an owner does not end with one invoice: the same owner may call at the same port dozens of times in a year, each call producing its own DA, all of it accumulating on the same ledger. The account runs in EUR or USD; every movement needs its own exchange-rate stamp, and the balance needs to show both the foreign-currency figure and its TRY equivalent. Otherwise the answer to “how much does the owner owe us” changes depending on which call’s exchange rate you look at, and stops being reliable.

If the same owner runs more than one vessel, every vessel’s calls accumulate on that one owner account but should still be traceable back to their own vessel — a single vessel’s balance and the owner’s total across the whole fleet both need to be answerable on their own. The same rule that keeps a ledger entry from being hard-deleted, requiring a correction to be added as a new, traceable entry instead, applies here too: a closed call’s account does not change quietly.

A question that goes by email becomes an answer that comes from a portal

Forever’s own daily-used agency portal shows owners expect to follow their jobs, statements and invoice PDFs from a portal. When an owner does not have to email “where is the final DA for that call”, fewer questions reach the agent and payment comes faster. A portal also means an owner only ever sees their own vessel’s records — another owner’s call or account never appears, and no other agent’s records at the same port ever surface either.

The statement and aging

The statement an owner sees in the portal should list every call’s DA in date order, showing which lines are paid and which balance is still open. An overdue balance should show with its aging — how many days it has been outstanding — so that when payment comes up, “who owes how much” has a ready answer on one screen.

Matching a wire transfer

A EUR wire transfer from the owner shows up as a single line on a bank statement, but it usually settles more than one open DA at once. Which calls it settles, and for how much, needs matching line by line; partial and split allocation should be allowed, with the remaining balance recalculated after every match. In a hand-kept spreadsheet this matching is usually left until month end, and which call actually got paid gets forgotten; as long as the account stays attached to the call file, this matching can happen the same day instead.

Example

An owner’s two vessels call at the same agent in the same month: one at Aliağa, one at İzmit. The first call’s final DA closes at EUR 2,600, the second at EUR 1,850. Logging into the portal, the owner sees a total balance of EUR 4,450; they make a partial payment against the first DA, and the portal updates to show the remaining EUR 2,600 balance and the payment date.

The portal is read-only

In the portal, the owner sees their own account, statement and documents but cannot change or delete a line — that stays on the agent’s side alone. A notification when a new final DA is published, or when a balance’s due date is approaching, means the owner does not have to log in and check every day; checking when the notification arrives is enough. That split also gives both sides the assurance that the account cannot be changed unilaterally.

How it works in Rotenta

1. Each owner is set up with their own ledger account in the Accounting module; the account currency is set to EUR or USD.
2. When a call’s final DA closes, it posts to that owner’s account with its exchange-rate stamp; the balance shows in both the foreign currency and its TRY equivalent.
3. The owner logs into their own account through the Customer Portal; they only see their own vessels’ calls and statement.
4. The statement links each call’s line to its DA PDF and shows which parts are paid or still open; overdue lines are flagged with their aging.
5. When the owner makes a payment, it posts to the ledger and the portal balance updates the same day.

See which cost lines make up this account in disbursement accounts, and how the linked documents come out bilingual in bilingual documents.

Frequently asked questions

What currency is the owner’s account kept in?

It runs in whatever currency was agreed with the owner, usually EUR or USD; every movement is stamped with that day’s rate and the balance shows with its TRY equivalent.

Can an owner see another owner’s records?

No; the portal only ever routes an owner to their own account and their own vessels’ calls — no other record is visible.

How is an overdue balance tracked?

The statement flags it with its aging, showing how many days it has been outstanding; this backs a payment reminder or a conversation about it.

Does the owner also download documents from the portal?

Yes; each call’s DA and any other required documents can be downloaded as a PDF from the portal, without waiting on an email.

Is the portal an extra cost?

The portal comes as part of the plan; see the pricing page for details or get in touch.