Mediterranean Product Files: Reconcile Split Sales

Overview

The reconciliation is a commercial control, not a technical measurement procedure. It should preserve the authorised quantity information and identify unexplained differences without inventing a physical cause or a legal conclusion about ownership.

Key takeaways

• Maintain one defined source quantity and separate records for each commercial allocation.
• Distinguish sold, delivered and unallocated quantities according to their actual status.
• Reconcile units and bases before adding or subtracting figures.
• Keep internal cost allocation separate from counterparty payment obligations.
• Carry the remaining balance into the handover instead of treating partial completion as full closure.

Define the commercial quantity map

Identify the actual source parcel and the quantity basis used for the reconciliation. Each subsequent sale or delivery should retain a clear connection to that source without losing its own commercial terms.

Use distinct identifiers for the source cargo and the individual allocations. A buyer name alone may be insufficient where the same buyer takes more than one parcel or revises an order. The purpose is to make the quantity relationship understandable, not to impose a particular software format.

The map should show the status of each allocation. A proposed sale, an agreed sale and a completed delivery are different states. Do not combine them into one completed total merely because each appears somewhere in the document pack.

Where a quantity remains unassigned, preserve it as a visible balance. An unallocated balance is not automatically a physical shortage or an available saleable stock figure. Its actual commercial and physical status needs the appropriate supporting information.

Reconcile the basis before the balance

The source and allocation figures need compatible units and definitions for arithmetic reconciliation. A mass quantity cannot be subtracted directly from a volume figure, and a provisional commercial estimate should not silently replace an issued source quantity.

Obtain an appropriate authorised conversion where one is required. Preserve the original expressions and explain the purpose of the internal common basis. Do not use a generic factor merely to make the reconciliation reach a neat result.

The dates and statuses also matter. A source quantity may have been revised after early allocations were made. The handover should show which allocations need review rather than applying an automatic proportional correction to every buyer.

If the figures do not reconcile, state the exact difference and the documents involved. Ask for the information needed to resolve it. Do not label the difference as loss, duplication or error until the relevant evidence supports that conclusion.

Calculate a simple allocation bridge

The following example concerns fictional commercial allocations on an explicitly common tonne basis. It does not represent measured inventory, physical loss accounting or a current cargo.

ILLUSTRATIVE: A source parcel is recorded as 12,000 tonnes for this internal example. Buyer A has an agreed allocation of 5,000 tonnes and Buyer B has 4,000 tonnes. The remaining unallocated commercial balance is 3,000 tonnes: 12,000 less 5,000 less 4,000.

Assume a fixed transport amount of $240,000 is allocated internally in proportion to this source quantity. The internal allocation rate is $20 per tonne. A receives $100,000 of allocated cost, B receives $80,000 and the unallocated balance retains $60,000. These amounts sum to $240,000.

If the desk reports only the $180,000 allocated to the two buyers, it omits $60,000 of the fixed transport amount from the complete cargo view. The remaining cost has not disappeared merely because the remaining quantity has not yet been assigned to a buyer.

The example does not establish that proportional allocation is the correct method for every transaction. It shows the need to retain the whole-cargo reconciliation whatever internal method is selected. Allocation changes who bears a cost in the model, not the total amount incurred.

Keep sale status separate from delivery status

An agreed buyer allocation can exist before delivery. A completed delivery can require further settlement work. The handover should not use one status label to describe both the physical milestone and the commercial calculation.

For each parcel, identify the relevant delivery evidence and the remaining commercial action. That may include a provisional value, an outstanding authorised quantity or an agreed adjustment not yet calculated. Link the action to the specific allocation rather than leaving a general open item against the whole cargo.

If a buyer changes its quantity, show the effect on the remaining balance and any other affected commitment. Do not simply overwrite the original allocation without explaining whether the difference returns to the unallocated balance, is reassigned or requires another commercial resolution.

Where ownership, title or delivery obligations are at issue, check the current text and obtain the appropriate review. The internal quantity map is evidence preparation, not a substitute for the applicable agreements.

A split-cargo handover table

The table should be concise enough for the receiving team to identify what remains to be done. Supporting documents can remain separate, provided the link to the relevant parcel and calculation is clear.

Explain the commercial result at both levels

Report the contribution of each completed or agreed sale using its actual commercial basis, then reconcile those results to the whole cargo. The remaining balance may still carry purchase and transport commitments that have not been matched to sales value.

Avoid reporting only successful parcel sales while omitting the unassigned portion. That can make the cargo appear more profitable than the complete position supports. Equally, do not allocate every unresolved cost to one buyer merely to close the source balance without explaining the method.

If a later sale is expected, show it as an expected proposition until its terms are agreed. A forecast can help planning, but it should not be confused with completed revenue or an available payment.

The whole-cargo view is particularly useful when the desk decides whether to accept a lower value for the remaining parcel. That forward decision needs the actual remaining alternatives, while management also needs to understand the complete cargo result.

Fictional case: the balance vanishes from the summary

A fictional Mediterranean trader completes two sales from a larger product parcel. The settlement handover contains both buyer files and their allocated transport costs. The summary describes the cargo as complete because the two invoices have been issued.

A source reconciliation reveals an unassigned quantity balance and a corresponding share of the fixed transport commitment absent from the summary. Neither has been resolved by issuing the two invoices.

The corrected handover adds the remaining commercial position, its supporting quantity basis and the next decision needed. The completed buyer files stay intact, while the whole-cargo result now shows what remains open. The team avoids treating partial commercial completion as closure of the entire parcel.

Common mistakes

Adding incompatible quantity bases creates a meaningless balance. Treating an agreed sale as completed delivery hides remaining work. Another error is allowing costs attached to an unallocated balance to disappear from the cargo result. Finally, do not infer physical loss or ownership from an unexplained internal difference; obtain the relevant authorised evidence and review.

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