Ground handling invoice reconciliation that ties every handler line to its turn, its rate and its approval before a dollar is paid
Every handler line tied to its turn, its rate and its approval before a dollar is paid.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Ground handling invoice reconciliation is the airline's check that every line a ground handler bills was performed, is billable under the station's Standard Ground Handling Agreement (SGHA) Annex B and is priced at the rate in force that day, before the invoice is paid. Ground Handling Invoice Reconciliation adds seven agents that read every invoice in any format, stitch each line to its turn record, Annex B rate and ad hoc approval, and draft the short-pay for the cost controller to confirm and sign.
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An airline pays a ground handler at every station it does not self-handle, each under its own SGHA Annex B rate card. Handlers bill monthly through IATA SIS as IS-XML, or as a PDF, a spreadsheet, an EDI file or a scan. Turn charges are predictable; ad hoc work — ground power, extra ramp agents, tows, delay standby — arrives on paper service records signed days late or not at all. To check a line, the cost controller has to pull the turn record, the cancellations, the delay codes, the Annex B in force on the service date and the station's request. With thousands of lines a month, finance samples about a tenth and pays the rest.
In ground handling charges, what slips through is what nobody had time to prove: a turn for a flight that never operated, the same turn billed twice, a new rate applied before its amendment took effect, delay standby on a delay the handler caused, extra agents no one requested — and the hardest one, a ground power unit billed on a turn that ran on the aircraft's own APU. "I can't prove a GPU wasn't plugged in, so I pay it."
Estimated split for one monthly handler invoice of several hundred lines, by hand with sampling and with the solution checking every line.
Seven agents stitch every line to its proof, check each other and draft the short-pay; the cost controller confirms line by line and signs.
Corvane Airways contracts handlers at 118 stations under 64 agreements. SkyRamp Services' September invoice for Denver — SRS-DEN-260930, $412,880.00, 678 lines, received through IATA SIS on Oct 3 with 41 scanned ad hoc service records, due Nov 2. Here is what happens next, in the working solution.
Megan's Today screen shows 198 of 212 September invoices checked on every line — 186,400 lines — and $468,210.00 without proof across the network, 1.48% of $31.62M billed. The agents also found $7,940.00 the handlers forgot to bill, and listed it. The biggest item is SkyRamp at DEN: 119 lines hang loose, and the Verifier agrees on 118.
“Good morning, Megan. The most valuable thing today is SkyRamp's DEN invoice: $18,640.00 with no matching turn or approval. Want me to open it?”
The invoice opens as plain lines grouped by service. Each one is tied by a thread to its turn record, the Annex B rate of the day and, for ad hoc work, its signed record. 559 lines, $394,240.00, are stitched. The loose ones are greyed: 46 ground power lines ($9,200), 62 A321neo turns at the new rate ($2,790), 5 delay standby ($2,725), 4 extra-agent shifts ($1,520) and 2 turn handling lines ($2,405).
“I drafted a short-pay with a reason on each of the 119 lines. You decide; the letter only carries lines you confirm.”
The Invoice reader read 678 lines from IATA SIS and 41 scanned records at 99.4% confidence. The Turn matcher tied each line to one of 296 operated turns and found 1 canceled flight and 1 duplicate. The Rate checker priced every line from the Annex B of its service date: Amendment 3 takes effect Sep 15, and 62 lines used the new rate too early. The Ad hoc approval finder found 4 extra-agent shifts with no request and asked the station.
“Nothing is withheld or sent until a person confirms. Every finding cites its source.”
Line 0412 bills 2 × 30 minutes of ground power, $200.00. The turn timeline shows the aircraft at gate B31 for 49 minutes, the APU running 13:54–14:51, the gate meter reading 0.0 kWh and GPU on and off left blank on SkyRamp's turn log. The same pattern shows on 45 other turns at gates B29–B35, all with fixed power. Megan confirms all 46 GPU lines in one tap.
Verifier, on its own: “A GPU can run while the APU runs, so the APU alone would not prove it; the blank turn log and 0.0 kWh together do.”
Five delay standby lines were drafted as handler-caused. The Verifier re-derived each one from the records without seeing the first working, and disagrees on one: CV 1290 on Sep 25 was coded 41, aircraft defect — Corvane's own cause — for 72 minutes, and Annex B item 11 makes that billable. Both workings sit side by side. Megan keeps paying the $545.00 and confirms the other four.
“CV 1290 was coded 41, aircraft defect — Corvane's own cause, 72 minutes. Item 11 makes it billable. I would pay $545.00.”
Annex B pays extra ramp agents only on the station's written request. The service records say “per station call”, so the agent asked Tom one question. He answers yes and attaches his email of Sep 22, 04:52 asking for 2 agents. Lines 0502 and 0503 are stitched to his email and $760.00 will be paid. Sep 8 has no request and the Corvane signature is blank, so those two shifts stay on the short-pay.
“Did DEN request 2 extra ramp agents for the 05:30–09:30 bank on Sep 22?”
Short-pay letter SP-DEN-2609 withholds $17,335.00 on 116 lines and pays $395,545.00 by Nov 2, under item 14 of Annex B. Each group carries its clause and examples: ground power billed where no GPU was connected (item 7), a flight canceled more than 2 hours before arrival (item 1.4), a turn billed twice, the A321neo rate before Amendment 3 took effect, delay standby not caused by Corvane (item 11) and extra agents without a written request (item 9). The two lavatory and water services SkyRamp did not bill, $180.00, are listed and not claimed.
Not in this letter: “Every loose line is decided.” Paid after review: CV 1290, and lines 0502 and 0503 with proof attached.
Megan signs with the reason code “Not supported by turn record or approval” and the statement that she has reviewed each line and its records. The letter is under the $25,000 co-sign threshold, so one signature is enough. It goes out as an IATA SIS rejection memo and an email to SkyRamp billing, and a hold is placed in the finance system.
“I have reviewed each line in this letter and its records.”
On Payments, Andre sees SkyRamp DEN with $17,335.00 held and $395,545.00 to pay — the short-pay is sent and the undisputed amount is due Nov 2. Harborline's MIA invoice is held for a Procurement co-sign, and SLC, NRT and SFO are clean, every line stitched to proof. He releases; the agents never do.
“I prepared every hold; nothing is released without Accounts Payable.”
Stations keeps the record Procurement and the VP Ground Operations negotiate from: $3,862,400 found without proof January to September, and $3,118,250 credited by handlers. DEN has grown every month since June, and 49% of September's DEN findings are GPU on APU turns at fixed-power gates. The agent offers to draft the SkyRamp talking points.
“The pattern, in one line: Bills GPU on APU turns at fixed-power gates (B29–B35).”
The same invoice, seen by the five people who carry it — what their month looked like, and what it looks like now.
Seven agents stitch every line to its proof, check each other and draft the short-pay; the cost controller confirms line by line and signs.
Reads handler invoices in IS-XML, PDF, spreadsheet, EDI and scanned service records into lines mapped to the IATA IS-XML fields, with a confidence for every field, and flags a file with the same number and total as one already received.
Ties every line to the operated turn — flight, date, tail and times — and to cancellations, the aircraft's ACARS APU record, the airport gate-power meter and the delay codes.
Prices every line from the station's SGHA Annex B and the amendments in force on the service date, and checks the rate driver: aircraft type, weight band, event.
Finds the request and signature for every ad hoc line in signed service records, station mailboxes and the approvals log; when none is on file, asks the station manager one plain question with the date and the work.
Re-derives every finding from the source records on its own and argues the handler's side; a disagreement goes to a person with both workings.
Writes a reason with its clause on every loose line, then the letter, the IATA SIS rejection memo and the finance-system hold, and lists under-billing without claiming it.
Reads handler replies and credit notes, re-checks new evidence on its own, proposes concede or hold per line, drafts the answer and matches credits to short-pays.
Confirms every withheld line; Procurement co-signs above $25,000. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Every screen has a conversation with its agent. Ask in plain words or say what to do; answers cite their sources, and a decision is always handed back to a person.
Why is SkyRamp's DEN invoice short $18,640?
Of 678 lines, 559 are stitched to their turn, rate and approval. The largest gap: 46 ground power charges on turns that ran on the APU, $9,200.00. Then the new A321neo rate used before Sep 15, $2,790.00, delay standby on handler-caused delays, and extra agents with no request.
Which stations bill GPU on APU turns?
DEN (46 turns in September) and PHX (6), both SkyRamp, at gates with fixed power; MIA has 32 at gates E8–E11. Annex B charges GPU only from connection to disconnection.
What can Accounts Payable release today?
Three clean invoices, SLC, NRT and SFO: $1,157,524.00. For DEN, MIA and LAX the undisputed amount can be paid on the Oct 30 run with the loose lines held, as Annex B item 14 allows.
Ask Tom about the Sep 22 extra agents
Done this morning at 5:58: “Did DEN request 2 extra ramp agents for the 05:30–09:30 bank on Sep 22?” The records say “per station call”, and I found an email from Tom that morning. His answer lands in Approvals.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
Thresholds, rules and clocks are settings. Every change is logged and applies to the next run; the agents can fill a change in, but only a person saves it.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Co-sign threshold | $25,000 | Any amount; short-pays above it need Procurement as a second signature |
| Tolerance per line | $0 | Any amount; unsupported dollars below it are paid without a finding |
| Reader confidence | 90% | Any percentage; below it on any field, the reader asks for a clearer copy |
| Release clean invoices automatically | Off | On · Off |
| Verifier on every finding | Locked on | Cannot be turned off |
| Delay standby only for Corvane-coded delays | On | On · Off — IATA delay codes decide who caused the delay |
| Decide every invoice before it is due | 5 business days | Any number of business days |
| Handler reply window | 30 days | Any number of days (Annex B item 14) |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate. Standards named: IATA Standard Ground Handling Agreement 2023 (Annex B); IATA IS-XML Structure and Interface Specification for Ground Handlers (Sept 2014); IATA AHM 730/731 delay codes. Rates, clauses, thresholds and clocks shown are the sample airline's own. People, the airline Corvane Airways, handlers, flights and invoices named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.
Ground handling invoice reconciliation is the airline's check that every line a ground handler bills was performed, is billable under the station's Standard Ground Handling Agreement (SGHA) Annex B and is priced at the rate in force that day, before the invoice is paid. Ground Handling Invoice Reconciliation adds seven agents that read every invoice in any format, stitch each line to its turn record, Annex B rate and ad hoc approval, and draft the short-pay for the cost controller to confirm and sign.
A handling invoice audit ties each line to the operated turn in the operations system, to cancellations and delay codes, to the Annex B rate of its service date and, for ad hoc work, to the station's request. Lines with no proof are left loose with a reason, and an independent Verifier re-derives every finding before a person sees it.
The Turn matcher reads the aircraft's ACARS APU record and the airport gate-power meter as well as the handler's turn log. A GPU charge on a turn where the APU ran, the gate meter read 0.0 kWh and the log shows no connection is left loose — in the sample month, 46 such lines on one Denver invoice.
Yes. The Invoice reader reads IS-XML from IATA SIS, PDFs, spreadsheets, EDI files and scanned ad hoc service records, maps each line to the IS-XML fields and scores every field. Below 90% confidence it asks for a clearer copy instead of guessing, and it catches a re-sent invoice as a duplicate.
The Rate checker prices each line from the station's Annex B and the amendments in force on the service date. An amendment applies only from the effective date Procurement confirmed, so a new rate billed before it starts — 62 A321neo turns in the sample — is caught.
The short-pay letter, the IATA SIS rejection memo and the finance-system hold are generated only from lines the cost controller confirmed, with the Annex B clause for each. When the handler replies, the Dispute responder re-checks the new evidence, proposes concede or hold per line and matches credit notes; a person decides and sends.
Yes. The agents never withhold, send, pay, approve ad hoc work, change a rate card or contact a handler. The cost controller confirms each withheld line and signs with a reason code, Procurement co-signs above $25,000, station managers approve their own ad hoc work, and Accounts Payable releases the undisputed amount.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your handling agreements and Annex B rate cards, a month of handler invoices and the feeds for turns, APU and gate power — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own invoices first.
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1-min demoWe'll run Ground Handling Invoice Reconciliation on a month of your own handler invoices, turn records and rate cards.