Creating a Proforma DA (PDA)

Using a3 and Port Cost Watch, you can create high quality, accurate Proforma Disbursements (PDAs) in minutes, and share these with your Principals using a unique web link.

In this article, we will cover the process of creating a PDA for an existing Nomination in a3. This process is similar to creating an Inquiry but has a few extra steps to attach the cost data to the Nomination in a3.

Creating an Estimate

In a3, head to the appointment that you would like to create an estimate for and click on the Disbursements tab:

Make sure that you have selected the relevant Nomination that you would like to create the account for at the top of the page:

Click on the Create Estimate button in the Services Section. This will open Port Cost Watch (PCW) in a new tab. You may be prompted to login, or continue to PCW, so follow the on-screen instructions to proceed:

PDA Parameters

In PCW you'll see the PDA Parameters which have been pre-populated with the details of your Nomination, along with a list of Matching Nominations from a3 based on this criteria. Adjust the PDA parameters for the PDA you want to create, and the Matching Nominations list will update. Select the relevant Nomination that you are creating a PDA for and then click the Next button:

Next you will see the Editing PDA page - this is where you can review, add, rearrange the order of, and amend any of the services on the PDA. You can also choose whether or not you want to include a specific item in the PDA by simply checking/unchecking the Disable box on the far right of the screen as seen below: 

Editing a cost

If you are linked up to our Port Cost Watch system, the Amount column will be automatically generated based off the latest and most up-to-date tariffs. It will also automatically calculate an updated figure depending on what information you input in the "Days in port" field for this specific service. Likewise, this process works in the same manner for other services such as tugs in/out for example; if you change the amount of tugs in/out, the figure shown in the Amount column will update accordingly:

You can also manually edit this number by simply clicking on the figure that is already displayed, and inserting the amount that you require:

When a Standard PDA is created for a port, the port costs will be pre-populated for this port, and additionally, any terminal specific services will also be added based on the terminal that was selected on the previous step. Fill out the inputs in the top section with any relevant details - these will be displayed on the PDA document, along with the vessel details, to give further context to the calculations for these costs. Remember, you can also add a comment on each specific service which will appear in the PDA.

Adding additional services

You can also add additional lines to your DA as required. You can either free type a service, or select a pre-defined service from the dropdown. Once again, we can see that we can manually enter the amounts required, as well as add comments which will in turn appear on the PDA:

Currency / Rate of Exchange

Another great feature is the ability to change/set the currency and rate of exchange that you wish to work in, and have the services automatically update when this is applied as demonstrated below:

Saving/Sharing your PDA

Once you have updated and edited the PDA to suit your requirements, you should now set the PDA to "Initial" before clicking the Save button at the bottom of the page. This will push the costs back into a3 so they are visible on the Disbursements tab for that particular nomination:

You will note from the below image that saving the PDA as "Initial" will then bring you to a preview page which will enable you to either send a unique link to that specific PDA to your customers via SEDNA or traditional email, edit the PDA, download the PDA in PDF format or download as an Excel spreadsheet.