The monthly statement
At the end of the month, your relay network sends a statement. It lists every incoming order you filled, with the value credited to you, every outgoing order you sent to another florist, with the amount charged, plus membership fees, clearing charges, adjustments for disputed orders and perhaps a marketing contribution.
The net figure is what matters to your bank account. But is it right? Were all the orders you filled credited? Was the adjustment for that complaint in March fair? Did an outgoing order you cancelled get charged anyway?
Checking means going through the statement line by line against your own orders. Most florists do not have time, so they accept the figure.
Why statements go unchecked
The statement is organised around the network's references, not yours. Your own records may be printed tickets, a website order list and a note of outgoing orders in a book. Joining them up is detailed work.
The terms that decide what each line should be, such as commission rates, fees and adjustments, are in the network's documents, and few people remember them in detail.
And the problems are small individually. One missing credit or one mistaken charge rarely seems worth an afternoon of checking. Over a year, the small differences are what you would want to know about.
What an unchecked statement costs
| Possible issue | Effect |
|---|---|
| Filled orders not credited | Work done without payment |
| Cancelled outgoing orders charged | Paying for orders that did not happen |
| Adjustments not understood | Disputes accepted without question |
| Fees not reviewed | No clear view of what membership costs |
| No record of relay margin | Hard to know whether relay work pays |
We cannot say whether any particular statement is wrong. What we provide is the ability to check, which is otherwise too slow to bother with.
Complaints handled through the network add a further layer. When a recipient or sender complains about a relay order, the network may make an adjustment to the value you receive, sometimes months after the order. Without a note of the complaint against the original order, you cannot see whether the adjustment matches what happened, or whether you had evidence, such as a delivery photo, that could have been shared at the time.
How we match statements to your orders
- Your incoming and outgoing relay orders are recorded with their network references as they happen, either through the order system or a simple log.
- When the statement arrives, as a PDF, a spreadsheet or a download, we read its lines automatically.
- Each statement line is matched to your record by network reference, date and value.
- Lines that match are marked checked. Orders you filled with no credit, charges with no matching outgoing order, and values that differ are listed for a person to look at.
- Fees and adjustments are shown separately, with the relevant order linked where there is one.
- A monthly summary shows relay income, relay costs and fees, so you can see what the relay relationship is worth to your shop.
Whether to query a line with the network is your decision, based on their terms. We make the differences visible and easy to raise.
We look at several past statements first, to understand the network's layout and the kinds of adjustments that appear, before building anything. If your volume of relay work is small enough that a simple monthly checklist would do, we will tell you that instead.
A statement you understand
The statement arrives and, a few minutes later, you have a short list: two filled orders not credited, one charge for an outgoing order you cancelled, and an adjustment linked to the complaint it relates to. You raise the first three with the network in one email.
- Every statement line matched to your own orders
- Missing credits and unexpected charges listed clearly
- Fees and adjustments visible and explained
- A monthly view of what relay work brings in
Is this your relay statement routine?
- You accept relay statements without checking every line.
- Your relay orders are recorded on tickets or in a book.
- You are not sure every filled order was credited.
- Adjustments on statements are hard to link to specific orders.
- You do not know whether relay work is worthwhile overall.