NP-SD-10 · BSP Settlement & IATA Billing

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Process Flow Diagram (BPMN)

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L4 Process Steps

Step	Step Name	Role / Swim Lane	System	Input	Output	KPI	Dec?	Exc?
Phase 1 1.1	Extract GDS/NDC ticket sales data	Revenue Accounting Analyst	Amadeus Revenue Accounting	Daily GDS ticket transaction files from Sabre, Travelport, and Amadeus GDS; NDC booking records	Raw daily sales extract (tickets issued, voided, refunded) in BSP standard format	Sales extract completeness ≥99.9% of all ticketed transactions captured within 2hr of BSP cut-off	N	Y
1.2	Validate ticket stock vs. IATA BSP allocation	Revenue Accounting Analyst	BSPlink	Raw sales extract; IATA BSP ticket stock allocation records	Validated ticket list with orphan/duplicate flags	Ticket validation error rate <0.1% of transactions per BSP billing period	N	Y
1.3	Decision: Completeness check — missing records?	Senior Revenue Accountant	Amadeus Revenue Accounting	Validated ticket list; expected transaction count from GDS settlement reports	Go/No-Go decision; missing-record exception report if No-Go	Data completeness gate passed first attempt ≥95% of BSP periods	Y	Y
Phase 2 2.1	Aggregate sales by agent and BSP billing period	Revenue Accounting Analyst	Amadeus Revenue Accounting	Validated ticket transaction file; IATA BSP agent master and billing period calendar	Per-agent sales summary with fare, tax, commission, and net remittance amounts	Aggregation processing completed ≤4hr after data validation; <50 manual corrections per billing period	N	N
2.2	Calculate commissions, taxes, and surcharges	Revenue Accounting Analyst	ATPCO	Per-agent sales summary; ATPCO fare and tax rule tables; commission schedule from SAP Ariba contracts	Itemised billing breakdown per ticket: base fare, YQ/YR surcharges, government taxes, agent commission	Tax calculation accuracy ≥99.95%; surcharge variance vs. ATPCO published rules <0.05%	N	Y
2.3	Generate Agency Debit Memos (ADMs) for discrepancies	Revenue Accounting Manager	BSPlink	Itemised billing breakdown; expected fare/tax amounts from ATPCO; waiver/authorisation log from Amadeus Altéa PSS	Draft ADMs for agents with fare undercharges, invalid discounts, or missing taxes	ADM issuance rate within 30 days of ticket issue date; ADM dispute rate <15% of issued ADMs	N	Y
2.4	Decision: Discrepancy amount exceeds $500 threshold?	Revenue Accounting Manager	BSPlink	Draft ADM list with per-agent discrepancy amounts	Approved ADMs forwarded to IATA submission; sub-threshold items flagged for batch review	Threshold review completed within 1 business day; 100% of ADMs >$500 reviewed by manager before submission	Y	N
Phase 3 3.1	Submit BSP billing file to IATA via BSPlink	Revenue Accounting Analyst	BSPlink	Finalised billing file; approved ADMs; BSP billing period calendar	BSP submission receipt and IATA confirmation number	Submission on-time rate ≥99% of billing periods; file rejection rate <0.5%	N	Y
3.2	Receive and validate BSP settlement advice	Revenue Accounting Analyst	BSPlink	IATA BSP settlement advice document; submitted billing file	Validated settlement advice with line-item variance analysis	Settlement advice received within 3 business days of submission; variance analysis completed same day as receipt	N	Y
3.3	Decision: Settlement amount matches billing submission?	Revenue Accounting Manager	Amadeus Revenue Accounting	Settlement advice; original billing file totals; ADM/ACM adjustments	Confirmed match → proceed; variance → raise IATA billing query	Settlement match rate ≥98% first-pass; queries resolved within 5 business days	Y	Y
Phase 4 4.1	Confirm clearing bank receipt from IATA BSP	Treasury Analyst	SAP S/4HANA Finance (FI/CO)	BSP settlement advice; bank statement from IATA-appointed clearing bank	Confirmed bank receipt entry in SAP cash management	Bank confirmation posted within 1 business day of settlement value date; 100% of expected receipts matched	N	Y
4.2	Post BSP settlement to airline AR accounts	Accounts Receivable Analyst	SAP S/4HANA Finance (FI/CO)	Confirmed bank receipt; per-agent billing summary; SAP AR account mapping	SAP AR postings clearing agent receivable balances; BSP period journal entry	AR posting completed within 2 business days of settlement; open AR items from BSP <3% of total AR at month-end	N	Y
4.3	Decision: Settlement received within BSP calendar deadline?	Treasury Manager	SAP S/4HANA Finance (FI/CO)	Bank receipt date; BSP settlement calendar (IATA-published); SAP open item report	On-time: proceed to reconciliation; Late: escalate to IATA BSP country manager and initiate default agent process	Zero late settlements from airline side; agent default escalations initiated within 24hr of missed deadline	Y	Y
Phase 5 5.1	Review agent disputes on issued ADMs	Revenue Accounting Analyst	BSPlink	Agent dispute notification via BSPlink; original ADM with supporting fare calculation	Dispute case record with initial validity assessment	Dispute acknowledgement within 5 business days per IATA Resolution 850; dispute queue cleared within 30 days	N	Y
5.2	Investigate disputed ADM with fare/booking evidence	Revenue Accounting Manager	Amadeus Altéa PSS	Dispute case record; original booking and ticketing data from Amadeus Altéa PSS; ATPCO fare rules	Investigation outcome: uphold or reverse ADM with documented evidence	Investigation completed within 15 business days; <5% of ADMs reversed due to airline data errors	N	Y
5.3	Decision: ADM dispute upheld by airline?	Revenue Accounting Manager	BSPlink	Investigation outcome with fare evidence; IATA dispute arbitration guidelines	Upheld: agent notified, ADM stands; Reversed: ACM issued to agent via BSPlink	Decision communicated within 30 days of dispute receipt; ACMs issued within 5 business days of reversal decision	Y	Y
Phase 6 6.1	Reconcile BSP settlements with revenue GL accounts	Senior Revenue Accountant	SAP S/4HANA Finance (FI/CO)	SAP AR postings; BSP settlement totals by period; revenue recognition entries from Amadeus Revenue Accounting	Reconciled trial balance; variance report flagging unmatched items	Month-end BSP reconciliation completed by day 5 close; unreconciled items <0.1% of gross BSP settlement value	N	Y
6.2	Generate IATA compliance and audit reports	Revenue Accounting Manager	Amadeus Revenue Accounting	Reconciled BSP data; IATA audit requirements (IATA Resolution 854); SAP FI closed-period data	IATA BSP compliance pack: settlement summary, ADM/ACM register, dispute log, defalcation report	Compliance pack delivered within 10 business days of period close; zero IATA audit findings classed as material	N	N
6.3	Close BSP period and archive transaction records	Revenue Accounting Analyst	BSPlink	IATA compliance pack; cleared AR items in SAP; resolved dispute log	Locked BSP period in BSPlink; archived transaction files in AWS S3 data lake per IATA 7-year retention policy	Period closed within 15 business days of settlement date; 100% of records archived with retention metadata	N	N

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Process Attributes

Identification

Process IDNP-SD-10

L1 DomainNetwork Planning & Scheduling

L2 ProcessSales & Distribution

L3 NameBSP Settlement & IATA Billing

L4 Steps19 across 6 phases

Decision Gates5 (all with iteration loops)

Exceptions15 documented

Swim Lanes (Roles)

Revenue Accounting Analyst

Senior Revenue Accountant

Revenue Accounting Manager

Treasury Analyst

Accounts Receivable Analyst

Treasury Manager

Systems & Tools

Amadeus Revenue AccountingBSPlinkATPCOSAP S/4HANA Finance (FI/CO)Amadeus Altéa PSS

Key Performance Indicators

Extract GDS/NDC ticket sales dataSales extract completeness ≥99.9% of all ticketed transactions captured within 2hr of BSP cut-off

Validate ticket stock vs. IATA BSP allocationTicket validation error rate <0.1% of transactions per BSP billing period

Decision: Completeness check — missing records?Data completeness gate passed first attempt ≥95% of BSP periods

Aggregate sales by agent and BSP billing periodAggregation processing completed ≤4hr after data validation; <50 manual corrections per billing period

Calculate commissions, taxes, and surchargesTax calculation accuracy ≥99.95%; surcharge variance vs. ATPCO published rules <0.05%

Generate Agency Debit Memos (ADMs) for discrepanciesADM issuance rate within 30 days of ticket issue date; ADM dispute rate <15% of issued ADMs

Decision: Discrepancy amount exceeds $500 threshold?Threshold review completed within 1 business day; 100% of ADMs >$500 reviewed by manager before submission

Submit BSP billing file to IATA via BSPlinkSubmission on-time rate ≥99% of billing periods; file rejection rate <0.5%

Airline-Specific Risks & Pain Points

NDC direct-connect bookings are not automatically included in legacy BSP extract jobs — manual intervention required to merge NDC settlement files, creating reconciliation gaps and delayed reporting

Ticket number ranges allocated across multiple GDS channels can overlap when PSS configuration changes; BSPlink does not auto-detect cross-channel duplicates, requiring manual range-conflict queries

GDS settlement files arrive up to 6 hours after cut-off due to Travelport file delivery SLA gaps, causing repeated re-ingestion cycles and risk of missing the BSP submission window

Sub-agents consolidated under a parent IATA code are not disaggregated in Amadeus Revenue Accounting, requiring custom SQL extracts to identify high-risk individual agents for ADM targeting

YQ/YR fuel surcharges filed in ATPCO are updated bi-weekly; Revenue Accounting must manually trigger ATPCO feed refresh — stale surcharge tables cause systematic billing errors affecting hundreds of transactions per period

IATA Resolution 850 ADM deadlines (within 9 months of ticket issue) are frequently missed due to backlog in Amadeus Revenue Accounting audit queues — expired ADMs result in unrecoverable revenue leakage

Inputs / Outputs

Primary InputDaily GDS ticket transaction files from Sabre, Travelport, and Amadeus GDS; NDC booking records

Primary OutputLocked BSP period in BSPlink; archived transaction files in AWS S3 data lake per IATA 7-year retention policy

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