How to Test Freight Software in a Free Trial (UAE Checklist)

To test freight software in a free trial, load three to five of your own real shipments, time each task against your current method, and check that the invoice follows UAE VAT rules. Then export all your data and ask the vendor a fixed list of questions before the trial ends. This checklist gives you the jobs, the timings and the pass marks.

Most trial guides online are written for the US or Europe. None cover UAE VAT on a Jebel Ali job, a domestic leg billed at 5%, or the move to e-invoicing. This one does.

Which real shipments should you load?

Load real jobs from the last 60 days, not the vendor's sample data. Sample data is clean. Your jobs are not, and that is what the trial must handle.

Pick jobs that cover your actual work and your awkward cases:

If you collect cash on delivery, add one COD job too. Check that the cash is tracked and matched to the invoice.

Which tasks should you time?

Time four tasks and write the minutes down before the trial starts. Without a baseline, "it feels faster" proves nothing.

Here is a hypothetical example. Say a Dubai forwarder handles 40 shipments a week and a quote takes 15 minutes in a spreadsheet. If the same quote takes 8 minutes in the trial, that saves 7 minutes a quote. But if the invoice step takes longer because tax codes need manual fixing, the saving disappears. Total the four tasks, not just the quote.

Ask your least technical coordinator to do the first quote and booking with no help. If they get stuck, a new hire will too.

How to test freight software free trial step by step

Follow these seven steps in order.

1. Set the baseline. Time your four tasks in the current system on the same jobs you will load. Save the old quotes and invoices for comparison.
2. Confirm the trial terms. Ask about limits on users, shipments, documents and features. Ask whether the trial uses your company profile, TRN and invoice template, or a generic one.
3. Import your masters. Load customers, suppliers, ports, charge codes and rate sheets. Note what the import tool rejects and why.
4. Run the test shipments. Enter each job from inquiry to paid invoice. Record every point where you had to leave the system, for example to use Excel or WhatsApp.
5. Compare the numbers. Check quote, cost and invoice totals against your own calculation. Any difference is a finding.
6. Run the VAT and export tests described below.
7. Score and decide. Give each task and check a score of 0, 1 or 2. Investigate any area where the trial scored worse than your current system.

What VAT output should you check on trial invoices?

Check that the tax code changes correctly for each type of job. The rules below come from the FTA and other sources cited here. Confirm your own cases with your tax adviser or the FTA.

• International transport is zero-rated. The UAE government page on zero-rated supplies lists it under Article 45 of Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017. Zero-rated supplies are not charged VAT, but you must still record them and report them on the return.
• Zero-rated sales count toward the registration threshold. The same page gives the threshold as AED 375,000 of taxable turnover.
• Domestic transport is 5%. EASMEA gives the example of a journey from Jebel Ali to a warehouse in Dubai Investment Park, which starts and ends in the UAE.
• A local leg inside one international service can be zero-rated. EASMEA says this applies under a single contract. An Alvarez & Marsal summary of an FTA clarification adds that the local leg is zero-rated only if the same supplier provides the international leg.
• Transport that starts outside the UAE can be out of scope. The same summary says this is different from zero-rated, and notes that many logistics firms had reported it as zero-rated.

Build three trial invoices: one international (0%), one domestic (5%) and one mixed. Then build a fourth where a different supplier handles the international leg. The software should let you set the tax treatment per line and should not force one code on the whole invoice. If the vendor says it is "automatic", ask which rule it applies and where you can override it.

What must the invoice itself show?

The FTA's tax invoice guide (VAT11) sets out the content. Check these points on a trial invoice:

• The words "tax invoice" appear on it.
• The date of issue appears. The guide says a tax invoice must be issued within 14 calendar days of the supply, so check that the system shows the supply date and the issue date.
• Electronic invoices are stored securely, with authenticity and integrity guaranteed.
• Buyer-created invoices (self-billing) are allowed only with a written agreement. If you use them, check the system can handle that case.

Also issue a credit note against one invoice. The VAT Decree-Law covers tax invoices and credit notes, so the system must produce both with the required fields.

Is the software ready for UAE e-invoicing?

Ask the vendor for its e-invoicing plan in writing, and test that your trial invoices hold clean, structured data. Per Tally's guide, Ministerial Decision No. 244 of 2025 sets a phased timeline. It also reports a penalty of AED 5,000 a month if an issuer fails to appoint an accredited service provider (ASP) and implement on time.

This is a secondary source, and the start date depends on your revenue group. Check your date on the official Ministry of Finance or FTA pages before you decide.

For the trial, check these things:

• Customer and your own TRN fields are filled in and stored per customer.
• Each invoice line carries its own tax code and amount.
• Invoice numbers are unique and do not repeat after edits.
• You can see an audit trail of who changed an invoice and when.

Then ask: "Which ASP do you work with, or how will you connect to one? What is live today and what is planned?" A clear answer with dates is a good sign. A vague one is a risk you should price in.

How do you test data export?

Export everything during the trial, before you commit. Moving off a system later is much harder if you only find the limits then.

Try these exports:

1. All customers and suppliers.
2. All jobs with their costs and revenue lines.
3. All invoices and credit notes, as both PDF and a spreadsheet file.
4. Uploaded documents such as bills of lading, packing lists and customs papers.
5. The audit trail.

Open the files. Check that totals match the screen, Arabic names are not garbled, and each invoice still shows its tax code. The Decree-Law has record-keeping rules, and some records, such as capital asset records, must be kept for at least ten years. Retention periods differ by record type, so ask your accountant which apply to you. Then ask the vendor how long it keeps your data after you cancel and in what format you get it back.

Customer contacts are personal data under UAE PDPL. Ask where the data is hosted, who can access it and how it is deleted at the end of the trial.

What should you ask the vendor before the trial ends?

Ask these questions while you still have the trial account open:

• What is the price per user or per module after the trial, and what is not included? Get it in writing.
• Is there a contract term or a cancellation notice period?
• Can you give references from forwarders of a similar size in the UAE or KSA?
• What is the support response time, and is support available in your working hours (Sunday to Thursday, Friday half day or not)?
• What is the e-invoicing and VAT update process when rules change?
• What does onboarding involve, and who loads your master data?
• Which integrations work today: accounting, couriers, WhatsApp?

If you are also looking at Quickship's Freight Management module, which covers inquiry to invoice for forwarders, use this same checklist and score it the same way as any other vendor.

Common mistakes in a freight software trial

• Using sample data instead of real jobs.
• Testing only the quote and skipping job costing and invoicing.
• Letting the most tech-savvy person run the whole trial.
• Never opening an exported file.
• Accepting "it is on the roadmap" as "it works".
• Letting the trial expire before you have scored it.