Read LC -> Read Documents -> Cross-Check -> Flag Discrepancies -> Route to Export

Letter-of-Credit and Export-Document Pre-Checker

The agent reads the letter of credit and the export document set together and lists every discrepancy while there is still time to fix it. It cross-checks amounts, descriptions, quantities, dates, and incoterms across the invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, and transport documents. The export team reviews the list and corrects the papers before they go to the bank.

The Problem

The bank found the typo. The payment was held for three weeks.

A shipment goes out and the documents go to the bank against a letter of credit. The invoice says 24 drums, the packing list says 24, but the bill of lading reads 22, and the goods description is one word off the credit. The bank rejects for discrepancy, the payment sits, and the team pays a discrepancy fee to re-present. The mismatch was on the page the whole time.

What Changes

Catch the discrepancy at your desk, not at the bank counter.

The agent pulls the letter of credit terms and every export document and checks them line by line against each other and against the credit. It lists mismatched amounts, descriptions, quantities, dates, and incoterms, ranked by which ones a bank would reject on. The export team fixes the flagged items and presents a clean set.

Humans stay in control: the agent flags the discrepancies and explains each, and your export executive corrects the documents and decides when to present them to the bank.

HOW THE AGENT WORKS

TRIGGERLLMAPIDECISIONACTIONWAIT

TRIGGERDocument set readyFires when the draft export document set is assembled for a shipment.

APIPull letter of creditReads the letter of credit terms for the shipment.

APIParse export documentsExtracts fields from the invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, and transport documents.

LLMCross-check fieldsCompares amounts, descriptions, quantities, dates, and incoterms across documents and the credit.

DECISIONAny discrepancy found?

LLMDraft discrepancy listWrites each mismatch with the documents involved and the fix needed.

ACTIONSend list to export teamDelivers the ranked discrepancy list to the export executive before bank presentation.

The agent does not present documents to the bank or amend the credit. Your export executive does. The agent removes the line-by-line manual cross-check against the letter of credit.

HOW TO BUILD IT

Three levels of depth. Pick the one that matches where you are.

For the ops person who needs to understand what's involved and brief their team.

LC and Export DocumentsCredit plus invoice, packing list, bill

The AgentWorkflow engine + LLM

Export ExecutiveFixes and presents to the bank

WHAT YOUR TEAM PROVIDES ONCE

Letter of credit - the terms the documents must match
Commercial invoice - amounts, description, and quantities billed
Packing list - the packed quantities and weights
Certificate of origin and transport documents - origin, dates, and consignment details
Discrepancy list - each mismatch with the fix, ranked by bank-rejection risk

What happens day-to-day: the export team assembles the document set for a shipment. The agent reads it against the letter of credit and returns a ranked list of mismatches with the exact fix. The executive corrects the papers and presents a clean set to the bank, without the discrepancy fee.

For the IT person or technical lead who needs to scope the integration.

INQUIRY SOURCES

Letter of credit copy for the shipment

Export documents (invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, transport documents)

Order and shipment master data for the reference figures

WORKFLOW ENGINE (N8N)

Document set ready

Pull the letter of credit

Parse export documents

Cross-check fields across documents

Any discrepancy found

Draft discrepancy list

Send list to export team

CONNECTS TO

Document parsing (Azure Document Intelligence / AWS Textract)Read: letter of credit and document scans. Write: none

ERP / order data (SAP / Oracle / Tally)Read: order and shipment reference figures. Write: none

Trade document store (SharePoint / shared drive)Read: export document set. Write: discrepancy log

Notification channel (Email / Teams / Slack)Read: none. Write: discrepancy list to export team

WITHOUT PMS API

Without live access the export team uploads the letter of credit and the documents as files. The agent still cross-checks and lists discrepancies, with the team uploading each set by hand.

WITH PMS API

With document parsing and access to the order data, the agent cross-checks the full set against the letter of credit the moment the documents are drafted and returns the discrepancy list at once. Best experience.

For the person who wants to build this agent step by step. Each node below maps to an n8n workflow node.

TRIGGERNode 1

Trigger - document set ready

Folder watch or a button that fires when the export document set for a shipment is assembled.

Output: { shipment_id, lc_file, document_files[] }

APINode 2

API - parse LC and documents

Send the letter of credit and each document to a parser and return structured fields.

Output: { lc_terms, invoice, packing_list, coo, transport }

LLMNode 3

LLM - cross-check against the LC

LLM node comparing every document field against the credit and against each other.

Output: { discrepancies[]: { field, documents, lc_value, doc_value, severity, fix } }

You are an export documentation checker. Compare the export documents against the letter of credit terms and against each other. Check amounts, goods description, quantities, weights, dates, and incoterms. List every discrepancy with the field, the documents involved, the letter of credit value, the document value, a severity of high, medium, or low, and the fix. Letter of credit: {lc_terms}. Documents: {documents}. Respond ONLY with valid JSON. No explanation.

INPUT

{"lc_terms":{"amount":"USD 48000","goods":"Acetic Anhydride 99%","quantity":"24 drums","latest_shipment":"2026-08-20"},"documents":{"invoice":{"amount":"USD 48000","quantity":"24 drums"},"packing_list":{"quantity":"24 drums"},"bill_of_lading":{"quantity":"22 drums","shipped":"2026-08-19"}}}

OUTPUT

{"discrepancies":[{"field":"quantity","documents":["bill_of_lading"],"lc_value":"24 drums","doc_value":"22 drums","severity":"high","fix":"Correct the bill of lading to 24 drums or amend the credit before presenting"}]}

DECISIONNode 4

Decision - discrepancies present?

If the discrepancies array is empty, mark the set clean. Otherwise route to the list.

Output: { has_discrepancies: boolean }

ACTIONNode 5

Action - send the discrepancy list

Post the ranked discrepancies to the export executive with the shipment reference.

Output: A ranked discrepancy list delivered to the export team

MVP vs Advanced — Where To Start

MVP — START HERE

Check one customer's letter of credit format
Parse the invoice and packing list first
Cross-check amount, quantity, and description
Rank by bank-rejection risk
Email the list to the export executive
Executive fixes and presents to the bank

ADVANCED — ADD LATER

=+ Add certificate of origin and transport documents
=+ Pull reference figures live from the ERP
=+ Learn each bank's common rejection points
=+ Check incoterms and shipment dates against the credit
=+ Keep an audit trail of each checked set
=+ Track discrepancy types to fix templates upstream

Full Video Walkthrough Coming Soon

Watch the agent catch a quantity mismatch across the invoice, packing list, and bill of lading.

Everything on this page is free to learn.

When you're ready to build — do it yourself or bring us in.

Book a call to scope this

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Shipment Document Pack Assembler

Assembles the right SDS, lot COA, and TDS per shipment, flags stale versions

Certificate-to-Spec Matcher and Release Drafter

Checks each batch against every customer spec, drafts the certificate

Frequently asked questions

Letter-of-Credit and Export-Document Pre-Checker is an AI agent that checks the export document set against the letter of credit before the bank does.

The bank found the typo. The payment was held for three weeks. The Letter-of-Credit and Export-Document Pre-Checker addresses this: checks the export document set against the letter of credit before the bank does.

No. Your team stays in control. The agent does not present documents to the bank or amend the credit. Your export executive does. The agent removes the line-by-line manual cross-check against the letter of credit.

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