Ask a captain about the hardest part of the job and the answer is rarely the weather. It is the paperwork: receipts from three ports, crew payroll questions, the budget the owner's office wants by Friday, all of it done after a full day of running the boat.
On the largest yachts, a purser carries that load. On most yachts, no one is employed to do it. A shore-based, or shoreside, purser takes on the accounts and administration from land, while everything that needs to happen onboard stays exactly where it is. At Soleia Shoreside that work is done by qualified accountants, and the money side gets the same rigour as an audit file.
Most of the fleet runs without a purser
The Monaco Yacht Show's 2025 market report counts 6,174 superyachts over 30 metres in operation, and more than eight in ten of them are under 50 metres. Pursers are typically found on yachts of 50 metres and above. Below that size, the accounts and administration usually fall to the captain, or are split between the captain, the chief stew and an office elsewhere.
The sums involved are significant. Fraser puts annual running costs at 10 to 15% of a yacht's purchase value, so a €20 million yacht spends €2 million to €3 million a year. Every euro needs recording, reconciling and explaining to an owner, a family office or an auditor, and owners increasingly expect the same standard of reporting they receive on the rest of their assets.
What we handle from shore
Most of the work follows the rhythm of the yacht: the charter, the crew changes, the passage, the month-end and the season.
DURING A CHARTER
The APA is usually 25 to 35% of the charter fee, and higher on yachts that burn more fuel, which makes it a substantial sum to track.
- Each receipt is coded as it comes in, giving the captain a live view of what is left in the APA.
- If the APA is running low, we flag it early, so the captain can ask the charterer for a top-up in good time for the funds to clear before they are needed.
- Charter spend is kept separate from the yacht's own accounts: the charterer sees the charter, and the owner sees the yacht.
- Before the guests leave, every invoice is settled. The statement is then finished and checked by a second person, ready for the captain to present.
Our free APA close-out checklist covers each step, from the first receipt to the final statement.
WHEN CREW JOIN OR LEAVE
- Support with hiring: certificate checks and references before contracts are issued, alongside the yacht's chosen recruiter.
- Contracts, onboarding paperwork and crew lists, updated with every change.
- Leave and rotation records, kept in line with MLC 2006 and the flag state's requirements.
- Certificates kept in date and training booked before it lapses.
- Visa applications and renewals, and flights and transfers for crew movements.
- Payroll inputs and payslips prepared on time, every month.
IN PORT AND ON THE MOVE
- Port clearance paperwork prepared with the local agent, ready for the captain's signature.
- Travel logistics for the owner and guests, coordinated with the captain.
EVERY WEEK
- Supplier invoices checked, coded and matched to what was ordered.
- Payment runs prepared for approval, keeping suppliers paid on time.
EVERY MONTH
- Card, bank, float and petty cash accounts reconciled, by currency.
- Management accounts for the owner or management company, explained in plain language: what was spent, how it compares with budget and what is coming up.
- A rolling cash flow forecast, with funding requests to the owner prepared in good time.
EVERY SEASON
- An annual budget built around the yacht's survey and yard cycle, with departmental budgets and floats, broken down month by month.
- Flag, class and MLC documentation where they apply, and insurance renewals and claims, kept on track.
- Financial manuals, procedures and controls kept current: cost codes, card and cash rules, and three quotes for larger purchases.
What stays onboard
A shore-based purser supports the captain. It does not take decisions or money away from the yacht.
- The money. Cash and cards stay with the crew, and the captain stays in control of the APA and presents the final charter accounts to the charterer.
- Approvals. Payments are prepared for the captain, owner or management company. They approve and release every payment.
- Running the yacht. Navigation, safety, maintenance, crew leadership and the guest experience remain with the captain and crew.
- Existing relationships. The management company, charter manager and the owner's advisers keep their roles. We work alongside them, under their name where they prefer.
Crew move on. The records should not
Yachting has high crew turnover. Quay Group estimates that 20 to 40% of crew change on most yachts each year. When the person who kept the accounts leaves, what they knew often leaves too: which supplier is on account, how the owner likes costs grouped, why an invoice was split in two. When those records, templates and procedures are kept ashore, they stay with the yacht whoever is on board this season, and the work carries on wherever she cruises.
Who it helps
For captains, it means time back and a second pair of eyes on spend they approved. For owners and their offices, it means reporting they can trust, in a format that sits alongside the rest of their affairs. For management companies, it is extra capacity: the work goes out under their name, the owner relationship stays theirs, and they can take on another yacht without hiring.
Common questions
Do you replace an onboard purser?
Not necessarily. Most yachts under 50 metres have no purser, and that is where we take on the purser's accounts and administration in full. Where there is a purser onboard, we take the accounts and administration they do not have time for, leaving them free to focus on the guests and the day-to-day.
How do we get started?
With an informal conversation about how the accounts and administration run today. If it helps, we then take a light look at one recent charter or month-end and send a short note of what we would keep and what we would change. You choose the scope and we agree it in writing.
Which systems do you work with?
Whatever the yacht already uses. We are certified on Voly and Xero, and our background in finance systems means we pick up other yacht and accounting platforms quickly. If the current set-up is not working, we can tidy it or help choose and set up something better.
How is our information kept confidential?
We sign a mutual non-disclosure agreement before any details are shared, access only what the work needs, and keep records on secure, access-controlled systems.
Do you work with management companies?
Yes. We act as their accounts and administration team, under their name. Their owners stay theirs, and we are happy to put that in writing.
Do you handle the yacht's money?
No. Cash, cards and every payment stay under the yacht's control.
Why I do this work
I started in audit, VAT and financial reporting, then spent several years building finance systems in South Africa and the UK. I am a qualified accountant, AGA(SA), certified on Voly and a Xero Specialist, and I have completed the IAMI Guest/Purser course, so I understand how the work runs onboard, not just on paper.
On a yacht, that means reconciliations to the standard of an audit file, a second reviewer on every charter statement and systems built to survive a crew change.
My co-founder and I set up Soleia Shoreside because captains should not have to do an accountant's job on top of their own. Almost all of the work is done remotely, which means we can support yachts wherever they are. We take on a limited number of yachts at a time, so each one gets proper attention. Every yacht has a named contact who knows it well, and a founder reviews the work.
The crew look after the yacht and the guests. We look after everything behind the scenes.
If some of this sounds familiar, get in touch at contact@soleia-collective.com. A short conversation is usually enough to know whether we can help.
Sources
- Monaco Yacht Show, Market Report 2025
- Ocean Independence, Yacht crew explained
- Fraser, What does a superyacht cost to run per year?
- Helm, What is an APA?
- International Labour Organization, Maritime Labour Convention, 2006
- Quay Group, The true cost of crew turnover
All sources accessed October 2026.