Step Up Your Freight Bill Auditing Game with a 3PL 

Did you know that, on average, about half of all your freight invoices have some sort of mistake? 

Whether it's a simple type error or it is the intentional over-inflation of miles driven, shippers deal freight bill fraud on a daily basis. Many of them don't even notice that someone is taking advantage of them. Others, simply don't want to admit that they could be a likely victim. And when the error is purely accidental, it tends to just get brushed away.

Regardless of whether or not it was an accident or even went noticed is beside the point. Over time, little bit by little bit, those small amounts of money begin to pile up. Before you know it, you are eating 10's of thousands of dollars by the end of the fiscal year.

Luckily, this is where a good freight bill auditing program comes in really handy!

In this blog post, we will take a look at the top 3 reasons why you should partner with a 3PL to implement your own routine freight bill auditing process. No matter the size of your company, every shipper can benefit from having this knowledge at the forefront of their mind.

Ready to learn something about auditing your freight bills? 

What’s the Job of a Freight Bill Auditing Company? 

Many shippers confuse a bill auditing company with a third-party logistics company. The truth is, though, while there are many similarities between the two, there are just as many differences.

For example, there are some auditing firms, mainly accounting agencies, who specialize at auditing financial receipts between multiple parties. Essentially, it's like having your own private accounts receivable department without hiring an employee. They are general financial wizards, who are very thorough and often find deeply-rooted financial discrepancies.

This is also something that most 3PL companies offer, as well. However, a 3PL is more than likely not going to dive as deep into the financials as a dedicated bill auditor.  

On the other hand, the drawback of working with a billing auditing company is that they don't specialize in the supply chain. They don't quite understand where hidden charges exist, simply because it is an intricate and foreign industry to them. They are there to run numbers, that's it.

A third-party logistics company that offers freight bill services has the luxury of the best of both worlds. They employ financial gurus who also thoroughly understand the ins and outs of the supply chain and logistics world. In fact, most 3PL's freight bill auditing specialists have worked on the other side of the fence, working directly with carriers and other logistics-based companies. This provides a practical real-world experience that most auditing firms simply don't have. 

Here are 3 good reasons why partnering with a 3PL for your freight bill auditing is a brilliant idea. 

Freight Bill Auditing Helps You Stay Ahead of Monthly Invoicing

Invoices do indeed have due dates. To ensure that all of your best partners get paid up as quickly as possible, freight bill audits can speed up the process significantly.

This is especially true for those shippers who are operating a large business. You have invoices flying in through every window, door, and crevice in the office! With so many different people to pay, the process of even initiating those payments is time-consuming. Compound that with the need to audit them all for errors while also handling all your other daily tasks!

If you work with a 3PL, however, you lessen the load and free yourself or other team members up for other tasks. Furthermore, since the 3PL is dedicated to the specific tasks you assign, they can hammer away at those audits rather quickly.

Most professional 3PL companies use advanced software solutions that are customized to discover hard to find financial errors on freight invoices. As soon as they are uploaded to this cloud-based system, the report is generated, and it is sent back to the carriers to be resolved. 

Once resolved, payments can be issued.

Save Money by Outsourcing Freight Bill Auditing to the Specialists

Typically, when you trust a specialist or hire somebody that specializes in a specific field, it costs you more money. While this might be true when hiring an accounting firm, outsourcing your bill auditing services to a third-party logistics company is, on average, much more affordable. Through networking and building large networks, 3PL's are incredibly efficient, allowing them to pass along savings to their dedicated clients. 

They have no searching around to do, they do not need to acquire additional resources, and they have the manpower to dedicate to in-depth, niche tasks. On the other hand, if you were to go about this purely on your own, you might find that it is a huge financial endeavor. An endeavor which is extremely hard to streamline without a strong network to back you up.

If saving money is a goal on the list, hiring a 3PL is a no-brainer.

Most Importantly, It Helps You Scale Your Business and Keeps You Moving Forward

When you have a powerful an experienced 3PL in your corner, your company can move forward with confidence. Confidence in knowing that your business is paying what they should. And more importantly, that freight bill audits will be thorough and performed properly.

When you don't have to focus on auditing bills, or trusting carriers to operate ethically, you can focus all your attention on more important tasks. Tasks such as finding new ways driving sales, taking care of your customers, and finding new more reputable partners for future projects. 

Final Thoughts

Auditing invoices is a crucial part of any company that works with multiple partners. You can go at it alone or with a dedicated auditor. Better yet, you could place your trust in a reputable 3PL company who can do so much more for you.

The important lesson to take away here is that no matter what, you need to be auditing those invoices!

Want to learn more about freight bill auditing services provided by Redwood Logistics? Contact us now!