What is the Best Solution for Auditing Freight Bills? 

Those who work within a supply chain have more options than ever before for auditing freight bills. Whether they choose to use software or depend on a 3PL, most shippers understand the importance of a review process. Every bill that companies pay for on a daily, weekly or monthly basis needs to be gone over with a fine-toothed comb as they say.  

In this realm 0f invoicing, 3PLs that specialize in freight bill auditing solutions are highly sought-after. However, the fastest growing trend in logistics at the moment is the automation of repetitive tasks.

But that begs two questions; does technology provide shippers with the best option for accurate freight bill auditing solutions? Or is it still best to work directly with people? 

In this blog post, we will try to answer those question as we take a look at a few of the top benefits of implementing a freight bill auditing solution! 

How Technology Improves Freight Bill Auditing 

Automated freight bill auditing solutions are streamlining the process of reviewing and finding mistakes. They can be configured for any type of industry and feature tools to analyze specific freight modes, seek out clerical errors, and many can even submit payment to carriers automatically. Some of these technological solutions can even contact the carrier automatically to inform them of billing errors. 

Completing tasks in half the time it normally takes, bill auditing is nothing short of a blessing for large scale companies. For big manufacturing operations, the freight bills alone are enough to fill a 40-hour work week! In fact, most companies that have a sizeable accounting department dedicate many resources to this very task.

However, technology is only as good as the platform that powers it. While many robust auditing platforms use AI tools, they still require some level of human interaction. While the future looks promising, the technology is simply not quite there yet to completely remove the human element. 

Many third-party logistics companies use technology to help them find and discover errors in freight bill processing. But relying on these platforms wholeheartedly is unwise.  Throwing caution to the wind and hoping that your software doesn't hit a snag is a gigantic leap of faith. Unfortunately, there are some freight bill auditing companies that do exactly that.

And this is why it's so important for shippers to interview many possible freight bill auditors to determine exactly how their process is completed. From there, you should have a pretty good idea of whether or not that specific auditor is going to be a good fit for your company.

The Human Element and Process Still Matters 

Although technology has come a long way, it still cannot completely thrive without human input throughout the process. The best freight bill auditing companies are those who use advanced software combined with and supported by a team of experienced auditors. Experts in the field of auditing freight bills have real-world logistics experience and practical knowledge that no machine can replace. 

The best third-party logistics companies that offer freight bill auditing services all follow a proven process. A process that discovers mistakes, makes corrections, and most importantly, communicates with the carrier to ensure these mistakes don't occur again.

While each company maintains proprietary standards with respect to their freight bill auditing process, the best providers follow three primary steps:

Organization  

Before any audit can be completed, it is important to have a certain level of organization that will allow the audit to run smoothly.

The best freight bill auditing companies begin their auditing services by organizing data. They do this by separating individual carriers, their contracts, and other negotiated charges into individual files.

Technology and Human Review 

The best freight auditing providers use the latest technology solutions to complete initial freight bill auditing review. They configure and custom design each reporting tool to find discrepancies within the freight bill.

Once complete, if no errors exist, a human reviewer takes over. 

Final Thoughts

In the end, the human element and advanced technology is the best combo for auditing freight bills. If you’re looking to improve the success rate of your freight bill auditing process, reach out to Redwood Logistics.