Why You Shouldn’t Be Without Parcel Invoice Auditing Software
How much parcel shipping do you do? The volume of parcel invoices generated can overwhelm even the smallest of shipping operations. Parcel shipping can also result in problems related to double billing, invoice inaccuracies, and a host of other problems. As a result, businesses that perform substantial parcel shipping need a well-executed way to ensure that their invoices are correct. However, organizing and supervising an internal team solely dedicated to invoice auditing can get complex and confusing.
Parcel magazine reports results from shipping surveys noting that more than 50% of businesses conducting shipping use an outside vendor for invoice auditing. With Shipment Trackers, you’ll have access to an auditing vendor that uses robust technology to create efficiencies within the auditing process.
What’s in your logistics technology wallet? Learn why you shouldn’t be without parcel invoice auditing software.
Avoid the Pitfalls with Manual Parcel Invoice Auditing
Manual parcel invoice auditing requires significant internal auditing resources. Traditional manual auditing by personnel on your team is unattainable due to today’s parcel shipment volume. Further, taking a one-size-fits-all approach to auditing a volume of invoices only introduces more room for errors in the auditing process. How can you ensure that you’re handling refund requests appropriately and managing items with compliance, such as on-time and overnight delivery?
With Shipment Trackers, we employ parcel invoice auditing software to check for the following:
- Late delivery charges.
- Inaccurate manifests.
- Address verification.
- Dimensional weight costs.
- Duplicate billing.
- Lost packages.
Add Valuable Data to Your Invoice Auditing
Using software for parcel invoice auditing can help you control your small package process workflow by allowing you to add valuable data to your invoice auditing. With this data, you can establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for your inventory management and shipping operations and create metrics to more accurately measure your transportation spend. Let your data, not your auditing, drive your shipping decisions.
Maintain Positive Customer Service Relationships
Invoice auditing software creates better accountability for your carrier and more positive customer service relationships. Incorrect labeling, parcels delayed in transit, and other problems can hamper your efforts at promoting effective customer service. Invoice auditing software can identify the sources of these problems to resolve errors, thereby mitigating issues with delays and maintaining positive customer relations.
Gain Control Over Budget and Shipping Expenses
Carrier invoices can become complicated and can contain billing errors. While some types of billing, such as prepaid shipping, can address issues with billing inaccuracies, parcel invoice auditing can ensure that invoices get tracked and reviewed for errors and accuracy.
By identifying carrier invoice issues, you can isolate trends among carriers. For example, shippers that coordinate with regional carriers may uncover problems within the carrier’s electronic data interchange (EDI) and other application programming interface (API) systems Additionally, shippers need to know how many and how often shipping corrections due to errors and inaccuracies are made. In doing so, they can prevent problems from occurring in the future and allow themselves to gain better control over their budget and shipping expenses.
Create a System of Checks and Balances
Creating a system of checks and values is important for your parcel invoice auditing processes. You want your invoice auditing to be able to check, verify, and recheck again. Shippers that use a multistep or multistage auditing service can prevent invoices and other details from getting lost or missed. Additionally, a multistage invoice auditing service can also help find the savings for you, notes Chris Lewis of Inbound Logistics in his article “Freight Payment and Auditing Services: Cash Is King.”
Your invoice auditing services provider should also provide full-service features to help you stay connected, such as through email updates or regular telephone calls.
Putting Invoice Auditing Into Perspective
No one is perfect—not even your small package carrier is immune to errors. Shipment Trackers tracks every parcel you ship and audits your service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our technology and our team combined provide carrier accountability, even when your carrier fails to deliver on its promise.
We’re dedicated to securing the savings you deserve.