7 Freight Invoice Errors to Avoid

Services are rendered and then paid for as agreed. That primary business platform is the foundation for the shipping industry today. But delayed payments or mistakes with freight invoices can create a cascade of disruptions for companies of all sizes. Cost control is critical for shippers today. What is a freight invoice is a loaded question. Minor errors in freight invoices can add up over time, add to overall expenses, and cut shipping profits. As tender rates go up and the demand for capacity and driver availability remain tight, even the most minor issues can ripple effect throughout supply chains.

Shippers must cut costs while keeping service quality as high as possible to keep tender acceptance rates as high as possible. Expert auditing and freight invoice processing make it easier to keep up with current market trends. According to 2022 reports within the shipping and freight industry from C.H. Robinson, tender acceptance rates continued showing improvement across most industrial markets. March reached 82%, and April hit 85% overall with hub injection, zone skipping, and other advanced shipper services. These numbers are up from the 80% noted in January 2022.

Effective review and managing of transport invoice data and review processes can help shipping managers and team members keep these tender rates high with reliable invoice facts. Shippers maintain optimized service options, all while avoiding these common invoicing errors and problem areas:

1. Unapplied Discounts or Affiliation Savings

One of the benefits of networking with industry leaders is access to savings and special discounts. If the freight invoices do not reflect these, it can cost a shipping company significantly when the mistake is uncorrected. An easy way to avoid this issue is using templates and automated reporting of errors among freight invoices and individual carrier trends to help keep business logistics front and center.

2. Miscalculated Packages or Pallets

Freight invoice processing can help shippers manage the constant flow of calculations and figures involved with pallet, parcel, and container shipping. Slight miscalculations can quickly add to the overall experience. Regular freight invoice processing makes it easier to catch these issues early in the process.

3. Unplanned Detention, Demurrage, or Per Diem Charges

Managing freight invoices and payments is predictive planning for anticipated fees, surcharges, and additional expenses. Shippers lose money if detention and similar costs are not figured into shipments or are regularly higher than expected. Avoiding this with regular freight invoice processing, auditing, and monitoring is possible.

4. Freight Misclassification

Shipping and supply chain data make it easier to manage freight invoices and apply actionable insights, analytics, and data to improve freight management. Everything from ensuring freight is classified correctly and charging the correct shipping rate is a part of this process. Regular review and checks let shippers spot errors in freight invoices like this.

5. Duplicate Freight Invoices

Regular freight invoice processing and auditing checks individual invoices for errors and ensure that no duplicated invoices or payments are going out. Studying freight invoice processes for accuracy and auditing invoices and expenses makes it easier to notice these duplications, so time and money get used effectively.

6. Customs Mistakes

Many shippers have an added complexity when sending and processing freight invoices because they must also deal with customs expenses and specialized freight accounting. Miscalculated fees, incorrectly declared goods, and other mistakes can significantly increase costs without good freight invoice auditing.

7. Undiscussed Accessorial Fees

The final thing shippers have to check for when managing freight bills and payments is additional charges that were not previously discussed or agreed to by the carrier or driver. Using freight invoice processing and auditing services makes it easier to pinpoint these undiscussed fees, and modern freight invoice analysis tools help shippers monitor supply chains more accurately.

Gain Insight Into and Control Over Freight Invoice Errors

Managing expenses, profits, cash flow, bills, and invoice payments are some of the shippers' financial responsibilities. Keeping up with accurate and regular expense audits, including freight invoice checks, can help shippers avoid common errors and improve freight cost management. Embracing modern advances in anomaly detection and disruption mitigation can help shippers ensure each invoice, bill, and payment is correct. Improve overall business intelligence and insight with freight invoice auditing services and see how easy it can be to save time and money. After all, more data around transport invoice processes will help your team identify when to consolidate freight, skip zones, apply hub injection and make other decisions that can lower landed shipping spending. Contact Intelligent Audit today to learn more and get a freight invoice audit of your own.