Whether it’s address correction charges that don’t belong or dimension weight overcharges that should be gone, shipping invoice errors can add up fast. Identifying and recovering these errors allows you to reallocate resources back into your business.
Data-driven auditing is an important process for shippers that can lead to greater visibility and savings. But what’s the best way to engage in this type of auditing? Keep reading the article below to learn more about Small Parcel Audit.
The e-commerce industry is built on massive volumes of data, from customer demand to carrier performance to supply chain logistics. It’s a lot to manage, and the right tools can help you uncover insights that drive optimizations and savings for your shipping operations.
While some companies still choose to perform small parcel audits manually, there’s great merit in letting a software program do the heavy lifting for you – particularly when it saves time and money by catching errors and refunding carrier charges. For example, if you’re paying extra for address corrections or dimension weight fees that don’t belong to your shipment, a company offering parcel audit services can get those extra charges reversed.
This kind of error-catching is just one part of the story when it comes to improving your shipping processes with data analytics and predictive modeling. A top parcel audit software solution, like Loop, can offer you a complete platform for managing your shipping processes and uncovering actionable insights.
A main dashboard provides a clear picture of the status of your entire freight or parcel invoice auditing process, with metrics such as postage savings, rebates earned, and carriers identified for cost optimization. A robust analytics platform can also enable you to build forecasting models that predict freight quantities and identify opportunities for improving routing.
As the e-commerce industry continues to evolve, so too must your shipping strategy. The right tools can empower your teams to adapt, saving you money and reducing the impact of unexpected changes on the bottom line.
With small parcel audit software, your team can focus on the work that’s really important to your business. This leaves them more time to focus on high-level decision making rather than parsing invoices and verifying order details. That means your team can keep up with the whirlwind pace of e-commerce while creating a faster, more accurate and efficient shipping experience for your customers. With the right technology, it’s easy to see how mastering small parcel auditing can be an incredibly profitable investment for your company.
Accuracy
The accuracy of your shipping data is the foundation for all other business functions, including profitability. Input errors are a major contributor to lost profits, and small mistakes add up quickly. Small parcel auditing is a powerful tool that uses data science to identify and prevent these errors, helping businesses save 2% to 5% of their total transportation budget.
Whether you are looking for ways to save money on your freight costs or want to improve your shipping process, leveraging accurate shipping data is essential. The right small parcel audit can help you make the most of your freight spend and strengthen carrier relationships by keeping them accountable to their agreed-upon rates and service terms.
In addition to identifying overcharges, wrong rates, and billing errors, the right small parcel audit can also spot missed opportunities to cut shipping costs. For example, if your company often ships ground shipments to hotels or prisons, flagging these addresses can help you reduce your shipping costs by avoiding residential, commercial and hotel surcharges.
Manual and old-school methods of small parcel invoice auditing are still available, but they can be time-consuming and costly for companies with limited resources or a tight shipping schedule. A more efficient option is small parcel auditing software that automatically scans invoices to identify any problems or areas ripe for savings. This software can save you time and money while ensuring that your invoices are 100% accurate.
While some businesses use manual or automated software, others prefer to outsource their parcel auditing to a professional third-party logistics (3PL) company. These providers have a dedicated team of experts who can handle the auditing work for you, giving your internal staff more time to focus on other projects or refocus their efforts on the most profitable areas of your business.
A good 3PL can identify a wide range of issues on your shipping invoices, from address correction charges that shouldn’t be there to dimension weight charges that shouldn’t exist. In addition, a 3PL can identify if your carriers are charging you additional fees for late delivery or if they aren’t honoring any discounts that were previously negotiated. These insights can be used to negotiate better rates with your carriers, as well as reduce shipping costs for your customers.
Leverage
Small parcel auditing is a process that helps shippers save on shipping costs by uncovering inaccuracies and overcharges. When teams are able to catch errors and recover overspending, they can reallocate resources back to the business. This can help them better weather financial fluctuations and other supply chain issues, such as capacity constraints and labor shortages.
Identifying billing errors and overcharges requires a careful review of all the invoice elements, including rates, accessorial charges, and negotiated discounts. It also takes a look at the underlying data, such as GL codes, business unit, and carrier, to ensure everything matches up. This is a time-consuming and error-prone task, especially for teams that manually audit their invoices.
Software can automate this task by combining all the different sources of information into a single standardized record for auditing and analysis. Logistics-AI like Loop’s can unify spending and spend data from multiple EDIs, AP systems, PDFs, scanned documents, and carrier portals, then translate them into a usable format for analytics. This allows a team to quickly spot errors and exceptions, then automatically file refund requests within the carrier’s specified window.
Additionally, the leverage a company gains from being able to uncover billing errors and overcharges is important when it comes to negotiating shipping contract terms. Whether it’s getting back money for a lapse in service or advocating for terms that reflect current realities, this attention to detail shows carriers they can be trusted partners.
The right software can streamline this entire process and improve operational efficiency, enabling shippers to meet customer demands while maintaining financial stability. This is particularly important given the rising cost of fuel, the impact of natural disasters, and continuing financial pressures. By leveraging a powerful small parcel freight audit solution, shippers can gain the leverage they need to stay on top of the competition and thrive in this challenging environment. Betachon’s meticulous parcel auditing services are designed to address the needs of businesses across the USA and provide them with the insights they need to thrive. Contact us today to learn more about our specialized services and how we can help you maximize your shipping budget.
Efficiency
Small parcel auditing is more than a checkbox on your to-do list; it’s a savvy business strategy that cuts costs, strengthens carrier relationships, and increases leverage in contract negotiations. By catching errors as they occur, you’re not only saving money that could be going back into your company, but also ensuring customers get the quality service they deserve.
Using a fully automated system for analyzing shipping invoices eliminates the chance of human error that can result in missed savings and costly mistakes. This process compares rates negotiated with carriers against the actual charges on each shipment, identifying errors like duplicated or misapplied discounts, address correction fees that shouldn’t be there, and overcharges for dimensional weight measurements.
A seasoned parcel auditing team can help you save money on your freight expenses by pinpointing billing errors and recovering refunds from your shipping carriers. They can also provide insightful analyses into your shipping data that helps you streamline your operations, lower costs, and improve e-commerce profitability in ways you might not have thought possible.
Invoice errors can add up quickly, particularly for businesses with thin margins. By identifying these errors before they become costly, you can reallocate the money that was drained from your bank account to areas of your company that need it most.
Many shipping carriers offer refunds on service failures, which include late deliveries, voids, incorrect dimensions, and more. An affordable parcel audit service will review each shipment and its invoice to identify any charges or fees that should be refunded, including those related to address correction errors, dimensional weight miscalculations, and other costly mistakes.
Shipping invoice errors are common, but they can be costly for businesses with tight margins. Fortunately, these errors are preventable with a specialized parcel auditing service that can review each invoice and identify any errors before they become costly. These services can also help you save money by negotiating with your carriers for refunds, discounts, and other benefits. The money that shipping invoice errors drain from your company can be invested into other areas of the business to drive growth and fuel profitability.