Freight transportation billing, and the enlightening information it contains, is a wonder. One part industry workflow necessity, one part pathway to cost and time saving opportunity. The obligatory portion's unavoidable - bills have to be paid. Its' how you do it, and what additional value you receive in the bargain that can make your workdays and worksheets workable for you.

If you're utilizing a freight bill processor partner whose services are reliable and accurate, you're way ahead industry-wise: you're receiving the benefits. If not, unfortunately, you're missing out. Time you seek assistance, gain beneficial awareness through pre- and post-payment bill auditing for accuracy, and give your in-house accounts payable folks an appreciated hand.

Freight invoice payment and allocation, provided by a freight bill processor, is a service that dramatically simplifies your accounting procedures. You make a payment to the processor for all carrier-related expenses; the provider disburses funds to the appropriate carriers, and provides you with accurate cost allocations that can be merged into your general ledger system. The provider handles all payment inquiries. Carriers are paid on time in the currency they require, and funds remain secure throughout all transactions.

Payment accuracy saves shippers substantially, typically between 5% - 15% annually, based on numerous factors. To determine them, and achieve your savings, these data gathering and analyzing steps are as vital as valuable:

Receipt of Freight Invoices and Data - Acting on your behalf, your freight bill processor receives electronic and paper invoices directly from your carriers. Paper bills and associated documents are scanned and converted to uniformly electronic format, and all are available to you online through a secure portal, or delivered to you in searchable electronic format for archival. You realize significant savings because the processor conducting this process for you is able to leverage their scale.

Pre-Payment Audit - Before each invoice is paid, the processor verifies that carrier charges are accurate. They edit and validate freight bills prior to payment for compliance with your exact requirements. Pre-payment audits eliminate carrier overcharges through the use of the processor's up-to-date rate database. They either pay the invoices for you or provide an audited and approved payment file to you. This seamless process uses best practices techniques and thorough data mining software to identify, document and recover carrier overcharges by reviewing every shipping invoice down to line-item detail. Recovery opportunities are found in:
• Determining if the shipment is your liability to pay
• Correcting rate errors
• Collecting for service failures
• Eliminating duplicate billings
• Identifying inappropriate assessorial charges.

Coding and Chargeback - An independent freight bill processor experiences more transaction types and cost allocation scenarios than any individual organization. Rather than in-house time spent processing and coding bills, your staff are enabled for time-critical duties.

Payment and Allocation - A processor dramatically simplifies your accounting procedures. You make only one payment to them for all of your freight expenses; they then disburse appropriate funds to the carriers and provide you with accurate cost allocations that can be imported electronically into your general ledger system. They handle all payment inquiries. Carriers are paid on time and your funds are always secure, creating an accounts payable-accounts receivable loop of efficiency.

Post-Payment Audit - An in-depth, highly-specialized audit reviews each transaction to insure that the billed amount is your freight liability, that the carrier used the correct classification, and that freight and accessorial charges are in compliance with your contracted rates. Your bills are returned to you in the same order as they were received. Post audits are completely risk-free, since all fees are contingency-based.

With the statute of limitations varying from six months to three years for erroneous charges on paid bills, you'll want your processor to move quickly to thoroughly review invoices and bills of lading from your carriers to find:
• Rate errors
• Duplicate billing
• Commodity classification errors
• Accessorial charges
• Discount errors and more.

Since these audits are performed on paid bills, shipping and accounting procedures are unaffected.

The key to accurate freight bill processing and payment success is a time-tested process that combines proven techniques with leading edge technology. Find a freight bill processor that fits and form an alliance. Then you'll ship smarter and save.

Submitted by Tim Nissen of Data2Logistics (www.Data2Logistics.com). [http://www.twitter.com/Data2Logistics]