Have you heard about all the lawsuits major US shipping companies have had to settle in recent years? Unfortunately, the biggest names in the US have been caught willfully and purposefully overcharging on their invoices. Just Google any large US shipper’s name and the word “lawsuit” to find the information.

Now, it’s also true that they sometimes make mistakes. With so many invoices and so much shipping done, there’s bound to be a certain level of error.

However, that error now gets reduced to practically nothing because of freight invoice auditing software. In the past, it was easy to just overlook errors because of all the human work involved. But EDI software makes it practically automated (in most cases) so you can process large amounts of data with relative ease.

How Much Can You Save with Freight Invoice Auditing?

For most companies that don’t already do it, the financial savings freight invoice auditing offers are substantial. For companies with high-volume shipping, it’s common that 10% of their overall expenses are devoted just to shipping.

A typical outsourced freight invoice auditor can save you $3 – $4 per bill. Multiply that by the number of invoices you have per month. And you can see how the savings quickly rack up.

But, did you know that’s not even the biggest area of savings?

Instead, many companies save money when they use the data freight invoice auditing software provides to negotiate with shippers. That data then not only gets used for shipping and negotiations, but it also informs business operations going forward. Many companies find additional areas for streamlining processes and gaining efficiency.

So, while the $3 – $4 per bill sounds good and is the most immediately realized benefit, it’s really just the tip of the iceberg for most companies. Long-term, your savings can quickly skyrocket, even if you hire only an average freight invoice auditor.

Freight Invoice Auditing Is Not an Option in 2016 and Beyond

The benefits of freight invoice auditing are too great for any sensible company to ignore. If you’re not taking advantage of this service, you’re not going to stay competitive now or in the future.

The real question becomes whether you should purchase and administer your own software, or if you should hire an outsourced service provider. And we’ll cover that in the next post.