Parcel audit

Parcel audit is a function often performed by shippers of all sizes. The audit process is commonly aimed at finding incorrectly billed charges on an invoice.

Parcel invoices

Parcel carriers like UPS, FedEx, and DHL often have large, long, and complicated invoices. Any customer shipping a high volume of parcel boxes via one of these carriers will surely see invoices hundreds of pages long. The invoices are chocked full of data, which is mostly of great importance. The invoices show a high amount of visibility to how a package was carried and delivered. This finite data is collected by UPS and FedEx for tracking purposes, but also to automate the process of charging the appropriate amount to their clients.

Invoicing process: errors and overbills

The invoicing process is so automated that mistakes happen quite often. Insiders to UPS and FedEx claim that little focus is spent to PReVENT billing for inappropriate charges. Duplicate charges, incorrect discount amounts, and phantom accessorial charges happen more often than one would care to imagine. Invoicing errors are a common phenomenon, and most large carriers provide teams and electronic forms to quickly contest improper charges on one's invoice. With the proper data to dispute the charges, they are often credited off one's bill in a matter of hours.

Overbilling - or Service Failures - is considered a larger problem than invoicing errors. A Service Failure occurs when a package with a time sensitive guarantee is delivered late. In the case refund is due to the client. However simple it sounds, most carriers like UPS and FedEx place the responsibility on the customer to check the timeliness of every delivered package. Once the service failure is found, the carrier typically credits the amount due in a quick fashion.

Published savings rates

Many studies often claim that up to 5% of a clients UPS and/or FedEx charges are due to errors or over billed items.