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Freight Audit and Payment

Freight audit and payment that rebuilds every carrier bill from the signed agreement and its amendments, argues the carrier's side, and pays only what the contract says.

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The problem

A signed amendment cut the rate, and the rate table still has the old one

Carriers bill by EDI, by PDF to the payables inbox and through their own portals, against rates, fuel tables and accessorial schedules that live in the agreement and its amendments. The audit engine checks the bill against a rate table someone typed. When an amendment is signed and never loaded, the old rate passes every week until somebody reads the contract.

Fuel is priced on whatever week the engine was set to, while the carrier's rules tariff quietly picks the invoice week. The same load arrives as an EDI bill and again as a PDF under a new pro number. Disputes are emailed and answered in free prose, nobody watches the day a bill can no longer be contested, and finance signs a run it never opened.

Built forFreight audit analystsFreight audit managersTransportation finance managersControllers

The Problem Today

Carrier bills are checked against a typed rate table, so a signed rate cut goes unapplied for months.

180 days
to contest a trucking bill from receipt, under federal law published

Compared by eye today

  • Bills
  • Amendments
  • Diesel week
  • Disputes
  • One load, paid twiceEDI first, then a PDF under a new pro number
  • The contest window lapsesNobody watches the last day a bill can be disputed

The Solution

  1. Each line rebuiltMiles, rate, fuel and extras worked from the signed agreement
  2. The carrier's side arguedA challenger raises what the carrier would say; each point is answered
  3. Repeat bills held wholeThe same bill of lading searched across EDI, inbox and portal
  4. Finance signs the runAfter opening the held and adjusted lists; payables releases it

Built-in controls

  • Nobody signs off on their own audit
  • A carrier's note is opened by a person
  • Bills past the window go to the audit manager

What You Get

Transportation finance pays what the contract says and recovers what was missed while the law still allows.

  • Stale rate tables caughtRates read from the amendment, not the system table
  • Disputes answered in fieldsCarriers accept or reject each line, with a document
  • Rulings turned into rulesThe audit manager approves each before it applies
Features

Freight audit and payment features, from the EDI 210 to the release to the ERP

Analysts work the adjusted and held bills, the audit manager rules on what the records cannot settle, and finance signs the weekly run. The screens follow one truckload bill.

demoSample data throughout: carriers, people, pro numbers, lanes, rates, amounts and the shipper itself.

  1. 01Re-rating sheet

    Freight bill audit that rebuilds each line from the signed rate agreement

    • Linehaul from the amendment in force on pickup. The rate comes from the signed agreement and its amendments, so a rate cut nobody loaded into the TMS still gets applied.
    • Fuel from the week the contract names. The diesel price, the step formula and the result are written out, so a fuel argument is settled from the clause and the EIA row.
    • Each figure stamped and cited. Every line shows billed, contract and difference with the clause behind it, so the analyst checks the working, not a verdict.
  2. 02Carrier's side

    Each short-pay argued from the carrier's side before the notice goes out

    • The carrier's likely objections, raised first. Late tender, the carrier's own tariff or an unsigned amendment is answered from the record before a dispute starts.
    • Points the records cannot settle go to the manager. An alleged email agreement on a handling fee waits for the audit manager's ruling instead of an agent's guess.
    • The agents' own look-back challenged too. When the challenger finds loads tendered too late for the amended rate, the agents concede and the recovery figure comes down.
  3. 03Look-back

    Paid loads re-rated back to the amendment's start with one instruction

    • A steer typed in plain words. Asking for every load from this carrier since the amendment adds a step to the plan, so earlier overpayments are found in the same session.
    • Dates clamped to what the contract covers. An earlier date than the amendment's start is clamped to it, so the look-back never claims a rate that was not yet agreed.
  4. 04180-day line

    Overcharges split by the 180-day line for contesting a carrier's bill

    • Contestable and older loads counted apart. Bills still inside the window become one overcharge claim, while older ones go to the audit manager and counsel instead of into a dispute.
    • Each load with its tender lead time. The download holds every load with miles, rate and notice hours, so the carrier can check the claim line by line.
    • The root cause sent to its owner. Procurement is asked to load the amendment; the agents do not edit the rate table themselves.
  5. 05Agreements

    Carrier agreements read for fuel week, precedence and rate drift

    • Fuel week and tariff precedence per carrier. The analyst sees which agreements name a fuel week and override the carrier's tariff, and which leave a gap.
    • Rate table drift flagged against the amendment. A TMS row that still carries the old rate is marked beside the amendment that changed it.
  6. 06Short-pay notice

    Structured short-pay notice with reason codes, clauses and the contest date

    • Line, billed, agreement, short-paid and clause. The carrier sees exactly what was cut and why, with the amendment and fuel table attached instead of a paragraph in an email.
    • Sent only after the analyst signs. The dispute writer drafts it, and nothing reaches the carrier until the analyst short-pays the bill and states why in their own words.
    • Contest date from the receipt date. The last day to contest is printed on the notice, so the 180 days are tracked from the start.
  7. 07Carrier reply

    Carrier accepts or rejects each line in fixed fields, with a document

    • Accept or reject per line, with a corrected invoice. An accepted line closes with the carrier's own corrected bill, and only the rejected line stays open.
    • A rejection needs a document. The carrier attaches what it relies on, so the analyst answers the clause and not a phone call.
    • Free text held until a person reads it. The carrier's note changes no amount, and the reply to the rejected line stays blocked until it is opened.
  8. 08Payment run

    Weekly freight payment run signed only after the held and adjusted lists open

    • Held and adjusted lists opened before signing. The finance manager's signature means the exceptions were looked at, and finance cannot change an audit result.
    • Controller added above a set threshold. Runs over the threshold need the controller as a second approver, and the threshold itself is a setting the controller approves.
    • Run counted by source and by reason. EDI, PDF and portal shares and each short-pay reason are totaled, so finance sees how many bills each reason cut before signing.
  9. 09Release

    Signed freight payment run released to the ERP by accounts payable

    • Payables releases; it does not re-audit. The accounts payable specialist sends the signed file as it stands, so nobody signs their own audit.
    • Each line coded for the ledger. Pro, carrier, amount, GL account and cost center travel with every payment line into the ERP.

Audit, the audit manager, finance and the controller on one carrier bill

Analysts audit, the manager settles what records cannot, finance signs the run, the controller approves larger runs and the accrual.

Freight audit analysts

Work the adjusted and held bills, short-pay with reasons and steer the agents

  • The working behind every rebuilt line
  • Carrier objections answered before a dispute
  • Look-backs requested in plain words
Freight audit managers

Rule on points the records cannot settle and approve claims, rules and old bills

  • A queue of only what needs a ruling
  • Duplicates released only by a second person
  • Rulings proposed as rules for approval
Transportation finance managers

Sign the weekly payment run and prepare the month-end freight accrual

  • Held and adjusted lists opened before signing
  • Totals by source and by reason
  • An accrual priced at agreement rates
Controllers

Approve runs above the threshold and the month-end freight accrual

  • One traceable number for freight
  • Accrual by cost center, with what the agents changed
  • A second approval only where the threshold demands
More screens

The bills queue, the carrier's portal and the month-end accrual

The rest of the week around the same bill: volume, the carrier's side, approvals, rules and the close.

The bill as it arrivedThe EDI bill beside the re-rating sheet while the agents work, with a duplicate PDF already held from the payables inbox.
The carrier's billing portalThe carrier's billing contact accepts linehaul, rejects fuel with its tariff, enters a corrected invoice and adds a note.
Bills that need a personOf 4,212 bills, 404 adjusted and 118 held, filtered by reason, carrier and source, sorted by contest-by date.
The audit manager's queueA handling fee to rule on, older loads to decide, a proposed fuel-week rule and a held duplicate waiting for release.
The month-end accrualLoads delivered and not yet billed, priced at agreement rates by cost center, prepared by finance and waiting for the controller.
Rulings becoming rulesThree of the audit manager's fuel-week rulings proposed as one rule, beside the rules already in force and who approved each.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Holding a bill is automatic; paying, disputing and releasing are not

Changing the TMS rate tableThe agents read the amendment and ask procurement to load it; the table belongs to procurement.
Ruling on a charge the agreement does not coverThe audit manager decides, in writing, with the clause in front of them.
Releasing a held duplicateA second person releases it, and only if the carrier shows two loads.
Disputing bills past the contest windowOlder loads go to the audit manager and finance, with the question for counsel named.
Signing or releasing the payment runFinance signs after opening the lists; payables releases the file; the agents move no money.

Seven records behind each freight bill audit, from EDI to the bank file

Each rebuilt line cites one of them.

Carrier billsElectronic invoices, PDFs to the payables inbox and portal uploads
Rate agreements and amendmentsSigned agreements, amendments, fuel tables and accessorial schedules
Transportation management systemShipments, tenders, appointments, delivery receipts and the rate table
EIA weekly diesel priceThe published price for the week each agreement names
ERP vendor file and GLRemit-to details, GL accounts and cost centers for each payment line
Carrier billing portalReplies to short-pay notices in fields, documents and corrected invoices
Payables inboxPDF bills and attachments, read for duplicates across sources

What shippers ask about freight audit and payment

What is freight audit and payment?

Freight audit and payment checks each carrier bill against the contract before it is paid, then pays the approved bills in a controlled run. Here agents rebuild every line from the signed agreement and its amendments, hold duplicates, and finance signs the weekly run.

How is this different from a rules engine checking the rate table?

A rules engine passes whatever the rate table says. This reads the agreement and amendments themselves, prices fuel on the week the contract names, and writes out the working, so a signed rate cut that never reached the table is still applied.

How long do we have to contest a carrier's bill?

For motor carrier bills, the shipper has one hundred eighty days from receipt under federal law. The contest-by date is printed on each bill and notice, and older loads go to the audit manager instead of a dispute.

How are duplicate freight bills caught?

The same bill of lading, ship date and amount are searched across EDI, the payables inbox and the carrier portal. A match is held whole, and a second person releases it only if the carrier shows two loads.

What does the carrier see?

A structured short-pay notice in its billing portal, with each line, the clause and the documents. It accepts or rejects each line in fields, attaches a document or a corrected invoice, and may write a note that only people read.

Who approves the payment run?

The transportation finance manager signs after opening the held and adjusted lists, the controller adds approval above the threshold, and accounts payable releases the file to the ERP. No one signs their own audit.

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Re-rate a week of bills
you already paid.

Bring one carrier's agreement, its amendments and a week of its bills, and we will rebuild every line with you.

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