Have you conducted a "new look" freight audit recently?

Did you know that the Third Party Freight Payment Industry acknowledges that a post audit makes sense? Did you know that your freight bill processing and carrier negotiations can be optimized at no charge to you?

A freight bill post audit is a useful tool for finding out where problem areas may lie, and can point out weak areas in the payment or processing flow of your freight payment practices. By getting a post audit done, you’ll know just exactly how well your payment process and carriers are performing for your company.

Second post audit recovery services by Freight Revenue Recovery of Miami (FRRM) can help your business save hundreds and even thousands of dollars each year by examining and critiquing your freight carriers contracts, negotiations and payment processing. Are your carrier's invoices and fees all properly billed?

FRRM provides a great way to recover any revenue lost to the carrier's inadvertent overcharges. As we all know, errors can slip through even the most sophisticated payment processes. This is where the FRRM post audit process for paid freight bills comes in.

If you haven’t conducted a freight post audit, or performed a second post audit recently, or never conducted one, it’s time to do so. In these difficult economic times, every dollar counts and FRRM is here to help you improve the process.

The Post-Audit Process: A look at what our auditors examine - Part 2

In our last blog post, we launched the first of a three part series that looked at the post-audit process. This week we continue the three part series by taking a close look at essential steps that auditors at Freight Revenue Recovery of Miami (FRRM) taken when recovering overcharges. 

1. Is the currency correct? If other than US pricing, check sources for proper conversion.
2. Accessorial /add on charges: Are they proper and legal in terms of the contract in place? Why has carrier assessed detention charges? Why are port charges being assessed on a domestic move? Why are carriers assessing GST/QST charges on cross border movements? 
3. Fuel Surcharges: Is the fuel surcharge component correct? Check other published sources for comparative pricing including established federal guidelines. There should be separate formulas used for TLTL versus Truckload shipments. 
4. LTL Discount Programs: Are they correct in terms of the contract? Are they being misapplied because of joint line hauls with other carriers? Discounting off of what base structure can make a tremendous difference.

FRRM has many base formulas loaded in our system to make sure we get our clients the largest refund guaranteed.

Next week, we will conclude our three part series of what is examined in the Post-Audit process. 

The Post-Audit Process: A look at what our auditors examine - Part 1

This week we launch the first of a three part series of an in-depth look at the post-audit process. We will share with you what our auditors at Freight Revenue Recovery of Miami (FRRM) typically examine when conducting a post-audit. 

1. Carrier Vendor: Is this an approved carrier vendor? If not, is this a legitimate based operator carrying the required industry level insurance? Are they licensed for intra or interstate carriage of goods?
2. Terms of Shipment: Prepaid or Collect: Is your business truly responsible to pay these freight charges?
3. Description of Goods: Check online sources for B/L’s of PO’s to ascertain if properly described.
4. Base Price Charged: Is it in full compliance with the contract in place? If no contract is in place, are the charges in line with other comparative shipments in the industry? Why were goods moved in two trailers in one day to the same customer and assessed higher charges when they could have been combined?

FRRM has many base formulas loaded in our system to make sure we get our clients the largest refund guaranteed. 

Next week, we’ll continue with part two of what is examined in the Post-Audit process. 

Does Sarbanes-Oxley include Freight and Supply Chain management?

In these challenging economic times it is even more important to have a direct link between the transportation process, the payment function and that of an immediate in-depth post audit review. This is true whether you engage third party services or you audit, process and pay all freight invoices internally. 

We all are versed with the fact that publicly traded companies are required by the SEC to have an outside independent audit performed on their financial activities including the actual supply chain management process. However, here is the overlooked fact. An outside professional accounting firm will, as a priority, focus on the critical areas of accounting practices and systems. Rarely will Transportation and Logistics practices and their invoice process ever get audited. 

The SOX Act, which was signed in to U.S. law, is one of the most significant pieces of securities legislation since the formation of the SEC.  The end goal of SOX is to ensure additional corporate ethics, integrity, and transparency, in light of recent corporate financial malfeasance, in order to better restore public confidence in the American Securities Market. According to SOX Compliance, SCM-Logistics Management owns the responsibility for the audit of Supply Chain Management (SCM) financials. It is up to Supply Chain Management-Logistics management to correctly report on automated billing and payment systems, financial risks such as overcharges, billing errors, fuel surcharge variations, and errors.

As an independent transportation post auditor, based on over thirty years of experience and expertise, we can say with confidence that the need for a comprehensive follow up audit exists even today. Potentially a percentage of your total annual spend may be recovered through our unique audit techniques accomplished in a team environment. 

There are many benefits of having a third party conduct an audit. At Freight Revenue Recovery of Miami:

• We audit your freight bills for compliance with contracts, recover overcharges, and share recoveries with you on a contingency basis. No Recovery, No Charge! 
• We verify carrier compliance with the terms of your contracts. 
• We provide you with paid claim and outstanding claim aging reports, by carrier. 
• We confirm the effectiveness of your own internal audit and furnish you with information that can provide future savings, and also can be used to negotiate freight contracts with your carriers. 
• We also specialize in SECOND Post-audits to confirm the quality of your first Post-Audit (Our rule of thumb is an additional 50% recovery, as well as future savings).

Is your company a victim of duplicate billing?

One would think that with all of the computerized programs and technological advancements, duplicate payments of freight bills would no longer be a problem. Unfortunately, it is the exact opposite - duplicate (and multiple) billing and payment is greater than ever before. 

There are at least 17 different kinds of duplicate payment errors. Although computers have been programmed to catch repetition of pro numbers, bills of lading, origin & destination by date, mileage and other factors; many carriers submit corrected or follow-up bills with slight variations, such as adding suffix letters to pro numbers in order to get away with double billing. Sometimes these variations cause the computer to miss the duplication and pass the item through as a new entry. Carriers may also re-bill on a "Statement" form with a different number series than their invoices causing the bill to be paid twice. If several statements are submitted as follow-ups to an individual bill, that bill could actually end up being paid, three, four or even more times. As the leading freight revenue recovery company, we have seen freight bills of over $500 being paid five times within a two week period.

There are some judgements and conclusions that are beyond our ability to program into computers. In order to minimize the possibility of duplicating payments, the computer's information must ultimately be analyzed and evaluated by trained professionals. We at Freight Revenue Recovery of Miami work to ensure that you aren’t being double or tripled bill and strive to recover the money that is owed to you. 

Why Should You Conduct a Freight Audit?

The purpose of a Freight Audit Company is to help your company recover overcharges by your freight transportation sources. All freight charges, whether inbound or outbound, prepaid or COD, could be entitled to overcharge refunds. Regardless of who initiated the shipment, if your company pays for the freight, you are entitled to claim for overcharge refunds.

Freight Revenue Recovery of Miami (FRRM) has been in business since 1977, effectively serving with distinction the Internal Audit and SOX Compliance needs of a vast number of clients in the manufacturing, retail, and distribution fields. The company has evolved into a World-Wide audit company with impeccable references. In addition to meeting SOX requirements, Freight Revenue maximizes dollar recoveries through steady ongoing improvements in our proprietary software programs and ongoing extensive training programs for our audit staff.

As your outsourcing partner, Freight Revenue Recovery of Miami, Inc., has built a team of professionals that will work directly on your behalf. Our sales staff will consult with you to identify the areas that could be dramatically improved in your current transportation program. Whether your company is a small firm or Fortune 500 in size, you will receive individualized attention. The FRRM post audit is designed to accommodate shippers of all sizes. Our reporting for post audit is geared to providing you useful statistical data for your analysis, in a timely manner. 

Freight Revenue Recovery of Miami provides a great way to recover any revenue lost to the carrier's constant over billing. As we all know, eventually errors slip through even sophisticated payment processes.  Consistent auditing practices lead to better freight management.