Easter candy is a tasty treat, but nothing is sweeter than finding savings buried in your shipping invoices. Here’s where your lost savings are most likely hiding.
Think of your shipping invoices as a grassy field filled with colorful Easter eggs. The goodies (in the form of savings or unclaimed refunds) are right in front of you, but it’s still so hard to find them. In the case of both the real-life Easter eggs and the ones in your shipping invoices, missing out on hidden treasure is no fun.
If you don’t have time to comb through your shipping invoices and determine the source of every fee, invoice auditing can help. This is the best way to identify places where you are overspending, incorrectly billed and leaving money on the table. As a bonus, it helps keep your customers happy by identifying delivery snafus. Invoice auditing allows you to give the grunt work to someone else so you can focus on your business, and it all leads to more money in your pocket at the end of the day.
7 Easter egg savings hiding in your shipping invoices
Wondering what kind of savings Easter eggs might be hiding in your shipping invoices? Here are seven hard-to-find charges that could be costing you money:
1. Failed delivery
Here’s the scenario: Your carrier tries to deliver a package three times, is unable to do so, and then sends the shipment back to you. Both UPS and FedEx have this policy. UPS, for example, will hold a package for five business days after making three attempts to get it to the sender. After this period, it goes back to you. But is the failed delivery your fault? Probably not, so the fees associated with it should not be your responsibility either.
2. Lost packages
Like the failed delivery situation, a lost package is the result of some error along the supply chain. This happens quite frequently with small packages, so look for fees associated with this if you often ship tiny items.
3. Damaged goods
A customer who receives a damaged package from your business might blame you for this issue — even though the mistake was not directly yours. When a customer gets a damaged or broken parcel, they can submit photo documentation to make a claim to the carrier, but reimbursement for damages should not be reflected on your invoice.
4. Return costs
Are you being charged for returns and exchanges you should not be charged for? In today’s e-commerce era, customers expect fast, easy and free returns. This puts an extra burden on businesses who must adapt to meet these demands without creating too much overhead. Identify costs associated with returns on your invoice to make sure you are not overspending in this area.
5. Fuel surcharges
Fuel prices vary. Does your shipping invoice reflect the amount actually spent on fuel, or does it reflect the estimated amount spent on fuel? Not sure? An invoice audit can help you find out. There may be a big difference in the actual fuel cost and the one on your shipping invoice, and you deserve to pay the accurate price.
6. Fees for shipping internationally
If you watch the news, you know that tariffs are an evolving global issue. Shipping invoices may reflect charges due to delays and other factors associated with customs. You don’t need to have a political science degree to understand these; you just need a closer look at your shipping invoice.
7. Manmade and machine-made errors
So much of the supply chain is automated that it’s easy to forget about human error. Believe it or not, it still happens, and lost revenue can be the result. Human errors include incorrect math, switched addresses and tiny typographical mistakes that end up costing huge fees. Think of how much extra money can be spent with a single period being placed incorrectly or a nine that was supposed to be a zero. Data errors can occur, too, and can also cost you money.
How invoice auditing can help
Hidden fees make up a whopping 30% of what companies spend on shipping. That’s shocking — and way too much. Invoice auditing saves money by helping you understand fees to determine which you should and should not be paying.
Our comprehensive audit is designed to get you back some of that 30%. 71lbs reviews 65 different areas of shipping invoices to identify things you may be missing, including surcharges and errors. This not only helps you recoup expenditures, but it also saves you money in lost productivity by outsourcing time-consuming auditing work.
We don’t have monthly fees or sign up fees, and we don’t make you sign a contract. We won’t mess with your carrier relationship either; we’ll just make it easier for you to navigate while saving you money on the supply chain process.
If you’d like to learn more about shipping invoice auditing and our other services, get in touch today.
