Freight Audit

Rates
Does the invoiced amount match the agreed rate for this lane, this weight and this number of loading metres or pallets? Even complex rate bands are calculated automatically.

Surcharges
Are the surcharges charged, such as the fuel surcharge, in line with the agreements with the carrier?

Additional costs
Waiting time, cancellation fees, a tail lift or a failed delivery: additional costs are only accepted if they were submitted and approved in advance according to the fixed procedure in OrangeChain.

Duplicate invoicing
We check that a trip is not charged more than once.

Invoice versus execution
Was the invoiced trip actually carried out that way? We compare the invoice with the recorded trip data and the proof of delivery.

If we find a deviation, it is clearly flagged, with the reason and the difference in amount. The correction is agreed directly with the carrier, for example via a credit note. Invoices that are correct can go through to your financial administration without delay.

The payment itself remains between you and your carrier. Noventra checks and flags, but does not pay freight invoices on your behalf. That keeps the financial relationship clear and direct.

Freight audit delivers more than corrections alone. You get a clear picture of which carriers frequently deviate, which cost items are rising structurally and where additional costs are piling up. Those insights are valuable for your next Carrier Tendering or for discussions in the periodic review with carriers.

Because all shipments, rates and approved additional costs are already in OrangeChain, nothing needs to be collected separately for the check. The agreements and the execution are in one place, so every invoice can be checked straight away. Reading and comparing invoices can also be supported by our AI Procurement Agents and Document Processing Agents.

Scientific research shows the impact AI can have on processing logistics documents. In a practical case at an Italian manufacturer, consignment notes were read automatically with AI at goods receipt. Within two months, the share of documents requiring human attention fell from 8% to 4%, a reduction of 50%. This was partly the result of clear agreements with suppliers on how their documents are structured. The reliability of the processing rose to around 99%, and the target of saving 1.5 FTE in staff deployment was achieved.

The researchers name automatically matching invoices against freight documents as the logical next step. That is exactly what freight audit is about.

These results apply to that specific case and are not a prediction of the savings at Noventra. They do show how much manual work can be saved in processing logistics documents.

Source: Merli, M., Ciarapica, F.E., Chalakkal Varghese, K., & Bevilacqua, M. (2024). Artificial Intelligence Approach to Business Process Re-Engineering the Information Flow of Warehouse Shipping Orders: An Italian Case Study. Applied Sciences, 14(21), 9894.