Last updated on March 22nd, 2024 at 01:21 pm
Parcel auditing is an integral part of parcel management. A good parcel audit process will help businesses improve the customer experience, save time and money, and ensure accurate and timely deliveries.Â
This article will explain parceling auditing and its importance to your business. It will also offer valuable tips for ensuring your process works well for everyone, from customers to carriers to internal departments like accounting and sales.
What Is Parcel Auditing?
Parcel auditing is a process used to help companies identify and recover overcharges on shipping costs. It involves analyzing invoices and contracts to identify discrepancies between the negotiated rates and the actual rates charged. Hence, it is also referred to as parcel invoice auditing.
Parcel auditing can also help identify incorrect billing practices, such as wrong weight or package size, fuel surcharges, and delivery zones. By identifying these discrepancies, companies can ensure they are not overpaying for shipping and can recover any overcharges that have been made.
However the parcel invoice audit is done, there are many benefits for businesses who choose this path, including the following:
- Reduced risk for theft or fraud because you know exactly how much inventory was shipped out or stolen by employees or third parties before arriving at its intended location
- Increased customer satisfaction because customers will receive goods quickly regardless if they’re located near one another
- Fewer shipping errors due to a lack of communication between departments within a single company
- Less hassle spent dealing with customer service inquiries caused by delays due to lost orders not being found.
Data shows that the global freight audit and payment market is rising. Verified Market Research’s market analysis shows that the worldwide freight audit and payment market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 13.72% between 2023 to 2030 and surpass $1.9 billion by 2030.
Parcel Auditing Improves Accuracy
Invoice errors are a common challenge facing almost all businesses, regardless of their industry. According to the Hidden Cost of Invoice Errors in Nordics report, 0.53% of all invoices had some errors. Moreover, these errors took an average of 31 days for correction, and 25% of all the incorrect audits went undetected. All of these can create troubles for a company.
Accuracy is essential to any business, as it helps to optimize your company’s efficiency, save money, and improve your customer experience. To start, accuracy minimizes the possibility of shipment delays. Delays can cause problems with inventory management, production schedules, and shipping timeframes, which impacts bottom lines.
Additionally, inaccuracies in parcel audits may lead to incorrect information being entered into your ERP system or CRM software. This could result in a loss of revenue by not sending out an alert when a shipment is late or misplacing essential data about the products you sell.
Another advantage of regular parcel auditing is ensuring all shipments are accounted for throughout the order fulfillment process. When orders are shipped correctly and on time every time, even if what was ordered wasn’t exactly what was sent, customers will be more likely to trust your brand and recommend it to others because they know they can rely on you when they need something fast.
Parcel Auditing Ensures Timely Deliveries
Parcel auditing helps ensure timely deliveries, which can help businesses improve customer satisfaction and retention, reduce costs, and improve their overall image. According to a study published in Business and Management Studies: An International Journal (BMJI), on-time delivery can significantly impact customer satisfaction and loyalty.
When you manage your internal shipping systems and staff, it’s essential to have a way of tracking parcels to make sure that they are being delivered on time. This can be done through parcel auditing software or manual processes such as sending a receipt after each delivery.
By using parcel auditing software or other methods of keeping track of shipments coming into the business, there is no room for error in ensuring that parcels are sent out promptly.
If a company does not use parcel auditing software, then there may be times when packages arrive late due to human error or lack of oversight on behalf of management. These mistakes cost hundreds of lost revenue per month because customers will go elsewhere if they don’t feel satisfied with the service received at all stages during the ordering process, including delivery time frame expectations being met.
Parcel Auditing Helps Save Money
As you can see, parcel auditing is a useful skill that any e-commerce business should invest in. Auditing your parcels regularly will help you save money in the long run, and who doesn’t want that?
Here are some ways parcel auditing helps save money:
- It prevents theft. Parcels containing expensive items or merchandise can easily be stolen if someone at all times is not watching over them. By having your parcels audited regularly, thieves will have no chance of getting away with their crimes if an auditor catches them red-handed.
- It protects against losses due to damage or theft during transit. If there’s no one around monitoring your shipments when they’re being transported from one location to another, it opens up the possibility for damage and loss of valuable goods. By hiring an auditor who will follow up on each shipment as it moves from point A to point B and back again, you’ll be able to ensure that no harm comes to your products during transit and that there aren’t any losses caused by theft or damage along the way.
Even the experts back up the fact that parcel invoice auditing can help save money. According to Chris Cashin, a Forbes Business Council member, regular parcel auditing can help save 20% of the shipping costs.
Parcel Auditing Enhances Visibility
Parcel auditing is a process that helps businesses gain visibility into their parcel delivery process. It is a valuable tool for improving the speed and accuracy of deliveries and ensuring that the appropriate amount of postage is being paid.
For example, if your business has been using regular parcel auditing, it would be easy to see when parcels are delivered late or missing and take steps to correct this problem. Increased visibility could even help prevent issues like incorrect postage rates, which many businesses have fallen victim to before starting a regular audit program.
Conclusion
It’s clear that parcel auditing improves customer experience, saves time, and saves money. In fact, the only thing it doesn’t do is make you feel like an accountant. But if you want to keep track of your parcels and ensure they get where they need to go in good condition on time, then it’s worth considering this as part of your business process.
