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The 4 Reasons To Hire An Expert To Pay Freight Invoices

Posted on August 1, 2014

Written by broussard_press

Every company should know what their core business is. It is really the answer to the questions: Why are you in business? What do your clients hire you do to for them? While that sometimes can be a complex answer or a response with multiple parts, there are still elements to operating a business that can be divided into essential and non-essential tasks.

Just about every business has an accounting department charged with managing cash flows, financing growth, tracking receivables, and paying the bills. For some small businesses that might just be a bookkeeper, but for mid-size to large companies it might take a staff of 100 people to handle this task. In either case, particularly the larger the company, there are some times where an expert should be brought in to handle certain aspects of the job.

One of those times is paying freight invoices. If shipping products is a significant part of your firm’s core business, then you may need to consider hiring an expert to execute paying freight bills and effectively managing this task.

Here are 4 reasons why:

#1 – Consolidate Billing. How much does it cost your company to cut 1 check? How about 50 checks? If you are constantly shipping your products out the door to your customers, freight is a constant expense. Writing one check per month as opposed to 50 will save money in the long run.

#2 – Eliminate Non-Revenue Generating Activity. Focusing on your core business is one thing. Having multiple staff people handling non-core tasks that are not generating revenue – sorting, mailing, distributing – is another thing, and not very efficient. Add the expense of outbound mail and postage, and the costs pile up quickly. A strong case can be made to reduce this activity to a minimum.

#3 – Capture Strategic Data. While shipping may or may not be a core part of your business, making decisions with the best possible information is always an advantage. By outsourcing the payment of freight bills to an expert 3rd party, they have the ability to compile the billing data, analyze it, and make recommendations such as how to reduce expenses, change strategy, or alter behavior that can save money and improve efficiencies. All this helps the firm do what it does best.

#4 – Link To Technology. In this day and age, adopting and embracing technology is part of every industry. Yours is no different. Many businesses have invested in some type of business management software, or an ERP, to help make strategic decisions. Outsourcing the payment of freight bills should not change that. An expert can link to your ERP with no loss of data, and in most cases can get you information quicker that helps you make more informed decisions.

So, just because you have a great accounting team or an efficient operation, that doesn’t mean you can’t get better. Paying freight invoices is not necessarily like paying the rent. There are complex variables – tariffs, upcharges, fuel adjustments, rate bases – that should be tracked and monitored by someone who knows what they are doing.

Who knows – by adding another expert to your team, you may find you and your people have more time to focus on your core business.