Lowering Costs with Auditing, Claims Filing, Rate Negotiations and More
At LJM Group, we audit parcel invoice services so that shippers can focus on their core work while enjoying full cost savings and maximum profitability. We begin by becoming familiar with our clients’ business and their shipping profile so that we can understand their priorities and challenges. Then, we conduct a process that covers several phases, as follows.
Service Audit
When a company ships in volume, one small rate change can multiply many times, leading to substantial reductions in the shipping spend. LJM Group analyzes every aspect of parcel rates, looking for opportunities to drive down costs without sacrificing service. We identify savings opportunities and evaluate them with the client to develop new contract and rate negotiation strategies.
Invoice Audit
We audit past and current shipping invoices using our 45-point proprietary auditing engine. Our system analyzes every shipment on every invoice to uncover overcharges on past bills due to misapplied rates, incorrect charges, unpaid refunds, unfulfilled service guarantees and more.
Recovery
Carrier overcharges occur frequently and can add up to thousands of dollars. Once we identify erroneous charges and refund opportunities, we do the legwork necessary to recover our clients’ money from the carriers. We file and manage all the necessary claims, and the carriers credit the client.
Reports
“You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” As we process shipping data, clients receive detailed reports pertaining to any area of activity. Clients can use any of our standard report formats or specify the information with date ranges to view fully customized reports. Reports are very helpful in the management of logistics and the discovery of rate and service improvement opportunities.
Invoicing
We work on a contingency basis, and bill clients only after they have recovered their refunds and/or reduced their parcel rates. If you’re paying us, that means you’re enjoying costs savings well in excess of our fees.
Here’s how our weekly invoice auditing service works:
1
We receive your weekly electronic carrier invoice(s) via UPS Billing Center or FedEx.com Billing.
2
We import your weekly electronic invoice file into our proprietary auditing software, track and assess each shipment for on-time delivery, rate and contract conformity and accessorial charge compliance.
3
We identify the errors, overcharges and late delivered packages and make daily and weekly FedEx and UPS refund submissions on your behalf.
4
The carriers credit your invoices for the refund amounts (UPS will credit subsequent invoices while FedEx credits open invoices).
5
We reconcile all carrier refunds and upload all customer invoice data to our client web portal application for invoice reporting and visibility. Each customer can access these reports 24/7.
Our ONLY fee is a percentage of the recovered funds once they have been credited to your account. We invoice you the month following the credit appearing on your carrier invoice. We provide detailed reports showing all credits and refunds.