To say freight and logistics costs have gone up would be quite an understatement. Businesses in the U.S. spent a whopping $2.3 trillion on logistics costs last year, according to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals’ latest State of Logistics Report. That’s nearly 9% of the national GDP, and $360 billion more than what they spent in 2021.
While some rising costs are inevitable due to inflation and market dynamics, shippers can take control of their finances with the help of TMS logistics software. Within transportation management systems, you and your team can use freight finance software to manage and reduce costs, saving your logistics budget.
How exactly can shippers use freight finance software and TMS in logistics for better budgeting? Here are five tactics to consider:
Freight finance software helps you manage various aspects of your freight transportation spend. That includes accounts payable, creatingprocessing invoices, tracking cash flow, or setting up credit facilities.
By using freight finance software with a logistics TMS, businesses get a more accurate picture of their accounting and billing. Everything is centralized, helping to organize many moving pieces.
In a complex world where one shipment might be on rail from Chicago to the West Coast, another freight load is traveling by truck from the Port of Baltimore to the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, and countless others are moving around in your supply chain network, freight finance software is critical. It reduces errors, cuts down on administrative costs, and leads to better financial control.
Reduce Invoicing Errors through Automation
Companies can save their logistics budget – and reduce errors – through automation.
Conducting manual audits of invoices is not only time-consuming but costly and, at times, inaccurate. Many shippers don’t have time to do manual audits, so they may have no clue how accurate their invoices are.
Instead, automated invoice audits in TMS logistics software can lead to more accurate results. They ensure compliance by quickly detecting any discrepancies and minimizing disputes between shippers, their suppliers, and their transportation partners. This leads to efficiency and accuracy all around, improves financial control, and keeps healthy relationships up and down the supply chain.
Data-driven cost allocation is another strategy to save your logistics budget. Much like personal finance tools that show you maybe spent a few too many dollars on retail therapy, TMS logistics software provides similar insights but for your freight spend. The tool aggregates invoices, contracts, and freight records. The software analyzes the data to find spending patterns and cost drivers, providing detailed analytics on how costs were divided up.
Shippers can then use that data to decide where and how to allocate their spending. This helps logistics teams optimize their budgeting, improve financial decision-making, and, perhaps most importantly, reduce costs.
Shippers can use their TMS in logistics to ensure compliance. Freight finance software tracks spending and automates auditing, helping to meet financial standards and ensure accounts are in order and by the book.
By producing accurate financial data, the software helps reduce discrepancies and potential disputes with invoices and payments.
The final key strategy shippers can use to save their logistics budget is to streamline administrative tasks.
A TMS in logistics automates tasks and cuts down the time teams need to spend on admin processes. This makes their lives easier, freeing them up for strategic, creative, and relationship-building work.
Logistics teams can focus on growth rather than a mountain of paperwork or a hefty administrative workload. That’s what the TMS logistics software is for.
Logistics spending nationwide is in the trillions, but it doesn’t have to break the bank at your business. Through a TMS in logistics with freight finance software, shippers can cut down on invoicing errors, use data analytics to understand where the money is going, and streamline their administrative tasks.
If you’re looking for a TMS in logistics with freight finance software that does it all, Owlery is here to help. At Owlery, we’re more than a TMS. We live by the philosophy that no one ships alone. We offer several features designed to save costs, boost efficiency, enhance decision-making, improve customer satisfaction, and, perhaps most importantly, make life easier for hard-working logistics teams.
Check out this video to see how it works, and get started with Owlery today.
