Carrier onboarding onto Audit

How carriers are onboarded onto audit

Introduction

This Playbook outlines the process for onboarding you, our Logistics Service Provider (LSP) onto our Logistics Reporting and Auditing solution (powered by 7bridges). This cloud-based solution enables us to view all of our logistics data in a standardised way, as well as ensuring that we are being invoiced in accordance to our agreed contracts and service levels.

Who are 7bridges?

7bridges is a leading provider of innovative logistics solutions designed to empower businesses to optimize their supply chains and unlock significant cost savings. They leverage the power of data and automation to streamline and improve processes within the Supply Chain.

Their vision is to use data to help both LSPs and Businesses shipping products, creating a more efficient market for all.

Why Are We Doing This?

We want to improve internal efficiencies with respect to reporting and automate auditing invoices, in return there should be benefits for you too:

Our Benefits:

• Improved visibility into spending patterns; granular data insights into logistics costs to help us make informed decisions and optimize our supply chain

• Automation of internal processes and subsequent time savings

• Increased accuracy in logistics costs paid

Your Benefits:

• Flexibility in data formats accepted for invoice, rate card and shipment data (minimising need to create custom or manual reports to service our needs)

• Potential for faster payments with a more automated and defined exceptions process

• Improved communication to help you understand the status of invoices

What Does This Mean for our Logistics Service Providers?

As part of the Audit solution, LSPs experience a more efficient and collaborative freight invoicing process. You can submit invoices electronically through secure channels, ensuring faster processing and timely payments upon successful audits. Additionally, our system facilitates clear communication regarding any discrepancies on invoices, allowing for swift resolution and maintaining positive customer relationships.

In order to successfully complete the audit process, we have some minimum data and file format requirements for receiving your invoices and rates. See the section 'Receiving your Data' for further details. This may vary depending on the structure and format of your rates.

After receiving invoices, our partner 7bridges will complete the audit process & either approve payment by our AP team or raise a dispute with you. This means that partial or full payment of an invoice will be held until the dispute is resolved. See for more details. Invoices may also be rejected if they do not meet our minimum data requirements

We will be completing an Onboarding Process with you in order to configure the 7bridges platform correctly to match your Invoice and Rate / Contract data.

When Does Freight Audit Start with 7bridges?

As per our agreement, Audit starts once your Rate Cards and Invoices are successfully onboarded with 7bridges. All logistics transport invoices after this date should be sent to 7bridges in the agreed format following the new process.

Before commencing, 7bridges will be conducting an Onboarding to help you prepare and participate successfully in our new Audit process.

Onboarding

The Onboarding process ensures a smooth transition and prepares you to meet our new requirements. This will include:

1. LSP Kick Off

• Communication: We will inform you of your data requirements and how we’re partnering with 7bridges to facilitate data collection and validation. 
• Onboarding documents: We will share all data fields and requirements for onboarding onto 7bridges software. Details can be found in the section 'Receiving your Data' below. Our expectation is that data is returned to 7bridges no later than 2 weeks after the initial request.

2. Calibration & Configuration

• Rate Card Analysis: 7bridges will analyse rate cards to understand your rates and services for various services and routes, how they’re applied and how they’re reflected in invoices
• Invoice Breakdown: 7bridges will review a sample set of your invoices to identify common data points and formats to ensure seamless integration and data extraction.
• Clarification Session: 7bridges will work collaboratively with you to clarify any questions regarding specific charges, accessorial fees, or service descriptions found on your invoices.
• Rate card review: 7bridges will inform you what charges will flag as requiring more evidence, as requested by us
• Platform Setup: 7bridges will configure our platform to hold your rate cards and receive your invoices. This is designed with minimum effort from your side - we don’t expect you to upload files to our Platform & we can work with your existing invoice & shipment detail formats (provided the minimum data is available).

3. User Testing and training

• Real-World Scenarios: 7bridges will conduct tests using real invoices and corresponding rate cards to simulate the live audit process.
• Exception Documentation: 7bridges will document any exceptions or discrepancies identified during testing, allowing them to fine-tune the audit rules for optimal accuracy.
• Rule Adjustments: Based on the testing results, 7bridges refine the audit rules within our platform to ensure it accurately identifies discrepancies specific to our negotiated rates and service agreements.

4. Go-Live

After successfully completing the onboarding to 7bridges, you will be provided with an SOP that details the agreed process and requirements for your specific contracts with us. After this point all invoices should be provided directly to 7bridges as set out in the SOP.

High level process

Disputes Process

We understand that discrepancies on invoices may occasionally arise. We are committed to a fair and transparent dispute resolution process:

1. Dispute Notification: You will be notified by email when a discrepancy is found or it will be logged in your portal. The email will contain the Dispute Type/Reason and Amount being disputed.
2. LSP Action: You should provide a credit note where appropriate. If you wish to challenge the dispute or provide additional evidence, you must do so by replying to the original Dispute Email.
3. 7bridges Action: If a dispute is found to be invalid then this will be corrected in the 7bridgs software and the dispute will be cancelled. 
4. Resolution: Once all discrepancies are resolved, 7bridges will pass the invoice through to Step 7 (from the Invoice to Payment process), Approval to Pay.

Receiving your Data

Invoice & Shipping Data Requirements

To ensure smooth processing, avoid delays, and streamline the audit process, invoices submitted for audit must include the following data.

Invoices received without the minimum data requirements will not be processed.

Data Receipt Policy

7bridges offer three secure methods for you to submit data for audit:

1. sFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol): 7bridges provide secure sFTP credentials for streamlined uploading of invoices directly to their dedicated server. This method offers the highest level of security and data integrity. Alternatively they can retrieve data from any sFTP paths that you already have set up
2. Email: Invoices can be emailed to a dedicated address provided during onboarding.
3. ebilling Portal: 7bridges manually obtains invoices from your portal

If the you cannot provide all required data in a single csv/PDF, then it is possible to send multiple documents, where the following requirements are met:

• The files are sent on the same day
• The files are sent to different email addresses, as communicated by 7bridges
• The files have a unique field per shipment that can be matched between the files

Rates and Contract Data

We recognise that flexibility in rate card definition is important for you to ensure your revenue matches your costs.

All new or amended rate cards must go through an approved process before invoices can be processed and paid.

In order to configure our software to complete Freight Audit, 7bridges must receive Rate Cards and Contracts for all Accounts that are in use and agreed with us. As part of configuration of rate cards, the below data points are mandatory:

• Lane Information
  • Ability to map a shipment origin/destination/route to a zone or lane that then has associated charges
• Service Level
  • The different service levels available for the shipment
• Transit Time
  • The estimated (and guaranteed if any) transit time for the given service level and lane
• Weight or Unit of Measure
  • The weight or unit of measure linked to the shipment
• Pricing for all charges
  • Information about all charges: base, overweight, accessorial surcharge and anything found in an invoice
  • Sufficient and clear information/logic is required to compute these charges from the invoice & shipping information shared. If this cannot be provided evidence will be required
  • Charges should be stated explicitly, rather than as a % discount from a published rate
• Rate Validity
  • The time period over which the rate card is valid

As part of the Onboarding Process, 7bridges will complete an analysis of your Rates and Invoices in order to successfully configure the platform for us. During this stage we will require close collaboration with you in order to ensure a smooth set up and ongoing Audit process.

Rate Card Receipt Policy

There is one secure method for you to submit rate cards for audit:

1. Email: Rate cards can be emailed to a dedicated address provided during onboarding.

All rate cards are received in the same way as defined below:

• Changes will be approved following the completion of pre-audit checks
• These checks will be handled by 7bridges. Either with notice of approval will be given or request for information will be provided
• There is no defined SLA on speed of approval as this depends largely on the scope and complexity of the rate card or the changes
• Billing on the new rate card will only resume once the rate card has been approved
• Rate cards must be sent in the following formats.
  • Excel or CSV
    • Rate cards should be received in excel or csv format, with the validity (based on shipped date/ invoice date) and account(s) that it is applicable to, clearly state
    • One rate card should be received per provider account; where a rate card applies to multiple accounts, these accounts should be clearly stated
  • PDF
    • For contracts and service terms
  • Links
    • To Fuel surcharge indexes
    • Standard surcharges charged at published rate
• Any changes should be in the same format as the original rate card; changes to this format will result in longer time to approve and may be rejected

Changes and Updates

In order to keep our system up-to-date, 7bridges must be notified at least 10 business days in advance of any changes to services, rates or contracts agreed between us. In addition, 7bridges must also be notified of any changes or additions to Account Numbers that you have assigned. Payment for invoices relating to new Accounts will not be possible until this step is completed.

What is required from you?

To ensure a smooth onboarding process, we'll require you to provide the following - all of which are commercially reasonable asks to validate that invoices are correct vs. rate cards and applied correctly:

Data Access:

• Rate Cards: Grant 7bridges access to your complete and up-to-date rate cards with all carriers. This enables our system to verify that you're being billed according to pre-negotiated rates. Any updates to rate cards must be reflected in the same format as the existing rate card and shared with 7bridges
• Invoices: Provide 7bridges with your historical and ongoing transport invoices, as requested by 7bridges
• Historical Shipment Data: Share your historical shipment data (e.g., weight, dimensions, origin/destination), as required, to support invoice datasets provided.

NB - it is possible for you to send separate datasets for shipment data and invoice data, as long as they can be connected by a unique identifier that is shared across the datasets

We may need your support in providing the following information to 7bridges, as well:

• Account Numbers: Complete list of our Account Numbers
• Tracking credentials: credentials and URL for any portal existing that enables tracking of shipments

We appreciate your partnership and look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship through our chosen Audit solution.