Carrier Bill Audit and Automatic Payables

This article explains how the Tai TMS audits incoming carrier bills against the rate you agreed to, automatically approves the ones that match, and routes the ones that do not to staff for review.

Overview

When a carrier sends you an invoice for a load, the Tai TMS checks that invoice against the rate already recorded on the shipment before it becomes a payable. If the carrier billed what was expected — within a small allowance for rounding and minor differences — the system approves and records the bill on its own, with no staff involvement. If the carrier billed noticeably more or less than the agreed rate, the system does not create the bill. Instead it flags the charges as a variance and puts the item on a review list so a person can look at it and decide what to do. The result is an exception-only workflow: bills that match flow straight through, and staff spend their time only on the ones that do not.

How it works

Carrier bills reach the Tai TMS through several channels — an electronic carrier freight invoice (EDI), a bill-processing or document service that reads scanned invoices, an electronic-pay feed, or a bill entered against an unmatched shipment. However the bill arrives, the audit works the same way:

Match the bill to the shipment. The system identifies which shipment and which carrier charges the incoming bill belongs to, using the shipment's reference and PRO numbers.
Compare totals. It compares the carrier's billed total to the agreed carrier cost recorded on the shipment (the sum of the amounts you expected to pay that carrier).
Decide within or outside tolerance.
- Within tolerance → the bill is approved and recorded automatically. When the billed amount differs slightly from the expected amount but stays inside the allowance, the small difference is absorbed into the shipment's carrier charges so the recorded bill matches what the carrier actually billed.
- Outside tolerance → no bill is created. The shipment's carrier charge lines are flagged as a variance, the discrepancy is noted in the shipment's activity history, and the item appears on the bill-variance review list.
Staff work only the exceptions. From the variance review list, staff can open a flagged bill, see how the billed amount differs from the expected amount, and then resolve it, send it on for payment, or mark it as do-not-bill.

The tolerance allowance can be different for underbilling (the carrier billed less than expected) versus overbilling (the carrier billed more than expected), and it can be tuned for a given account. Bills that pass the audit also receive a due date based on the carrier's payment terms, so approved payables are ready to be scheduled for payment.

Business rules & limits

Matching totals are approved automatically. A carrier bill that matches the agreed rate within the allowed tolerance is recorded as a payable without staff review. This is the normal, hands-off path for the majority of bills.
Out-of-tolerance bills are held, not paid. When the carrier billed more or less than the agreed rate by more than the allowance, the Tai TMS does not create the bill. It flags the charges as a variance so a person reviews the difference before anything is approved. The system never quietly pays a bill that disagrees with the agreed rate.
Underbilling and overbilling can be treated differently. The allowed difference for a carrier billing less than expected can be set separately from the allowance for a carrier billing more than expected, and these allowances can be configured for an account rather than being one fixed number.
Small in-tolerance differences are absorbed. When an approved bill is a little off from the expected amount but still within tolerance, the minor difference is folded into the shipment's carrier charges so the recorded payable equals what the carrier actually billed.
An already-billed charge is not billed again. If a shipment's carrier charge has already been billed, the system treats it as settled and does not create a duplicate bill from a later incoming invoice.
Factoring-paid carriers are handled separately. When a carrier is paid through a factoring company, that factoring relationship is excluded from the ordinary bill-to-charge matching, so those bills follow their own path rather than the standard carrier match.
A bill that can't be matched won't auto-approve. If the incoming invoice cannot be tied to the shipment's carrier charges — for example, because the reference or PRO number does not line up — the audit cannot complete automatically, and the bill will not be auto-approved.
Approved bills get a due date from payment terms. When a bill is approved, its due date is calculated from the bill date plus the carrier's agreed payment terms, so it enters the payables workflow with a scheduled due date.

Frequently asked questions

How does the Tai TMS decide whether to approve a carrier bill automatically?

In the Tai TMS, an incoming carrier bill is compared to the carrier cost already recorded on the shipment. If the billed total matches the agreed rate within a small tolerance, the bill is approved and recorded automatically. If it differs by more than the tolerance, the bill is not created and is flagged as a variance for staff to review instead.

What happens when a carrier bills more or less than the agreed rate?

In the Tai TMS, a carrier bill that is over or under the agreed rate by more than the allowed tolerance is held rather than approved. The system flags the shipment's carrier charges as a variance, records the discrepancy in the shipment's activity history, and lists the item for staff review. A person then decides whether to resolve it, send it on for payment, or mark it do-not-bill.

Do staff have to review every carrier bill?

No. The Tai TMS uses an exception-only workflow: carrier bills that match the agreed rate within tolerance are approved and recorded automatically with no staff involvement. Staff only need to review the bills that fall outside tolerance and land on the variance review list, which keeps their attention on genuine discrepancies.

Is the tolerance the same for a carrier billing too much and a carrier billing too little?

Not necessarily. In the Tai TMS the allowed difference for underbilling (the carrier billed less than expected) can be set separately from the allowance for overbilling (the carrier billed more than expected), and these allowances can be adjusted for an account rather than being a single fixed value.

What if a carrier bill can't be matched to a shipment?

In the Tai TMS, if an incoming carrier bill cannot be tied to the shipment's carrier charges — commonly because the reference or PRO number does not match — the audit cannot complete and the bill is not approved automatically. It will not become a payable until the matching problem is sorted out, which prevents a bill from being applied to the wrong shipment.

How is a carrier bill's due date set once it's approved?

In the Tai TMS, when a carrier bill is approved its due date is calculated from the bill date plus the carrier's agreed payment terms. This gives every approved payable a scheduled due date so it can be planned and paid on time.

Does the system change the shipment's charges when it approves a slightly different bill?

In the Tai TMS, when an approved bill is a little off from the expected amount but still within tolerance, the small difference is absorbed into the shipment's carrier charges so the recorded bill equals what the carrier actually billed. Larger differences are not absorbed — they are treated as a variance and held for review.