Freight Billing Software for Trucking: Essential Tips To Help You Increase Your Profits.

One of the slowest yet most irritating parts of running a trucking or fleet business as a trucker or fleet manager is dealing with freight billing. It’s a common thing to spend hours weekly managing invoices, payments, and customer accounts meaning less time is left for valuable work on the road. This is where freight billing software comes in to eliminate the paperwork headaches and assist you as you run your entire operation. But what is freight billing software exactly, and how can it be of any help to truckers?

With this blog, we are going to deep dive into the nitty-gritty of freight billing software for truckers, covering what it is, the most important elements, the advantages, and what it’s going to change in your trucking business.

What Is Freight Billing Software?

This is a software application among many used in the transportation industry which helps automate the billing processes associated. This software assists companies and independent contractors in making and sending invoices, makes accounts and manages them, makes payments and records all transactions that involve finances.

The freight bill software is not a generic term accounting software. It is specific unlike others who have accounting packages that don’t have features or functions that pertain the logistics and transport industries such as load tracking or fuel surcharges and so on and so forth including miles based invoicing.

Why Truckers Need Freight Billing Software

To truckers who own their trucking businesses or run a small fleet, time is equated to money. The smoother the processes are the more hours you will be able to drive and make profits. Here’s how freight billing software helps:

• Time Savings: Creation and sending of any invoices are done by computer programs which reduces the need for too much manual paper work. Instead of manual efforts, in a few clicks one can create an invoice complete with loads retrieved, distance covered and other costs incurred in the transaction.
• Improved Cash Flow: Standards billing and completion enable you to be subjected to limited non-honorable bills. Most of the systems have payment system integrations whereby a client can settle their invoices online hence shortening the payment cycle.
• Error Reduction: Many human errors occur during data entry particularly where complicated rates, fuel costs, and other factors are included. Everything regarding shipping billing is done as a program and this helps eliminate problems of invoicing errors.
• Better Organization: All invoices raised, all payments made, and all clients have relevant freight billing software that include each one of the components. Therefore, every fictitious data is stored electronically and getting any form of financial data is quick and less cumbersome.
• Compliance and Documentation: It is necessary for trucking companies to keep extensive data about the transactions to enable easier audit, taxation, and legal requirements. When all of your records are kept in one place such as the freight billing software, it becomes easier to avail of the required documents whenever it is requested.

Key Features of Freight Billing Software

The best freight billing software should also provide features that are tailored for the trucking and logistics sector. Some of features that must be in place include:

• Invoicing tempore: Create freight invoices based on the data captured during a load for example mileage, fuel surcharge, weight and other freight unique transactional forensic.
• Invoice status: for all the invoices raised and outstanding customers or potential clients follow up on whether they have cleared that or not. Many systems further have this feature of automatic reminders for payments being done overdue.
• Calculation rate: Most of the time, accurate costs are calculated according to the mile distance covered for example the weight as well as factors like detention time waited or accessorial.
• Expenses tracking: Tracking of receipts such as fuels, toll fees, repairs works among others, which legal and tax compliance requirements on the freight billing is done with the assistance of the software.
• Transactions with Various Currencies: In case you do cross border international freight loads, billing and accountability becomes effective and accurate with multi-currencies.
• Accounting Software Integration: The addition of accounting software integration tools, such as those existing in well-known accounting software QuickBooks, eliminates the need for separate tracking of financial transactions thereby minimising errors such as double entries or lost transactions.
• Load Management: Other features such as load management are integrated within some freight bill software, thereby allowing tracking of the status of each load whether in transit, delivered or paid for.
• Customer Portal: Various customer portals are located online which allow your clients to log in at their convenience to view their invoices and make payments as well as check the status of their freight.

Benefits of Using Freight Billing Software

As we have seen the features of freight billing software, let me now highlight the particular worthy advantages of the software in relation to truckers and trucking companies.

• Faster Billing Cycles: Thanks to the billing cycles being automated, invoices can be prepared at the time of or shortly after load delivery as opposed to several hours, days, or even weeks after completion of all the necessary filing. This ends up improving the rate of receipt of payments, therefore cash flow.
• Real Time Financial Insights: All the information related to finances is kept in the freight billing software and thus, whenever you need to check your performance, you can. Most of such platforms also have reports and analytics, allowing you to review your business performance and forecast other parameters like rates, costs, and routes.
• Increased Professional Attitude: Invoices that are well designed and incorporate appropriate branding will enhance the firm’s business image and improve client confidence thus increasing the chances of getting more business.
• Timely Payment: Proper load tracking which may include the payment for fuel surcharge, detention, and other accessorial will guarantee you fair pay for every job allocated.
• Less Administrative Burden: Owner/operator or a manager of a small fleet, freight billing software will reduce the amount of time and manpower necessary to keep the finances of an organisation. Thus you can concentrate more towards the enhancement of the business.
• Regulatory Standard: Many trucking firms usually have compliance procedures to follow and having an appropriate efficient document management system assists in maintaining adherence to these compliance requirements.

How to Select the Most Appropriate Freight Billing Software

It can be difficult to make a proper selection for the best freight billing software for all your needs but remembering a few points will help you make an appropriate choice for your business.

• Business Size and Needs: Am I an owner operator or managing a fleet? Larger Operations would require that such software’s be more complicated as it will synchronise with other systems and smaller firms may go for less sophisticated software.
• Ease of Use: Give preference to software that is simple to operate. You do not want to waste time trying to learn the ropes of a complicated system when this is time you can be out there on the hustles.
• Customer Support: Providing as much customer support as is possible is necessary especially when the matter involves money. Verify that the provider is able to provide detailed support for any problems that may arise.
• Cost: To some of this freight billing solution, offers different pricing methods with a trial period, fixed or variable based on the advance truck sitting or load being managed. As you would make that selection, factor in the market rate and your expected earnings from that trading platform.
• Integration Capabilities: Confirm that the provided software has the relevant features to link up with the other products you are using such as GPRS systems, and dispatching software among others.

  Conclusion

Freight billing software is a wonderful instrument which enables clients to effortlessly manage their trucking business, get payments quicker and spend less time in management. This is of importance whether you are an owner operator or even in control of an expanding flotilla. The advantages of efficiency and speed through operation and accuracy are obvious.

Acquiring proper freight billing software assures you that you will be able to concentrate on the road instead of getting yourself bogged down with paperwork. Regards and Happy trucking!