Boosting Broker Back-Office Efficiency: How Automated Remittance Processing Saves Time for Large Brokerages

In a busy broker back office, any efficiency gain can reap dividends. Automated remittance processing for freight invoices through Upwell can do just that.

Upwell is an invoicing and accounts receivable automation platform designed specifically for trucking and logistics. We help large freight brokerages process payments faster by automating the tedious tasks that bog down the back office. From pre-auditing invoices to ensure accuracy to streamlining payment collections, Upwell’s back-office software improves freight brokers’ cash flow while reducing overhead.

Supported by powerful artificial intelligence, Upwell enables freight brokerages to automatically bill shippers, process remittances, and pay carriers.

Freight Caviar reminds us that “in freight, timely and correct payments to carriers are crucial. They are vital to building solid and reliable relationships with the carriers you depend on to keep business running smoothly. A missed or late payment can erode the trust between broker and carrier in a major way.”

Remittance Processing: Pain Point or Opportunity?

A November 2023 FreightWaves article, “What Recent Brokerage Failures Tell Us,” said, “Brokers are under severe stress … in large part due to past investments in technology and human resources. The same aggressive expansion strategies that enabled hypergrowth stories before 2023 often now leave a brokerage deeply unprofitable with fewer avenues to raise money.”

Many of those investments in technology went toward homegrown transportation management systems (TMSs) equipped with all the bells and whistles to book and cover freight. Often overlooked was the opportunity to gain efficiencies in the broker's back office through automated remittance processing.

The Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) put it bluntly: “Freight brokers must simplify processing various invoices of shipment documents and maintain adequate cash flow.”

The Power of Automation in Remittance Processing

Upwell is transforming freight brokerage back offices by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence. Simply put, Upwell helps freight brokers process remittances faster.

Our back-office software automates legacy processes, enabling large freight brokerages to immediately accept payments and access extra capital. By utilizing our AI, freight brokerages can quickly resolve invoice exceptions that are keeping them from getting paid.

Automated remittance processing with Upwell:

• Saves employees time, freeing them up for more strategic tasks.
• Reduces errors, improving the integrity of freight brokerages’ data.
• Enhances visibility, providing real-time insights into payment statuses and cash flow trends.
• Accelerates scalability by increasing transaction volumes as well as overall back-office efficiency.

Remittance Processing Checklist: Three Strategies to Implement Automated Remittance Processing

Another article, “The Do’s and Don’ts of Using Automated Remittance Processing Services,” said automated remittance processing enables companies “to speed up billing and payment tasks without sacrificing quality customer service and enterprise productivity.”

It added that “often, outsourcing remittance processing capabilities is the most advantageous result for companies.”

Assess your current processes, and you’ll see the opportunity to utilize automation to boost your back-office efficiency. You’ll also see that Upwell has the right solution to revolutionize your brokerage back office. We’ll provide you with the tools to monitor our performance and the performance of your back office.

Assess Current Processes

If the word “automation” is not even bandied about in your brokerage back office, you need to update your processes with 2020s technology. Autonomously sending error-free invoices and accepting payment is no longer a vision for the back office of the future. It is a reality with Upwell.

Select the Right Solution

Upwell offers prospective clients a no-obligation demonstration of how we can solve any and all of brokerages’ back-office problems.

Monitor and Evaluate Performance

Upwell provides freight brokerages with all the data they need to prove we’re performing as promised. You can also see opportunities for enhancements to further improve the efficiency of your broker back office.

Transform Your Back Office with Upwell

Upwell has revolutionized the payment reconciliation process. Our Cash Application/Remittance Processing feature ensures that payments quickly find their matching invoices, turning what used to be a tedious manual process into a simple, seamless, secure, and error-free task.

Our efficiency-boosting tools also include exception management, which identifies, addresses, and resolves exceptions in accounts receivable processes in seconds; custom reminders, automated messages that match your brand voice; and real-time integrations with a host of TMS, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and accounting platforms.

Through our broker back-office automation software, Upwell customers are realizing a 50% operational expense (opex) decrease per employee, a four-day drop in days sales outstanding (DSO), and a 10% increase in company cash flow.

Get an Upwell demo today.

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