Increasing Efficiency in the Broker Back Office: How Automated Remittance Processes Boost Broker Productivity

Automated remittance processes can significantly enhance productivity in freight broker back offices, where any efficiency gains can reap big rewards.

“While many companies worry a corporate culture focused on efficiency will strangle growth or degrade the customer experience, our research shows the opposite result,” the consultancy Bain & Company said. “Companies that embrace an efficiency mindset are four times more likely to say their cost efforts enabled growth rather than hindered it. They are also four and a half times more likely to report improved customer experience.”

It’s important to note that the Bain study was conducted way back in 2016. If you think about the technological advancements that have been made in the last eight years, that’s like more than half a century in dog years.

In the Complex World of Brokerage, Efficiency is Key

Consider how the freight brokerage industry has grown in the eight years since Bain shared its findings. One estimate said there were only 1,861 active freight brokerages in 2016. According to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) data, there were 26,653 freight brokerages operating in the United States in July — and that’s an 11.6% decline from the same month in 2023.

Back-office efficiency gains obtained through automated remittance processes are essential in today’s crowded dog-eat-dog freight brokerage environment.

Manual Remittance Processing Results in Brokerage Inefficiencies

Manual processes obviously rely on humans. Humans make mistakes, and our productivity, accuracy, and efficiency can be affected by a whole bunch of emotional factors — i.e., the outcome of last night’s game or an argument with a spouse or a child’s failing science grade. Artificial intelligence (AI) doesn’t carry any emotional baggage.

Time-consuming manual data entry and processing can slow freight broker back offices to a crawl. To be the leader of the pack, you’ve got to move fast.

There’s a high risk of errors and inaccuracies in manual remittance handling. AI models don’t suffer from hangovers, ulcers, or breakups.

Manual back-office processes can delay payment reconciliation and slow cash flow. Automated processes empowered by AI are like the bionic man: better, stronger, faster.

Freight brokerages with manual accounting processes require increased administrative overhead and resource allocation. Face it: You’re paying for that employee boo-hooing in the bathroom over the aforementioned breakup.

Three Ways Automated Remittance Enhances Broker Productivity

Why wouldn’t you automate? Automated back-office processes increase employee productivity and make the entire freight brokerage run more efficiently.

We get it. Technology may not be top of mind — or financially feasible — for freight brokerages fighting for market share.

“Since freight brokerages inherently run on tight margins, many do not have the financial insulation to make significant technology investments,” the Armstrong Transport Group said.
“Some freight brokerages have pursued a one-and-done approach to technology adoption, rendering large portions of their investments obsolete as the market grows.”

Today, freight brokerages do not need to build their own back-office software solutions. There are highly integrable platforms available that increase back-office efficiency without a huge investment in technology.

“One of the easiest ways to improve back-office efficiency is to automate repetitive and routine tasks, such as data entry, invoicing, payroll, and reporting. Automation can save you time, money, and human errors, as well as free up your staff for more creative and strategic work,” a LinkedIn article on back-office operations said.

Here are just three ways automated remittance processes enhance freight broker productivity and efficiency:

Streamlined Payment Processing

For freight brokerages, streamlined payment processing results in:

• Reduced errors and increased accuracy.
• Faster processing times and quicker payment cycles.
• Enhanced visibility and control over financial transactions.
• Reduced administrative burden and operational costs.

Upwell’s remittance processing tool provides automated data capture and validation, integration with existing financial systems and transportation management systems (TMSs), and real-time tracking and reconciliation of payments.

Our Online Payment Portal & Options feature offers customers a variety of payment methods through a secure, easy-to-use online portal. This feature accelerates cash flow and improves the customer experience.

Our Cash Application/Remittance Processing feature ensures payments quickly find their matching invoices, transforming what formerly was a tedious process into seamless and error-free transactions.

Enhanced Data Accuracy and Compliance

“Compliance rate is the percentage of back-office tasks or processes that adhere to the relevant rules, regulations, standards, or policies. It is a measure of risk and reputation that affects your legal exposure, trustworthiness, and credibility,” the LinkedIn article said.

Upwell has automated the invoice distribution process to ensure each accurate bill reaches its destination exactly as the customer requires, whether that’s through electronic data interchange (EDI), application programming interface (API), email, or directly into online portals, and fully adheres to all rules and regulations.

Our Smart Invoices solution automates the extraction of invoice details and documents, eliminating manual data entry errors.

Our Last Check leverages large language models to pre-audit freight invoices against customer-specific rules, ensuring each one is accurate and complete. This eliminates errors and drastically reduces the time spent on manual checks.

We also help freight brokerages bring in cash faster with our Automated Statements & Payment Reminders, a tool that enables automated, customizable communications to move customers toward payment fulfillment.

Reduced Administrative Overhead

“If it takes more than one day for your billing department to gather all the important paperwork and send out an invoice, then it is taking more time than it should, and it is burning down your cash flow significantly,” a Discus blog said. “It affects important parameters like customer satisfaction, the efficiency of order completion, which in the long run can badly and drastically affect the image of your business and market.”

Upwell’s automated remittance processing frees up back-office employees for more strategic tasks. Our billing-to-cash automated solutions also help freight brokerages accelerate scalability by increasing transaction volumes as well as overall back-office efficiency.

We are an invoicing and accounts receivable automation platform designed specifically for logistics and trucking. We help freight brokerages and trucking companies get paid faster by automating the tedious manual tasks that slow down their back offices. From pre-auditing invoices to ensure accuracy to streamlining payment collections, Upwell’s invoice-to-income software improves cash flow while reducing overhead.

Upwell: Your Ally for Freight Brokerage Automation

Upwell harnesses the power of AI to transform the entire invoice-to-income process for busy freight brokerages. We have years of experience in the logistics industry and know the tools freight brokers need to increase efficiency in their back offices.

When weighing whether you need an automation solution, consider your back-office costs.

“Cost per transaction is the average amount of money spent on executing a back-office task or process. It is a measure of efficiency and profitability that affects your bottom line and competitiveness,” the LinkedIn article said.

With our automated tools, Upwell customers are realizing a 50% operational decrease per employee, a four-day drop in days sales outstanding (DSO), and a 10% increase in cash flow.

Upwell Helps Broker Back Offices Increase Efficiency

“Companies that successfully embed efficiency in the DNA of their organization reap great rewards. They manage to break the boom-and-bust cycle of short-term initiatives and gain the competitive edge that comes from a high-performance culture,” Bain said.

The efficiency gains realized with Upwell’s automated solutions help freight brokerages get paid faster. Our back-office software automates legacy processes, enabling freight brokerages to immediately accept payments and access extra capital.

Find out for yourself. Get an Upwell demo today.

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