November - 2022 19logisticstechoutlook.comFreight Audit and Payment ­ The Hidden Magic Behind the DataBy Deanna Kaufman, Vice President Sales, enVistaWhen shippers think of freight audit and payment (FAP), their focus is typically on invoice data and basic auditing capabilities. However, completing audits and gathering the data is only a small portion of the FAP pie. What shippers do with that data is where the gold truly lies. Beyond the basics of FAP, there are several use cases and value add for the data that is gathered during the auditing process. With these use cases, shippers can ensure that they are gaining the right service levels for the money they are investing in carrier services. The value of FAP is based not only on how well you can gather data, but also how you visualize and draw conclusions from that data leveraging a Business Intelligence (BI) tool. With this data, shippers will be able to make better financial decisions for the business, optimize supply chain management and enable transportation status tracking for carrier accountability. Once upon a time, we would have said that data is not important, rather turning data into information is key. Now we understand that information is not valuable if a user cannot act upon it. This next-level application is called "actionable intelligence", and it is what shippers should strive toward.Financial ApplicationsOne undeniable benefit of freight audit and payment data is how it can be leveraged to make important financial decisions for the business. One way of doing this is by feeding order level information, such as shipment cost and service level details, back into the firm's enterprise resource planning system (ERP). This will enable the finance, merchandising, supply chain and logistics and other teams to make better, more informed decisions on behalf of the business. CXO INSIGHTSDeanna Kaufman
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