The Company
The customer is a global FMCG company headquartered in the EU, shipping to more than 50 countries and moving around 100,000 containers a year. Carrier invoice approval and rejection was entirely manual, spread across Operations and Finance, with no automation in place.
The Challenge
Reviewing carrier invoices manually left value on the table in three ways: inaccurate charges went unchallenged, disputes were raised too late, and the cash flow benefit of paying accurately was never captured.
Accuracy — Errors slip through
An estimated 5% of invoices carried errors, a rate unlikely to be caught reliably by manual review alone.
Timing — Disputes missed
Operators reviewed invoices too late in the cycle, frequently past the window to dispute or reject inaccurate charges.
Cash Flow — Capital left idle
Payment scheduling was not optimised, so the working capital benefit of paying accurately went unrealised.
The Solution
Portcast's Freight Audit validates every carrier invoice as it arrives, surfacing discrepancies while there is still time to act. The gains land across three areas.
Efficiency — Less manual handling
Cuts processing time for investigations, approvals and rejections across both Finance and Operations teams.
Overpayment — Recover what is owed
Flags inaccurate charges before approval, avoiding cost leakage from invoices that would otherwise be paid in full.
Working Capital — Free up cash
Improves payment performance, unlocking working capital and protecting credit standing with carriers.
The Impact
Modelled on the customer's own volumes and spend, Freight Audit represents more than €5.2m of quantifiable value every year.
Note: Figures reflect the customer's own operating volumes, spend and assumptions. Actual value varies with carrier mix, contract terms and total spend.
Curious how Portcast can cut manual tracking, improve shipment visibility, and reduce costs? Get in touch to explore how.
