The end of the month in accounts
Forty subcontractor invoices have arrived this month. Some are PDFs, one is a photo of a handwritten invoice, two are statements covering several weeks, and one references a load number you do not recognise. For each one, somebody opens the job in the transport system, checks the rate that was agreed on the phone, looks for any waiting time or extra drop that was mentioned, and ticks it off.
Queries go back by email. Hauliers ring to ask when they will be paid. The planner who agreed the rate is out on the road or on holiday.
The mismatch starts at booking
Invoices are hard to match because the booking was never recorded in a way the invoice can be checked against. The rate lives in an email or a phone call. Extras were agreed later, by someone else. The haulier writes their own reference, not yours.
- Rates agreed by phone are not always written into the job.
- Waiting time and extra drops are agreed after booking and not recorded consistently.
- Hauliers use their own references, so matching starts with a search.
- Invoice formats vary with every supplier.
- The person who can answer a query is rarely the person matching invoices.
What the checking costs
Accounts time is the obvious cost. The less obvious one is relationships. Small hauliers depend on being paid on time, and a firm that queries everything and pays late gets offered fewer trucks when you are short. Mistakes run both ways too: duplicated invoices get paid, and agreed extras get missed and turn into an argument weeks later.
How we fix the matching
There are two routes and we help you choose between them. Self-billing, where you raise the invoice for the subcontractor from your own records, removes most of the matching, but it needs an agreement with each haulier and your accountant's view on whether it suits you. Invoice matching keeps their invoices and checks them automatically.
- At booking, the subcontract rate, any agreed extras and our job reference are recorded in the job, with a confirmation sent to the haulier that shows the reference they should quote.
- For self-billing: once the POD is back, the system produces the self-billed invoice from the job record and sends it to the haulier with a remittance date, in line with the agreement you hold with them.
- For matching: invoices arriving in the accounts inbox are read by an extraction step that pulls the haulier, references, dates, amounts and line items.
- Each invoice is matched to its load or loads and checked against the agreed rate and extras. Duplicates are caught.
- Matches go through to your accounts package, for example Xero, Sage or QuickBooks, as approved bills. Differences go to a short queue with the job, the agreed figure and the invoiced figure side by side.
| Step | Manual | Automated |
|---|---|---|
| Finding the job | Search by date and postcode | Matched by reference or by route and date |
| Checking the rate | Ask the planner | Compared with the rate recorded at booking |
| Extras | Argued about later | Recorded when agreed, checked on invoice |
| Posting | Retyped into accounts | Sent as a bill for approval |
A different month end
Accounts deal with the few invoices that do not match, instead of the many that do. Planners are asked about a handful of specific differences rather than every load. Hauliers get paid on a predictable date, which makes them more willing to help when you are stuck. And you can see what you actually spent on subcontracted work by customer and lane without waiting for a spreadsheet.
Checklist for your accounts office
- Subcontractor invoices are checked line by line against jobs.
- Agreed rates are not always written down.
- Hauliers chase for payment.
- Duplicate invoices have been paid at least once.
- Waiting time claims turn into disputes.