Your trucking services offer great advantages to your clients. They have specific needs related to the transportation and delivery of goods, and you have the skills and equipment required to fulfill those needs. But you need to be supported, too – you need the steady stream of revenue that keeps you on the road and your business growing.
This is where trucking invoices are so important. You complete your service, bill your customer, and receive your payment. It should be as simple as that.
Trucking companies have to stay extremely organized to keep their drivers busy and ensure everything gets delivered on time. Following the right billing procedures is vital in order to get paid on time. When you follow the best trucking invoicing practices below, you can
improve your cash flow and receive payment sooner.
● Verify Address
● Include Bill of Lading
● Provide Detailed Rate Information
● List Payment Information
● Factor Your Invoices
It may seem obvious that you should send the invoice to the right address, but it’s not as easy as it seems. Most freight brokers and shippers that use trucking companies have Multiple addresses. For example, you may be delivering raw materials to one of their warehouses, but the staff in receiving won’t know what to do with your invoice. You should always send your invoice to the accounts payable department. Get in touch with accounts payable. Then, ask them what you can do to speed up the process. You want to ensure you get paid as quickly as possible. Many companies are moving to electronic invoicing, and emailing your invoice can make their lives easier and help your business get paid quicker.
Your customers must be able to verify which load was transported to match your invoice to the appropriate product and department. If you don’t have a bill of lading, you’ll have a hard time getting paid for your work. It’s important to make sure that you keep a signed copy for
your records and submit one with the invoice. Matching the bill of lading to the shipment helps both you and your customers keep track of expenses. Also, it’s a necessity for collecting payment. Many brokers also require they receive the original, signed bill of lading before they will pay the invoice, so you’ll need to know this in advance too.
Your invoice should include more than just a grand total. You must list fuel surcharges separately as well as any other extra charges, such as detention. The more information you provide, the less likely it is that your customer’s accounting department will delay payment
for your invoice. However, your invoice will linger on someone’s desk if they’re not sure what you’re charging for. If you took a fuel advance, this will also need to be deducted from the invoice before you submit it.
It’s not enough to send an invoice. You must also clearly designate your payment information on the invoice. It should list the total amount, the payment due date, and the address for payment remittance. If you work with a factoring company, disclose this on your invoice. This ensures they send payment to the correct recipient.
When you keep these best trucking invoicing practices in mind, collecting payment from your customers shouldn’t be difficult. Instead of getting trucking loans in Milwaukee, WI, you can also use invoice factoring. This relieves you of the headaches of billing customers and
allows you to collect payment sooner.