IMPORTERS & EXPORTERS
You pay freight invoices from carriers, forwarders, terminals and customs brokers. ClearLane audits every one before it is paid. Charges get reconciled against contracts and tariffs, and passthroughs get captured rather than absorbed. An outsourced freight accounts payable desk, so your logistics spend stays clean without adding headcount.
THE IMPORTER/EXPORTER BACK OFFICE
Importers and exporters receive invoices from multiple providers: ocean carriers, drayage companies, freight forwarders, customs brokers, warehouses, and domestic carriers. Each invoice has its own rate structure, surcharges, and documentation requirements. Without someone reconciling each charge against the contract or tariff, overpayments and unauthorized charges slip through.
We handle the freight AP workflow: auditing every carrier and vendor invoice, reconciling charges against contracts, flagging discrepancies before payment, and maintaining organized records for duty drawback claims and financial reporting.
Freight AP for importers is also a compliance asset. Organized invoice records by shipment support duty drawback claims, customs audits, and landed-cost accounting, and they surface the overcharges that multi-provider billing hides: free time miscalculated, demurrage billed against the wrong clock, accessorials duplicated between forwarder and drayage invoices. Paying freight bills without auditing them is a standing tax on every container you move.
Invoice Accuracy
Invoices Audited
Reporting
When freight invoices come in from multiple providers across time zones, they get paid to avoid late fees. Without audit, duplicate charges, rate discrepancies, and unauthorized surcharges go unnoticed.
Demurrage, detention, and terminal handling fees are often accepted as billed, at $100 to $300 per day per container at major U.S. ports. Many are disputable when free time is miscalculated or the wrong rate tier applied.
Negotiated contract rates only save money when every invoice is checked against the contract. Rate discrepancies between the contract and the invoice are common, especially on accessorials and surcharges.
Importers eligible for duty drawback need organized freight records matched to customs entries. When freight documentation is scattered across providers, drawback claims are incomplete or abandoned.
Related reading: carrier invoice audit and accounts payable (AP), shipper billing, and the accessorial charge reference covering 24 charge types.
We review your freight provider contracts, trade lane economics, invoice routing, and the current state of your freight AP workflow from receipt through payment.
The team learns your carrier and vendor contracts, freight charge structures, trade lane details, and documentation standards for drawback and reporting. Two to three weeks.
Every freight invoice audited against the contract, discrepancies flagged before payment, and records organized for reporting and compliance.
More trade lanes and more freight providers do not require more AP staff on your side.
The result is a back office that handles the complexity your freight demands:
ClearLane logs into the TMS and accounting systems you already run. We do not bring in our own platform or move your data somewhere else. Our team learns your setup and works right inside it, so your information stays where it belongs and nothing about your workflow has to change.
Yes. We audit invoices from ocean carriers, drayage companies, freight forwarders, customs brokers, warehouses, and domestic carriers. Each invoice is checked against the contract or tariff for that provider. Discrepancies are flagged before payment.
We organize the freight records needed for duty drawback claims: matching freight invoices to customs entries, maintaining provider records, and keeping the documentation audit-ready. The drawback filing itself is handled by your customs broker or trade compliance team.
Freight AP support covers auditing every carrier and vendor invoice, reconciling charges against contracts, flagging discrepancies, processing payments, organizing records, and providing freight cost reporting by trade lane and provider.
Pricing is based on the number of freight invoices your operation processes each month. A 20-minute call is enough to review your provider mix and put together a quote.
Yes. Descartes, CargoWise, Magaya, and standard ERPs are all systems we work inside. Invoice audit, payment processing, and freight documentation management run through your existing platforms.
Yes. We verify free time calculations, check container event timestamps against the terminal records, and flag charges that are disputable. When a demurrage or detention charge does not match the actual free time or was caused by another party, we assemble the documentation for the dispute.
Get Started
Most import/export clients start with freight invoice reconciliation and document management, then grow into full back-office support.
