Keeping up with financial compliance at a 3PL can feel like a constant balancing act. Whether it’s managing approvals, staying in line with customer standard operating procedures (SOPs), or simply making sure invoices get processed on time, the complexity is real. The good news? It doesn’t have to be so complicated. With the right systems in place, you can streamline everything and still hit your goals.
Let's break it down.
From headache to a fine-tuned process
For many 3PLs, compliance feels like one big to-do list. Keeping up with client expectations, internal policies, and financial regulations all at once? It’s no wonder things slip through the cracks. But if you have the right tools to automate the bulk of these tasks, compliance becomes less about firefighting and more about strategy.
Instead of scrambling to correct mistakes or track down approvals, you can focus on fine-tuning your processes. This means fewer exceptions to manage and more consistency across the board.
Take action: automate routine tasks
One of the easiest ways to start streamlining compliance is to automate repetitive tasks. With AI-powered tools like Loop, you can streamline document and data management by centralizing, standardizing, and extracting all data. Then AI can execute your audit and pay for greater efficiency and accuracy. Loop executes 80% of Loadsmart’s audits with no touch. This automation uncovered $1.3M in issues and led to a 60% reduction in Loadsmart's business process outsourcing costs.
By automating these routine tasks, your AP and AR teams can spend more time analyzing data and less time pushing paper.
Better invoice exception control
Exception approvals can be chaotic, especially with too many people making decisions and no clear oversight. As one finance leader shared with Loop, “We’re missing our numbers, and I can’t pinpoint why.” Without standardized policies, it’s easy to lose control and see revenue slip away. Confusion and delays are inevitable when different people are handling exceptions without consistent rules. But clear, standardized approval policies help.
Instead of manually passing approvals through layers of people, AI sets rules that send each approval to the right person at the right time. No more delays because the wrong person got the request. Your team moves faster, but you still keep the control and quality you need to avoid approving unnecessary exceptions that could eat into your margins.
Take action: create tiered approval policies
With AI, you can create tiered approval workflows. For example, small invoices can be auto-approved under a certain amount, while higher-value ones require a quick sign-off from the appropriate manager. This way, approvals happen quickly for routine transactions, while larger payments get the attention they deserve.
This ensures nothing slips through the cracks, but also keeps the process moving smoothly.
Proactive management and risks
One of the biggest challenges in control is that it’s often reactive. You find out about issues only after they’ve caused a problem. But with AI-driven insights, you can uncover every invoice issue giving you a clearer picture of the status quo and a path to fix structural issues. You’ll easily spot trends and gaps to make adjustments before things spiral out of control.
High quality data can alert you to patterns of late payments, inconsistencies in invoicing, or recurring exceptions that need to be addressed.
Take action: leverage real-time data to spot trends
Use the real-time data provided by AI to track and analyze your financial processes. You should have the ability to understand all of your invoice details, payment statuses, and discrepancies to identify recurring trends. By being proactive, you can address root causes rather than constantly fixing surface-level symptoms.
Are you being overcharged? Go back to the carrier to improve their invoicing accuracy and compliance. Are you being undercharged? Check your TMS data and see if it's accurate.
Building the future
Financial compliance doesn’t have to be an obstacle. In fact, it can be a key part of your strategy for growth. By adopting AI and automation, you not only streamline workflows but also set your business up for long-term success. Your teams will be able to focus on more strategic decisions, your workflows will run more smoothly, and you’ll be equipped to handle future growth without being bogged down by manual processes.
Want to dive deeper? Check out our guide on Transforming AP & AR Teams from Processors to Analysts to learn how you can elevate your processes and teams.
