Freight Invoice Key Terms

Some key terms for looking at how freight invoices are used

By J. Stoltzfus, writer/programmer LOCAL CITIZEN

Any business shipping a substantial amount of goods has to rely on a freight invoice to keep it all straight. The freight invoice not only records the established bottom line on price, but documents exactly the amount of goods being sent and what is included in a shipment. The freight invoice is a critical tool for both sender and receiver. Knowing more about some key terms related to freight invoices will help a shipping business to continually evaluate whether it has the best systems in place for recording shipments with these forms.

EDI

Electronic Data Interchange, or EDI, is a term for what is happening with freight invoices and many other forms these days -- they're going electronic. Electronic freight invoices fall under the general category of EDI, and businesses involved in shipping will often look at EDI solutions to streamline their operations.
Try: See more on EDI at CovalentWorks.

Templates

Templates are "open forms" with some basic information that businesses can customize for their specific operations. Freight invoice templates can be useful for creating custom forms.
Try: Get definitions of templates from the Free Dictionary. See examples of freight invoice templates at FileBuzz.

Invoice auditing

Invoice auditing is a service to ensure that the data on freight invoices is correct, and that the shipping is proceeding according to the original intentions of the business. This can be done in-house or outsourced to a service provider: either way, it will provide crucial protections.
Try: Learn more about invoice auditing at Infinity Management.

Harmonized Tariff Schedule

The Harmonized Tariff Schedule is a resource for U.S. shippers for identifying all of the tariffs and some other elements that may affect the bottom line on a freight invoice.
Try: See more on the harmonized tariff schedule at AMID Logistics.

Freight forwarder

The freight forwarder is a company or party that acts as an intermediary for a business that wants to ship goods out of the country. The freight forwarder often collects items from several clients for bulk shipping and handles the nuts and bolts of the process, allowing for smaller shipments hassle-free for clients.
Try: See more on the freight forwarder and how the process works at TradersCity.

International forms

International forms are documents that may need to go along with freight invoices or be filed stateside to provide documentation support for a freight invoice.
Try: See more on international forms from big shipper UPS.