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Methodology

How AI-based document reading works, and why rule-based verification is more reliable than intuition.

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Methodology

Cost without a revenue line

Every cost line has either a matching revenue line or an explanation. The third option — revenue that was never invoiced — is usually invisible.

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The indexation nobody carried out

The annual indexation set out in the contract often never happens, because performing it is assigned to nobody. After two years the prices lag behind what was agreed.

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When not to issue the invoice

A late invoice can be legally possible and commercially wrong. How to set the limit, and why most of the value of leakage lies in fixing the process.

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The invoice dispute deadline in your contract

The dispute deadline decides not how many errors we find but whether the errors found are still usable. What it does to the audit scope, and what wording to ask for.

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The set-off exclusion in your contract

A set-off exclusion means a confirmed overcharge cannot be deducted from the next invoice. What that changes in practice, and why “not established” is not the same as “barred”.

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The invoice itemisation requirement

Without an itemised invoice thirty line-level checks cannot be performed — that is measured, not assumed. Why this clause decides the most, and what wording to ask for.

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What happens between the dollar and the euro on your invoice

A currency margin has no line of its own — it is built into the rate. The calculation takes a minute, but nobody does it, because there is nothing to see on the invoice.

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When the contract permits the carrier to set the rate

If the contract permits the other side to apply its own exchange rate, the margin is lawful. That is not a claim but a negotiating matter — and it can be calculated exactly.

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The customs value rate is monthly

The customs value is converted at that month's customs rate, not at that day's ECB rate. The error affects both the duty and the import VAT, and the refund window is three years.

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A written claim suspends the limitation period — but only the first one

Article 32(2) of the CMR Convention lets you stop the clock. What the conditions are, and where it most often goes wrong.

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A time-barred claim cannot even be set off

Article 32(4) of the CMR Convention closes the set-off route as well. Why that matters more than it looks at first sight.

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What a single audit will not solve

Some errors disappear for good after an audit, others come back with every new invoice. How to tell the two apart.

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Not paying or recovering — why these are not the same thing

An error found before payment and one found after payment are two different things. The second needs a claim, evidence and a limitation period to track.

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CMR Article 32: why a three-year archive may already be too late

One year, and the clock starts three months after the contract. What that means for invoice audits.

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Which documents an invoice audit needs, and why

The invoices alone are not enough. What else is required, and what each document makes checkable.

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What to do if you do not have the carrier contract at hand

The rate schedule is often not available straight away. What can be checked without it, and how to obtain it.

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Why we publish no percentages until we have twenty cases

One hundred percent out of three cases is not an indicator. What sample a figure needs before it means anything, and what to judge a provider on until then.

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When a claim counts as successful

Claimed, accepted and paid are three different things. Why a set-off and “we decided not to pursue it” are separate states, and what each of them tells you.

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Why most document-reading tools break when the format changes — and how to avoid it

Template-based OCR breaks the moment a document's format changes. Why our system reads CMR, rail and B/L documents by meaning, not position, and when it admits it doesn't know.

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