Freight Invoicing for Dispatchers: Send, Track, Collect (Video + Steps)

1. See the big picture first (0:00)

Which of your invoices are waiting to be paid, which are ready to send, and which one is missing a paper? LaneTally keeps your loads, chat, fleet, freight invoices, driver pay and the books in one place, and each freight invoice is made from its load, so there is nothing to type twice. After this video you can read the cards and the list, see what is inside an invoice, get one ready and send it, mark it paid, and collect when a broker pays late. The free demo needs no sign-up and no card and uses fake data.

2. Find Freight invoices, the picker and the four cards (0:50)

Freight invoices is in the left menu, the first item under Carrier money. The carrier picker at the top decides whose invoices you see, and the title says which carrier. These are the invoices from each carrier to the broker whose load it hauled, one per load. You send them for the carrier. Your own fee invoices are in a different menu, My invoices.

A note under the title says the figures come from what you entered. It is information only, not tax, accounting or legal advice, so check with your accountant. Press I understand and the note goes away.

• Waiting to be paid is the money brokers still owe you on loads that are delivered, with how many invoices that is. Not billed yet is the money on loads not delivered: those invoices are drafts, so they are not counted as waiting.
• Ready to send counts the invoices for delivered loads with nothing missing.
• Missing paperwork counts the invoices for delivered loads that are not ready yet.
• Paid is the money received from brokers. It is added to the books.

3. Search, the status buttons and the list (2:11)

The search box finds an invoice by number, carrier, broker or city, and the line under the list says how many were found. Under the search there is one button for each status, with how many invoices are in it:

• All shows everything.
• Missing paperwork: the load is delivered, but a paper is still missing.
• Ready to send: the load is delivered and nothing is missing.
• Sent: you sent it, and the broker has not paid.
• Partly paid: the broker paid some of it, and some is still owed.
• Draft: the load is not delivered yet.
• Paid: the broker paid all of it.

The list has six columns: Invoice is the number, For is the route of the load, Bill to is the broker, Due is the day the broker has to pay, Amount is the total, and Status is where the invoice is now. Each row is one invoice, for one load. Until you send it, Due says When sent; after the broker pays, it shows the day it was due. The invoices that need you come first, and the paid ones are at the bottom. Press a number to open that invoice.

A note at the bottom says an invoice follows its load until you edit it by hand, each load keeps the dispatch fee percent that was agreed when it was booked, and marking an invoice paid adds it to the right books on its own.

4. All carriers together, and a carrier with no loads (3:53)

Pick All carriers together in the carrier picker. The title becomes Freight invoices to brokers, the list has the invoices of every carrier with the carrier name under each number, and the four cards add up all the carriers. An invoice that is past its due date shows in red how many days past due it is. Pick a carrier with no loads yet and the list says None yet: invoices appear when a load is booked.

5. Inside an invoice: Ready to get paid? (4:40)

The invoice opens in a popup. The title is the invoice number and next to it is its status. The dash minimizes the popup, so you can look at another page and come back. The X closes it.

The first card, Ready to get paid?, says what this broker needs to pay this invoice. The tag on the right counts what is still needed. Each row is one thing, with a check mark or a cross: Have it in green means it is done, Needed in red means the invoice is not ready without it, and Often asked in yellow is optional, because some brokers want it.

• Load is delivered: you can send the invoice once the load is delivered.
• A driver is on the load.
• Rate confirmation: the broker's signed paper that proves the agreed rate.
• Signed proof of delivery: clear, and signed by the receiver. Brokers do not pay without it. The driver can send a photo of it from their phone.
• Broker's load number: most brokers match the invoice to it.
• BOL or PO number: some brokers ask for it on the invoice.
• Then the broker's billing email, the carrier's MC number, the USDOT number, How to pay you (the remit-to line), the W-9 on file, and the certificate of insurance, not expired.

On the right of some rows a button fixes it: Open load, Add file or Add on the load.

6. The invoice paper (6:13)

Below the checklist is the invoice itself: the paper the broker gets.

• At the top left, the carrier: the name, address, phone and email, the MC number and the USDOT number.
• At the top right, the word INVOICE and four lines: Invoice no., Invoice date (it says Set when sent: the date fills in when you send it), Due date (for example Net 30 days after you send it) and Terms, how long this broker takes to pay.
• Bill to is the broker: the name, the address, who it is for, the phone, the email and the MC number.
• Shipment describes the load: Load no. is your number, Broker load no. is the broker's number (it says Not entered in red until someone types it), then the BOL or PO number, the pickup and the delivery, the commodity and the loaded miles.
• Description and Amount: one line for the freight. Total due is the total of the lines.
• Payment instructions: Pay to is where the broker sends the money, Terms repeats how long the broker has, and Reference asks the broker to write the invoice number on the payment.

Under the paper, Add a charge adds extra money to this invoice. What for lists the kinds: Detention, Stop-off, Cancellation or TONU, Lumper, Layover, and Other. A blue note says when the broker pays factoring companies and what factoring fee would come off when it is paid. A yellow note says when the load is still in transit: it is a draft and can be sent once the load is delivered. Download invoice saves a finished copy you can open, print or email, Print or save as PDF opens your browser's print window, and Edit this invoice lets you change the lines.

7. Get an invoice ready to send (8:18)

1. The load is delivered. Press Open load. It is the load from the Loads menu, which has its own video. Mark delivered is for when the driver does not use the app. LaneTally asks first, to be sure: press Yes, mark delivered. The load now says Delivered and the change is saved in the load's history.
2. Back in the list, the invoice now says Missing paperwork. Waiting to be paid counts it, because the load is delivered and the broker owes it, and Not billed yet went down.
3. Open the invoice again. Send anyway is there for when you must send it before it is complete, and it asks you first.
4. Rate confirmation: press Add file and choose the file. The row turns to Have it and the paper lists it under Attached.
5. Signed proof of delivery: press Add file and choose the photo or file the driver sent.
6. Broker's load number: press Add on the load. The load form opens, the same form as when you book a load. Type the number the broker gave in the second box and press Save changes.

The invoice now says Ready to send and the card Ready to send counts it. The BOL or PO number is optional, so the invoice is ready.

8. Send the invoice to the broker (10:14)

A new button appears: Send to broker. The window has one line for each paper on file, with its file name and a tick: untick a paper if it should not go with this invoice. To is the broker's billing email and Subject has the invoice number, the load and the route. Open email opens your email app with the message already written. Your email app cannot take attachments from here, so add the files listed above by hand. Sending from inside LaneTally with the files attached is Ready on launch day, so it is not working yet. After you send it in your email app, come back and press I sent it. The invoice now says Sent, its due date is counted from the day you sent it, and Waiting to be paid keeps counting it until the broker pays.

9. Sent: Mark as paid (11:12)

Open a sent invoice. Invoice date now shows the day it was sent and Due date the day the broker has to pay. At the bottom, Mark as paid is for when the broker pays, and Mark as not sent takes the invoice back to Ready to send. Press Mark as paid: the window shows the invoice total and what is still owed. Amount received is filled in with what is still owed. Change it only if the broker paid less. Date received is today.

10. The broker paid less (short pay) (11:48)

Type a smaller amount in Amount received. A new part opens and says how much less it is than what is owed, and asks Why did they pay less? The list has: Broker paid less than the agreed rate, Extra charge refused, Late delivery or service fine, Damage or cargo claim, Quick pay fee, and Other.

Then it asks Is the rest still owed? Pick Yes if they will pay the rest later, or No if they will not pay it. With No, a box appears: Lower my dispatch fee by the money that was never paid. It is ticked for you when the broker refused money, like the rate or extras. It is not ticked for fines, claims and quick pay, because those are the carrier's cost.

With Yes, press Save payment. A message says how much is still owed and the invoice stays open with the status Partly paid. Waiting to be paid now shows what is still owed, and Paid went up by what came in. Open the invoice: a note says Partly paid with what was received and what is still owed, and lists each payment with the reason you gave. On the paper, Paid so far and Balance due show it too. Dispute opens an email asking the broker for the reason in writing and writes down the date on the invoice. Remove the payments takes them out of the books.

11. Add a payment, and Paid (13:33)

Add a payment is for the rest. It shows what was received so far, and the amount is what is still owed. Press Save payment and a message says the invoice is paid in full and added to the books. The status is Paid and the card Paid counts all of it. The paper has a PAID stamp and a note lists the payments. Mark as not paid takes the payment out of the books and puts the invoice back to Sent.

12. Factoring chargeback (14:06)

Factoring chargeback is for one case: the broker paid the factoring company less, and the factoring company took the difference back from the carrier. Press it and read the note about when to use it. Amount taken back is how much the factoring company took, Date is when it happened, and Save chargeback saves it. The X closes it without saving.

13. Extra charges (detention and more) (14:30)

An invoice can already have an extra line, and the word remove next to it takes that charge off the invoice. To add one, pick What for, for example Detention, type the amount, and add a note if you want one, like the hours waited at the dock. Press Add to this invoice. A message says the charge was added, the paper has a new line with the note, and the total goes up. Extra charges need proof, and a row asks for it: the broker's approval message, or timestamps. If you add a charge to an invoice that was already sent, send it again.

14. Edit an invoice by hand (15:12)

To change the lines yourself, press Edit this invoice. You can change the invoice number and the due date. Under Lines, each line of the invoice has its description and amount: Remove takes a line away and asks first, and Add a line puts a new row where you type what it is and the amount. Note printed on the invoice is optional, and Why you are changing it is kept in the history. The total follows the lines. Press Save changes.

After you save, a yellow note says Edited by hand: this invoice no longer follows the load. Under it is the history: who changed it, when, the old total and the new total, and your reason. Go back to the load's numbers undoes it: it asks first, then the invoice uses the load's rate and charges again and the edited note is gone.

15. A paid invoice is locked (16:27)

Open a paid invoice and press Edit this invoice: it says the invoice is already paid. A paid invoice is locked, because its payment is already in the books, and changing the invoice alone would leave the books wrong. To change it the right way, do three steps in order:

1. Mark it as not paid. That takes its entry out of the books.
2. Edit the invoice and save your changes.
3. Mark it as paid again. The books are updated with the new amount.

The first button does the first step for you and opens the editor. Leave it as it is goes back to the invoice.

16. Collect from a late broker: reminders (17:11)

Open a sent invoice that is past its due date. The popup starts with a yellow box, Collecting this payment, with how many days past due it is and how much is owed. This box shows for a sent invoice that is past its due date. Each reminder opens an email ready to send, and LaneTally writes down the date:

• Reminder 1, on the due date.
• Reminder 2, 7 days late.
• Final notice, 15 days late.

Press Send on Reminder 1. A message says the email opened and the date was written down. Attach the invoice, then send. Reminder 1 now says sent with the date, and its button became a Sent tag. Reminder 2 and the Final notice work the same way.

17. The bond claim packet (18:02)

Bond claim comes at 30 days late. The video explains that every freight broker must keep a $75,000 bond, or a trust, for carriers it does not pay. The money is shared by everyone the broker owes, so file early. The bond company usually answers in 30 to 90 days, and you send copies, never originals. Bond claim packet opens the claim. LaneTally gives information only here, not legal advice.

1. Step 1: find the broker's bond company. The link opens FMCSA Safer: search the broker's MC number there. Write the bond company and the bond number in the boxes. The bond company email is optional: it is only to send the claim by email.
2. Step 2: the papers to send with the claim. Each one says Ready or Missing: the signed rate confirmation, the bill of lading or proof of delivery, the invoice, your payment reminders with how many you sent, the MC number, the W-9, and the certificate of insurance.
3. Step 3: the claim letter. It is written for you with the facts of this invoice, and you can change it. Download letter saves it, Download invoice saves the invoice, and Email it sends the letter to the bond company's email, if you typed one.

I filed the claim writes down the date: press it after you file. Back on the invoice, the Bond claim row says Filed with the date. The remit-to line is typed once, on the carrier, and every invoice of that carrier shows it. If the broker does not pay factoring companies, an orange note tells you not to send this invoice to a factor. When the broker finally pays, press Mark as paid, as in step 9.

18. What the carrier owner sees (20:13)

The carrier owner has this menu too, and it is also called Freight invoices. Under the title it says the invoices are made from the loads, the dispatcher's fee is billed once a week, and freight invoices go to the broker, one per load. The cards are the same four, and a fifth one, You owe your dispatcher, adds up the weekly fee invoices that are not paid yet. First come the weekly dispatch fee invoices from the dispatcher, one row for each week with the loads it covers. Then the freight invoices to brokers, with a line that says your dispatcher sends these to the broker for you. The owner sees the same paper, but only two buttons: Download invoice and Print or save as PDF. There is no Send, no Edit and no Mark as paid: those are the dispatcher's.

19. Freight invoices on the phone (21:16)

On Home, a small tag says Ready on launch day: that is not working yet. On a phone, Freight invoices is under More. The title and the carrier picker are the same, and the four cards stack in one column. The search box and the status buttons are the same. Each invoice is a small card with the number, the route, the broker, the due date, the amount and the status. Tap the number to open it: the popup is full width, Ready to get paid? comes first, and Add file is one short button. Scroll down and the paper is one column, with the buttons at the bottom. The X closes it.

20. Wrap-up and the free demo (22:24)

That is the whole Freight invoices menu. LaneTally is dispatch and accounting software, now in beta. You can open the same screens yourself in the free demo: no sign-up, no card, fake data.