SERVICES · RELAY MODULES
3PL billing audit service: every invoice, stock count and SLA checked each month
3PL Audit checks each warehouse invoice against your contract and the warehouse's own activity data, reconciles its stock count with your stores and keeps a scorecard of the service you are paying for.
Invoice lines checked
A 3PL billing audit service checks each warehouse invoice against your contract and the warehouse's own activity data, then disputes what does not match. 3PL Audit (RELAY-08) builds a monthly cycle in your accounts: invoice matching, a stock reconciliation between your 3PL and your stores, an SLA scorecard and a dispute log. It is a standard Relay Module at $750, and every dollar credited back goes to you.
Why 3PL bills go unchecked
A 3PL invoice can run to hundreds of lines across pick fees, storage, receiving, special projects, packaging and carrier charges, each priced from a rate card that may have been amended twice since you signed. It arrives at month end, someone glances at the total and it gets paid. Checking it properly means matching every line to an order, a receipt or a storage snapshot, and nobody on a small team has that afternoon free.
The complaint is a familiar one: "Our 3PL bill never quite matches." The errors are rarely large on their own. A duplicate pick fee here, storage billed on a pallet that left last month there, a carrier markup above the contract rate. They repeat every month until someone checks.
The monthly cycle
The cycle starts the day the invoice arrives and runs in four steps.
- 01Pull.
Invoice lines, the current rate card version, orders shipped, units received, storage snapshots and carrier charges.
- 02Match.
Each line against its rate and its activity, with carrier charges re-rated against your contract markup. Differences are flagged.
- 03Draft.
Disputes for your approval, one line per error, with the evidence attached.
- 04Send and close.
Disputes go out inside your contract's window, then we follow up until each line is closed or credited.
In a typical month, pulling takes the first 3 business days after the invoice arrives, matching runs through day 5 and dispute drafts are ready for you by day 7.
The 12 checks we run on every invoice, with what each error looks like, are on our inventory and 3PL page. If you want to try it yourself first, our 3PL invoice audit guide walks through the method.
What you give us once
- The signed contract and every amendment
- The current rate card
- SLA terms
- Your dispute window
- Carrier markup terms
- The value-added services you have approved
- Your contacts at the 3PL
- A read-only portal user, API access or monthly exports
The list of approved value-added services matters more than it looks: a special project you never agreed to looks exactly like one you did, unless the approval is written down.
What the 3PL billing audit service connects to
- Your 3PL's data:
invoices, orders shipped, receiving and storage snapshots, through its portal, its API or monthly exports. ShipBob's API, for example, covers orders, inventory, receiving, returns and billing; Extensiv's 3PL Warehouse Manager offers a REST API for orders and inventory. Warehouses that work in EDI send 945 shipping advice, which is built to reconcile order quantities with shipped quantities.
- Your stores:
Shopify orders and fulfillments, seller-fulfilled Walmart orders and any Amazon orders the warehouse ships, so pick fees can be checked against orders that actually left the building.
- Your inventory system or Stock Flow
for the stock count the 3PL is reconciled against.
- Your landed cost table,
so every variance carries a dollar value.
Stock reconciliation: how variances are sorted
The 3PL's on-hand by SKU, and by lot where it is tracked, is compared with available stock in your stores or inventory system. Each variance gets a class and a next step.
| Class | What it usually means | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | In transit, or received but not yet put away | Recheck after put-away |
| Mapping | Wrong SKU, or a bundle not split into components | Fix the SKU map in Stock Flow |
| Loss or damage | Units missing or damaged in the warehouse | Claim under your contract |
| Unknown | No explanation in the data | Cycle count requested |
Variances above a threshold you set trigger a cycle count request. Each one carries a dollar value at landed cost from Landed Cost Desk or your cost file, so you can see which ones are worth chasing.
The SLA scorecard
The scorecard measures the service you pay for, each month, from the warehouse's own data:
- Dock-to-stock time
- Order cycle time
- On-time shipping
- Order accuracy
- Inventory accuracy
- Damage rate
- Response time to your tickets
Your contract's SLA is the benchmark that counts. For context only, WERC's 2025 DC Measures report puts best-in-class order picking accuracy at 99.68% or higher and best-in-class dock-to-stock time under 3.5 hours. That is a benchmark, not a promise from us or your warehouse. Shipping errors that reach customers also show up as order-status and return tickets, which WISMO Breaker and the 3PL fulfillment errors page cover.
Disputes: how we write and track them
Each disputed line shows what was invoiced, what it should have been, the difference and the evidence. Disputes go out in writing inside the window your contract sets. The dispute log tracks status and credit received, and an error that repeats gets a written root-cause request to your account manager at the 3PL.
You approve every dispute before it is sent, and anything that would change your contract or your relationship with the 3PL stays your decision.
Automated: data pulls, line matching against the rate card, carrier re-rating, variance math, the scorecard and dispute deadline reminders. A person: reviews flags for false positives, writes and sends disputes after your approval and talks to your 3PL account manager. On Ops Desk that is your named ops lead; on a module-only build, your team uses the playbook and dispute letter template.
How the build runs and how you accept it
Week 1 is the spec. Weeks 1 to 3 connect the data and write the matching rules. Weeks 3 to 4 run acceptance.
The acceptance tests in a typical 3PL Audit spec:
- Your last three invoices are re-audited line by line during the build.
- Every invoice line maps to a rate card line or is flagged.
- A reconciliation runs on a test day, with each variance classified.
- The scorecard shows each measure with its source.
- A dispute draft fills from a flagged line.
- Documentation is stored in your workspace.
Price, timing and what you own
3PL Audit is a standard module: $750, built in 1 to 4 weeks. You pay 50% at the start and 50% at acceptance; anything that fails acceptance is fixed free for 60 days. Module Care is included on any monthly plan, or 10% of the build cost a year otherwise. Monthly 3PL invoice checks by our team run inside Ops Desk Growth at $2,499 a month. Full terms are on pricing.
We take no share of credits. Module fees are fixed and published, and every dollar recovered is yours.
Founding offer: 20% off the module build, plus 20% off monthly plans for the first 6 months, for our first 25 clients or until Jan 31, 2027, whichever comes first.
The matching rules, scorecard, dispute log and templates stay in your accounts. Named user access with multi-factor authentication. Never your owner password. No bank, payout or legal-entity permissions. All ten modules are on the Relay Modules hub.
How much does 3PL Audit cost?
It is a one-time $750 build, done in 1 to 4 weeks. If you would rather we run the monthly checks, they are included in Ops Desk Growth at $2,499 a month, along with daily inventory work and 3PL coordination.
What are the most common 3PL billing errors?
The ones we look for first are duplicate pick fees on the same order, storage billed on stock that has already left, receiving charged by the pallet when the contract says by the carton, carrier charges marked up above the contract rate and special projects nobody approved. Each one is small on its own, and each one repeats every month until someone checks.
Do you take a share of what is recovered?
No. Our module fees are fixed and published, and every credit the 3PL issues goes to you. We prefer it that way: a fee tied to recoveries rewards disputing everything, and that damages a relationship you need. The dispute log shows every credit received, so you can see what the checks are finding.
Will disputes strain our relationship with the 3PL?
Each dispute is factual and line by line, with the rate card reference and the evidence attached, and you approve it before it is sent. A specific, documented error is easier for an account manager to fix than a general complaint about the bill.
What if our contract has no dispute window?
Then we follow your invoice payment terms and send disputes as soon as they are found, before the invoice is due. A written dispute window is worth raising with the 3PL at your next renewal, along with a clear rule for how credits are applied to the next invoice.
Do you check carrier charges?
Yes, for carrier charges on your 3PL invoice, re-rated against the markup in your contract. Carrier bills you pay directly to the carrier can be added in the spec if you want them checked too. Surcharges such as residential delivery or address correction are checked against the same contract terms.
Does it work with any 3PL?
Yes, with a read-only portal user, API access or monthly exports of invoices, orders, receiving and stock. If your warehouse works in EDI, the 945 shipping advice and 856 advance ship notice give us what we need. A 3PL that can only send PDF invoices adds a step to each month's pull, which the spec accounts for.
A free Profit Leak Scan includes a fees section that shows where warehouse and channel fees look out of line, before you build anything.
Ecomrelays LLC is a Texas company. Part of our team works outside the US, as one managed team with a named US-facing lead. 597 Mountcastle Dr, Rockwall, TX 75087. +1 (469) 331-3129.
Sources6 sources
- 01yale.comWERC 2025 DC Measures: best-in-class order picking accuracy 99.68% or higher, dock-to-stock under 3.5 hours; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
- 021edisource.comEDI 945 warehouse shipping advice reconciles order and shipment quantities; 940 and 856; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
- 03developer.shipbob.comShipBob API guides for orders, inventory, receiving, returns and billing; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
- 04help.extensiv.comExtensiv 3PL Warehouse Manager REST API for orders and inventory; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
- 05developer-docs.amazon.comSP-API Orders API and FBA Inventory API used for cross-checks; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
- 06help.shopify.comShopify fulfillment triggers; checked Oct 20, 2026Primary
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