Case Study
Freight Bill Pre-Audit
Freight Bill Pre-Audit
100% PERCENTAGE OF FREIGHT BILLS AUDITED BEFORE PAYMENT
99% PERCENTAGE OF FREIGHT BILL ISSUES RESOLVED WITHOUT INVOLVING JO-ANN
Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores® is the nation’s largest specialty retailer of fabrics and crafts, offering an unmatched, under-one-roof selection of products for quilting, apparel, craft and home décor sewing along with a full array of components, tools and kits for crafters of all ages.
Century, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores®, and Acuitive Solutions LLC formed a partnership to improve Jo-Ann’s freight payment process. The objective of the collaboration was to run all Jo-Ann freight bills through a pre-audit process to verify the charges prior to remittance.
Acuitive maintains Jo-Ann’s contracted rates and terms in its system. The auditing process initiates with Century feeding ASN/856 transactions from VIZIV to Acuitive. Acuitive then receives corresponding freight invoices via EDI 310 feeds from the Jo-Ann carriers. Invoice anomalies are identified systematically and flagged for non-payment pending follow up with the carrier.
Validated freight charges flow unimpeded from Acuitive to VIZIV. Jo-Ann’s Accounts Payable team then runs a VIZIV report summarizing validated carrier charges in order to process payment. The average invoice approval time is 7-8 days before shipment ETA.
Jo-Ann and its carriers save time, short and over-payments are eliminated, data integrity has improved and carriers are highly motivated to self-correct to speed payment. The program is a win-win for everyone. It earned us the 2011 Supply Chain Distinction Award for “Best Collaborative Practice”.

Headquarters
Hudson, OH, United States
Industry
Retail
Product Mix
Craft supplies, fabric, notions frames, paper crafting material, artificial floral, home accents, finished seasonal and home décor merchandise
Employees
23,000
Sales Revenue
US$ 2.0 billion
Website
www.joann.com