Understanding Your Invoice Audit Coverage

Last updated: October 26, 2026

Loop audits invoices as they move through the approval and payment process. This article explains how that audit works, how your policies decide what happens to each audit result, and how claims and disputes are handled. Your CSM can share an audit coverage guide that lists the specific policies on your account.

You can see your current parcel policies in Loop at any time under Policies.

Audits, policies and outcomes

Term	What it means
Audit	Loop's review of your invoices for accuracy, validity and carrier compliance.
Policy	A rule configured on your account that decides what happens when the audit produces a result, such as holding approval or opening a claim.
Variance	The difference between what a charge should have been and what the carrier billed.
Outcome	What happens next: approval is held, an exception is recorded, a claim or dispute is started, or the result is tracked only.

How your contract rates are audited

Your contract and carrier pricing are loaded into Loop's rating engine.
Loop calculates the expected charge for each shipment.
The expected charge is compared with the invoiced charge.
The difference is the variance.
Your policies decide the outcome, such as holding approval or opening a dispute when the variance is above a set amount.

Contract rates are set up separately from your policies. Other policies, such as duplicate invoice and coding policies, use business or carrier rules rather than your contract.

What happens to an audit result

Outcome	What it means
Auto-approval is blocked	The invoice is held for review and is not paid until the issue is resolved.
Review exception	The result is recorded so the invoice can be looked at. The invoice is not blocked.
Dispute	A challenge to a charge before payment. Approval is blocked while the dispute is open.
Claim	A request for a refund or credit after payment. The invoice is not blocked.
Tracked only	The result is recorded for reporting. No follow-up work is created.

Depending on your service setup, exceptions, claims and disputes are worked by your team, by Loop, or both. A policy can have more than one outcome. For example, a freight overcharge policy can open a dispute and block approval at the same time.

Common policy types

Policy type	What it covers	Examples
Approval and coding controls	Policies that block auto-approval until the issue is resolved.	Duplicate invoice, cost allocation, rejected incoterm, approval limits, wrong bill-to account
Disputes	Rate policies that open a dispute with the carrier before payment.	Freight overcharge
Invoice review checks	Policies that record a review exception without blocking the invoice.	Freight undercharge
Carrier claim checks	Parcel policies that open a claim with the carrier.	Rate overcharge, duplicate package charge, residential and other surcharges, package not delivered, late delivery
Tracked only	Policies that record a result for reporting only.	Delivery-area surcharge

Claim and dispute workflows

How claims and disputes are sent depends on the carrier and how your account is configured. Some are scheduled to send directly to the carrier, some are reviewed manually first, and some use the carrier's portal or are submitted by your team. Your audit coverage guide shows the schedule for each carrier on your account.

A credit depends on the carrier accepting the claim or dispute. An audit result does not guarantee a claim, dispute or carrier credit.

Adding policies

Additional policies may be available for your account. Availability depends on your carriers, modes and carrier contract terms, and some policies may include an additional fee. Each change needs your approval and testing before it goes live. Your CSM will confirm cost and carrier coverage before anything is enabled.

Questions about a specific policy, exception, claim or dispute? Contact your Loop Customer Success Manager.