Your efficient and cost-effective information management solution
Sunset’s PayLOGIK® system is a highly-scalable, high-performance, functionally-rich set of applications and tools designed for high-volume, multi-modal invoice processing, including parcel package shipment detail.
PayLOGIK® delivers visibility to invoice detail and invoice document images online that you can access 24/7. The comprehensive processing and reporting capabilities of PayLOGIK® efficiently deliver customized solutions tailored to your unique information management needs.
Learn more about PayLOGIK® capabilities (quick links will send you to appropriate topics):
- Data Consistency and Auditing Process
- PayLOGIK® System Security
- System Functionality (EDI, Match Pay, Import, Web Access)
- Information Management and Reporting (Invoice review and approval, data extracts, invoice research and image archive)
Data Consistency and Auditing
To ensure correct data and reduce errors, accurate data is key.
Data Consistency
Other freight-bill processing systems will often accept data as entered with little or no enforcement of consistency, creating problems for customers.
PayLOGIK® provides several tools to ensure data consistency, including:
- Enforced consistency for shipper and consignee name and address information
- Validated international postal code to city-state
- Validated equipment types, modes, and service levels
- Validated GL Coding per data elements required by your business rules
- Customizable data entry with customer/carrier specific requirements
- Validated custom reference fields by customer or customer/carrier
- Enforced basic data requirements by customer or customer/carrier
- Pre-defined, industry standard tables for charge codes, reference codes, etc.
- Blind entry verification of invoice amounts and invoice numbers
- Balancing of line item invoice details compared to invoice total.
Duplicate Detection
PayLOGIK’s® duplicate invoice number protection includes logic to check individual carrier members across carrier families. Both data entry and imported EDI invoice data use the carrier family to detect possible invoice duplication between carriers. This capability prevents the payment of duplicate invoices that can occur during carrier business consolidations or when duplicate invoicing occurs across regional division carriers.
Auditing
Sunset enters rate details and maintains unique rate databases for each of its freight audit and payment customers in the Sunset rating engine. PayLOGIK® is integrated with each customer’s unique rate database to perform the invoice auditing function. Sunset’s rating engine is robust, supporting all potential rating variables, such as freight class, mileage, mode, carrier, service level, equipment, and movement type, such as milk run or round trip.
Sunset’s Auditing Process:
- Auditing is performed on every incoming invoice unless specifically excluded in the customer/carrier setup.
- Any invoice that fails the audit (within a specified tolerance) will be manually reviewed by the Sunset auditor assigned to the customer’s account.
- Your auditor has the option of accepting the invoice as presented, accepting it as audited, or adjusting the charges manually before approving.
Different from most freight audit and payment service providers, Sunset’s experienced auditors reconcile audit discrepancies directly with the carriers on behalf of the customer. This adds audit efficiency and reduces the expense of duplicate and balance due carrier billing and processing. Once an invoice is approved by the auditor, the invoice is returned to the system’s payment cycle.
PayLOGIK® System Security
Unlike some applications that provide rudimentary security based on user groups, but not hierarchical groups of functional and data authorities, PayLOGIK® provides tools for managing user access to a very fine level.
Functional and Data-Level Security
PayLOGIK’s® security options include field-level authority within forms. Generally, PayLOGIK® supports: Customer users; Carrier users; and internal users.
Functional Authority Control
PayLOGIK® allows an unlimited number of roles to be defined to which users may be assigned. The functional authority of each role may include one or more data management roles in any combination. And, each user may be assigned to any number of roles, granting the user very specific functional authorities.
Every form and report in the system is under the control of functional authority. This control allows individual users to be given access to customized groups of functions and reports to meet their needs. It is also possible to create “packages” that have specific sets of reports and functions. For example, one could create a “Basic Logistics” package that includes the standard PayLOGIK® accounting reports, plus a few selected logistics reports.
Data-Level Access Control
Since PayLOGIK® supports access by customers, carriers, and Sunset users, the data-level access control includes both customer and carrier selections. Data access is controlled at the user level and not the group level so individual users may have different access even within a customer or carrier. This becomes crucial when supporting the hierarchical reporting structure of corporations with multiple subsidiaries, business groups, or divisions.
System Functionality
PayLOGIK® offers many features and functionality that enable your businesses to operate more efficiently, using technology to improve your processes.
Data Entry and EDI Data Import Customization
To reduce extensive and time-consuming system programming, PayLOGIK® contains a setup tool for Sunset’s creation of your customized data entry forms supporting manual entry and EDI invoice data import. The customization tool controls which fields are available during data entry and whether or not the field is required. Custom reference fields may be specified for each customer or customer/carrier.
Custom reference fields have the following qualifiers:
- Single value or multiple values
- Required or not required
- Validated or not validated (against a predefined list of allowed values)
- Masked or unmasked (controls the format of the entry)
The line item detail required for each customer or customer carrier is also customized.
Customization tools also efficiently support set-up of each customer’s unique general ledger account code application.
EDI Functionality
PayLOGIK® supports all required EDI ANSI-standard transaction sets, including carrier ASC-997 transactions. PayLOGIK® currently has predefined support for both the ASC 110 (air) and ASC 210 (ground) invoice transactions. All segments defined in the 4010 and 4030 versions are reflected in the PayLOGIK database and are available for advanced reporting. EDI trading partner relationships are defined by carrier and support charge code mapping; bill-to mapping; and currency sensitivity.
Match-Pay Functionality
The Match-Pay functionality within PayLOGIK® allows the customer (shipper) to provide pre-shipment information in various file formats, including:
- Comma Separated Values
- Fixed-length Text
- EDI – including ASC 856, ASC 204, and ASC 211
- XML – a proprietary structure designed by Sunset
PayLOGIK’s® match-pay setup function allows the customer to specify a number of comparison fields and the action to be taken when no match is found. Additionally, the match-pay setup may specify the matching criteria on each match field and the matching criteria may be grouped by single or multiple criteria.
Web Access
Customer and Carrier users access the PayLOGIK® system using an ASP.Net application.
The application has been successfully tested on various web browsers including:
- Internet Explorer 7 ®
- Internet Explorer 8 ® — requires compatibility mode
- Firefox 3
- Slim Browser
- Safari
Invoice Styles
PayLOGIK® provides you with visibility to all your line-item invoice details, regardless of the invoice style used by your freight vendor.
The system supports two invoice styles:
- Single—Typically used in truckload, LTL, and ocean shipments where one invoice is generated for each shipment.
- Statement—Primarily used by small package carriers such as FedEx and UPS, but may also be used by any other carrier.
Information Management and Reporting
There are several features provided through PayLOGIK® web application including:
Invoice Review and Approval
This function allows the customer to review all outstanding invoices and to decide which if any should be de-selected from the payment cycle—an option unique in Sunset’s services offering—to support unique customer needs. De-selection requires a reason from the customer as to why there is a dispute.
Customers may choose to de-select charges at three levels:
- an entire carrier
- an entire invoice
- a single shipment (on Statement style invoices)
Reporting
PayLOGIK® uses Microsoft’s Reporting Services to provide standard reports.
Reports may be viewed online or exported in one of several formats:
- .pdf (Adobe)
- .csv (Comma Separated Values)
- .tiff (FAX image format)
- .xls (Excel)
- .xml (XML format)
Data Extracts and Integration with Customer Systems
PayLOGIK® provides a robust, user-friendly tool for extracting information from underlying database tables and exporting it in a .csv format for use by other applications.
- Users may define custom report templates that may be stored for repeated modification and/or use, or can define a one-time extract.
- Some customers use their defined PayLOGIK® extracts to post their accrual and/or general ledger account codes within their required accounting cycle.
- Data warehouse applications can also be supported with data extracts from PayLOGIK®.
Invoice Research
The Invoice Research tool provides a quick way to find specific invoices using filters on:
- Carrier
- Bill-to
- Invoice date
- Process Date
- Invoice number(s)
- Check number(s)
- Custom reference data (such as GL account code, PO, etc.)
This tool also provides a drill-down capability to view invoice detail and any document images associated with the invoice. A link to the carrier’s web site is also included when available.
Document Image Archive
PayLOGIK® includes an image viewing and linking tool for displaying document images and associating them with carrier invoices. Any number of images may be associated with any number of invoices, creating an online document image archive to support your invoice retention requirements and paper conservation initiatives.