Shiprocket / Delhivery Shipping Reconciliation: Match Invoices & Catch Overcharges
Every e-commerce seller in India uses shipping partners like Shiprocket or Delhivery to deliver orders. But with hundreds of invoices and thousands of shipments each month, even small billing errors can turn into major losses. This guide explains how to match invoices, catch overcharges, and keep your shipping costs in control.
Why you must reconcile courier invoices
When you send many parcels every month, each shipment has freight, zone, weight, COD, and return charges. Without a clear check, these small differences add up over time.
Reconciliation helps you find billing errors, ensure accurate payments, and improve your cost per parcel while keeping your accounts audit ready.
What data you need to collect monthly
- Start every month by gathering all the key reports before you begin reconciliation.
- Courier invoice showing AWB count, weights billed, zones, and surcharges.
- Your rate card or shipping agreement for correct rates and zones.
- Order manifest or OMS export with actual weights, zones, COD, and return status.
- Bank statement or settlement report showing actual payments made.
Common areas of overcharge
- These are the main points where sellers lose money unknowingly.
- Weight mismatch – the courier bills more than your actual or volumetric weight.
- Zone mismatch – parcels shipped in one zone but billed in a more expensive zone.
- COD or return freight – wrong rate applied for COD or return orders.
- Extra surcharges – pick up, handling, or packaging fees added incorrectly.
Step by step matching process
Follow these steps every month to build a simple and reliable reconciliation flow.
- Import courier invoice data into a spreadsheet or tool.
- Import your order manifest for the same period with AWB, weight, and zone details.
- Match AWB numbers to compare charged vs actual weight and zones.
- Use your rate card to calculate expected charges and compare with billed charges.
- Highlight all mismatched or overcharged entries.
- Raise disputes with courier support within their allowed time window.
- Record final adjustments or recoveries in your books for accurate cost tracking.
How to handle weight disputes
Couriers often reweigh shipments and charge based on volumetric weight. Keep your packaging and dispatch data ready to contest wrong charges.
- Compare charged weight with your warehouse scale readings.
- Use the formula Length × Breadth × Height ÷ volumetric factor to confirm actual billable weight.
- File disputes with proof like packing photos or manifest data.
- Track dispute status until resolved and update recovery once settled.
Tracking returns, RTO and reverse freight
Returns and RTO shipments can double your freight cost if not checked carefully.
- Extract a list of all RTO shipments each month.
- Match return shipments with reverse freight charged in the invoice.
- Check if return freight matches your contracted rate.
- Add RTO cost to your total shipping cost to understand your real expense per order.
Checking surcharges and hidden fees
Couriers sometimes add charges like oversize, fragile, or fuel surcharge that may not apply to your parcel.
- Review all surcharge line items in the invoice.
- Compare with your rate card to see if the fee is valid.
- Request clarification for unexpected charges and maintain a monthly log.
- Review patterns to identify repeated unnecessary surcharges.
Reporting and cost tracking
Shipping reconciliation is not just about finding errors—it helps track and control costs.
- Calculate cost per shipment using total freight, returns, and surcharges.
- Track costs by courier, zone, and order type (COD vs prepaid).
- Watch trends—any sudden increase in cost signals a possible billing issue.
- Use monthly reports for vendor negotiations and better rate management.
How BUSY Recom can help you out
Manual reconciliation across hundreds of shipments can take hours.
BUSY Recom
automates this entire process by importing invoices and manifest files from Shiprocket, Delhivery, and other couriers.
It matches each AWB with your internal order data, compares expected rates, flags overcharges, and generates reports showing total freight variance and recoverable amounts. This saves time, improves accuracy, and gives full visibility into shipping costs across all couriers.
Month end reconciliation checklist
End each month by completing this short checklist.
- Download courier invoices and manifest summaries.
- Import both into your reconciliation sheet or tool.
- Match AWB numbers, weights, zones, and surcharges.
- Flag overcharges and raise courier disputes immediately.
- Post ledger entries for freight paid and recoverable claims.
- Track month to month cost trends and report savings.
Conclusion
Shipping costs can silently eat into profits if invoices are not checked properly. Matching Shiprocket or Delhivery invoices with your order data helps catch weight errors, wrong zones, or duplicate charges before payment. Automate this process using BUSY Recom to save time, find overcharges, and maintain full control of your logistics costs.
I’m Fazeel Zaidi, a Chartered Accountant based in Prayagraj with 8 years of experience. I specialize in GST and Audits, helping businesses stay compliant and audit-ready. With a B.Com background, I focus on practical, clear guidance that simplifies regulations and supports better decision-making.