By switching to Denim, Artisan Logistics eliminated time-consuming manual tasks, protected their most important customer relationships, and gave their back-office lead a platform flexible enough to work her way.
Key Takeaways:
- Cut repetitive invoicing steps by up to 75%, freeing up time for other work.
- Replaced internally built spreadsheets and databases with easy-to-use reporting, allowing daily billing tasks to wrap up on most days by 2 p.m.
- Smooth onboarding process maintained cash flow through transition.
Eliminated manual setup for up to 80 new carriers a month with MyCarrierPortal integration.
Artisan Logistics is a freight brokerage based in Irmo, South Carolina specializing in heavy haul freight. Cathy Batson, the CFO at Artisan Logistics, brought more than 35 years of banking experience into the freight world, where her eye for detail and process-driven mindset has made her a cornerstone of the company’s financial operations.
As the team explored factoring to support their growth, the management team quickly realized the systems they were using weren’t built to support an appropriate level of detail. The process at other factoring companies added unnecessary steps, lacked visibility, and made it difficult to maintain the clean, accurate books she was used to.
The challenge: manual processes overburdened teams and negatively impacted employee morale
Factoring wasn’t new to Cathy or Artisan Logistics. They had worked with two previous providers, but the day-to-day processes were far from seamless. Invoices had to be built manually, files downloaded and reformatted before being re-uploaded, and reconciling payment status often meant hunting through endless line items in reports.
Worse, the previous factoring provider began the collection process with Artisan’s top customer more than ten days before those invoices were due. That misstep nearly cost Artisan a key account and pushed the management team to a breaking point. Changes had to be made to make the systems and processes scalable and sustainable.
The core challenges included:
- Unreliable reporting: With no centralized A/R visibility, internal systems in Microsoft Excel and Access had to be built to supplement the factors’ systems to reconcile and book entries to QuickBooks. This was frustrating and not something that without Cathy’s expertise would have been possible for Artisan.
- Invoice confusion: One provider generated its own internal invoice numbers for carrier invoices, which didn’t match what carriers or their factoring companies expected. That led to payment delays and valuable resource time was spent fielding payment status requests.
- Customer risk: Automated outreach to customers before due dates jeopardized long-standing relationships and made Artisan look disorganized.
Denim’s automated solutions streamline your back-office operations. Explore our solutions to see how Denim can help your business scale efficiently.
The real problem wasn’t just poor systems—it was that the systems weren’t built for the organization to record sales, net margin and factoring fees without supplemental systems. The systems also provided no reliable reporting for tracking advance payments and reserve releases. The systems provided no transparency to Artisan so that they could keep accurate records and back-office load processing running on time.
“I used to have 40 pivot tables just to track load activity. Now, I can go into the jobs board, click on a load, and everything I need—carrier, factor, payment details—is right there. It’s accurate, reliable, and saves me from chasing numbers all day.”
The benefits of Denim
Before switching to Denim, Artisan struggled with manual processes and unreliable data from their previous factoring partner. Reconciliation required complex spreadsheets and hours of digging just to confirm basic payment details.
Now, Denim’s integrated ledger report and jobs board give Cathy and the management team instant access to accurate, up-to-date financial data. The jobs board displays both the carrier and factoring company names in one view, which makes it easy to resolve inquiries without backtracking.
“I used to have 40 pivot tables just to track load activity. Now, I can go into the jobs board, click on a load, and everything I need—carrier, factor, payment details—is right there. It’s accurate, reliable, and saves me from chasing numbers all day.”
According to the American Trucking Associations, as of March 2024, 95.5% of U.S. motor carriers operate 10 or fewer trucks. Artisan co-owner, Ian McCroskey, said that in the heavy haul industry, most carriers that provide heavy haul and over dimensional services are one- or two-man outfits.
Due to the fragmentation of the heavy haul market, the specialized equipment required, and to provide timely service, Artisan onboards around 80 new carriers a month, many of whom are one-and-done. Previously, each setup required an Artisan team memberto manually enter payment and banking details—a repetitive and time-consuming task.
Now, Denim’s integration with MyCarrierPortal eliminates that manual entry. Carrier data flows directly into Denim, removing a major bottleneck and making it easier to keep up with the volume of new carriers.
“That integration has been huge for us. We don’t have to input all the carrier information anymore—it’s in Tai as part of our on-boarding process and now it’s already it’s in Denim, too. This integration has saved me hours each week and cuts out a ton of repetitive work.”
Denim also offers a 28-day payment auto-setting for carrier factoring companies. This feature ensures payments go out a couple of days before the due date,, helping Artisan stay off follow-up lists and reduce the volume of calls and emails from carrier factoring companies.
“Factoring companies used to call constantly asking for payment updates. Now with the 28-day setting and accurate invoice matching, those calls have nearly stopped.”
During the transition to Denim, Artisan experienced no disruption to cash flow—invoices continued to be factored, and funding stayed on track. The onboarding and buyout process was straightforward, even as they exited their previous contract early.
What’s made the biggest difference since then is the ongoing support. Cathy works with a dedicated account manager who knows her business and responds quickly. Even when her rep is out of the office, the support team remains just as responsive.
“Service is consistent no matter who I’m working with. Requests are usually handled within 24 hours, and I never feel like I have to start from scratch explaining what I need.”
That consistency is paired with a willingness to collaborate. The Denim team regularly asks for feedback and acts on it—making updates to the platform that reflect real-world use cases and workflows.
Summary
For Artisan, the impact of switching to Denim went beyond improved workflows—it helped secure the future of their back office. As Cathy puts it, “Accuracy is my number one priority—and Denim is accurate. But it’s the flexibility that makes the biggest difference.”
Denim’s automation and system integrations have simplified processes that once required deep accounting experience and process development. Now, if someone new had to step into her role, they wouldn’t need decades of industry knowledge to manage the back office of invoice processing and factoring.
“If they had to replace me now, they wouldn’t need someone with deep accounting knowledge for the billing portions of my responsibilities. The system handles a lot of the complexity.”
What was once thought to be a cheaper solution ended up costing more in time, errors, and frustration. With Denim, the total cost is lower—not just in dollars, but in hours saved and headaches avoided.
For Cathy, Denim stood out because it adapts to her workflow, not the other way around. She encourages other brokerages to do the math: assess their pain points, talk to current users, and look beyond surface pricing.
“People are afraid of change. But you’ve got to ask yourself—what’s the cost of not switching?”
Switching to Denim didn’t just improve operations—it made it possible for Cathy to do her best work and focus on other financial aspects of Artisan that had suffered from a lack of attention in previous times
Ready to see how Denim could support your back office? Get started today.
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