What fields should a deduction report include?

Retailer, the identifiers the retailer's system uses, deduction code, amount, deduction date, reason category, status, dispute date, resolution date, and reversed and written-off amounts. Most KPI formulas read from these fields. Sales and cost figures come from other records.

How often should you review a deduction report?

We recommend reviewing often enough that no deduction can pass its retailer's dispute window between two reviews. Windows and starting events differ by retailer, so check each current vendor manual and write the rhythm down.

Is a deduction dashboard different from a deduction report?

No. A dashboard draws the same table as charts. The fields you capture decide what any dashboard can show, so settle the fields first.

Deduction reporting

How to Build a Deduction Report

Capture a small set of fields on every deduction, then cut the same record by retailer, reason, age and status.

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A deduction report is one row per deduction. Its fields feed most deduction KPIs. Cut the rows by retailer, reason, age, status and window.

We recommend reviewing it more often than your shortest dispute window. Definitions live in the deduction KPIs guide. This guide covers the columns.

Which fields does each deduction need?

One row per deduction: fields from the remittance, then fields your team records.

One row per deduction: fields from the remittance, then fields your team records. Most KPI formulas in the deduction KPIs guide read from them. Sales and cost figures come from other records.

From the remittance and your records

Field	What it holds	Where it comes from
Retailer	Who took the deduction	Remittance
Vendor, invoice and PO numbers	The identifiers the retailer's system uses to find the record	Remittance and your invoice records
Deduction or claim number	As it appears on the remittance	Remittance
Deduction code	The retailer's reason code, printed beside the amount	Remittance
Amount	Dollars taken	Remittance
Deduction date	The date the deduction was taken	Remittance
Check remittance date	The date some retailers start their window from	Remittance

Recorded by your team

Field	What it holds	Where it comes from
Reason category	Your grouping of retailer codes into one set	Your mapping of the codes
Status	Open, disputed, reversed or written off	Your records
Dispute date	The date the dispute was submitted	Your records
Resolution date	The date it reached a final state	Your records
Reversed and written-off amounts	What came back and what was absorbed	Your records

Map each retailer's codes to your categories once, before you add anything up. Otherwise the category cut misleads. See the code library.

Which cuts should the report offer?

Five cuts of the same rows answer five questions.

Five cuts of the same rows answer five questions. Each links to the KPI it feeds, so the definition lives in one place. A dashboard is the same table drawn as charts.

Cut	Question it answers	KPI it feeds
By retailer	Whose deductions are largest?	Deduction rate (needs sales from your sales records)
By reason category	Where do the dollars concentrate?	Deductions by reason category
By age	How old is the open balance?	Aging buckets
By status	What is open, disputed or closed?	Dispute, recovery and write-off rates
By window	Which deductions are nearest their retailer's deadline?	None. It uses the retailer's own window

Aging buckets are not a deadline calendar, so the window cut uses each retailer's own rule and starting event. Macy's counts from the deduction date. Burlington counts shortage disputes from the check remittance date.

Check each current vendor manual. See how to dispute a retailer deduction.

How often should you review it?

We recommend reviewing more often than your shortest dispute window, so no deduction passes its deadline between reviews. Windows and starting events differ by retailer.

We recommend reviewing more often than your shortest dispute window, so no deduction passes its deadline between reviews. Retailers differ, so write the rhythm down. Our write-off guide lists review cadence as a policy element.

Review	Cut to read	What it settles
Windows closing	By window	Which deductions to file now
Open balance	By age and status	What sits unworked
Closed items	Write-off ledger by reason and retailer	Where losses come from

Questions

What fields should a deduction report include?: Retailer, the identifiers the retailer's system uses, deduction code, amount, deduction date, reason category, status, dispute date, resolution date, and reversed and written-off amounts. Most KPI formulas read from these fields. Sales and cost figures come from other records.
How often should you review a deduction report?: We recommend reviewing often enough that no deduction can pass its retailer's dispute window between two reviews. Windows and starting events differ by retailer, so check each current vendor manual and write the rhythm down.
Is a deduction dashboard different from a deduction report?: No. A dashboard draws the same table as charts. The fields you capture decide what any dashboard can show, so settle the fields first.

Next step

A report shows where deductions sit. Working them is the next job. See how that work gets done.

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