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Deductions

How Stuut identifies, validates, and resolves short-pays on incoming payments.
A deduction is when a customer pays less than the invoiced amount. It shows up as a short-pay on an incoming payment in Cash Application. Deductions have to be resolved — either accepted (the short-pay was valid) or fought (the short-pay was not).There are two types:Standard deductions — small, contractual adjustments taken at the time of payment. Common examples:
  • Early-pay discounts (e.g., 2/10 net 30)
  • Freight deductions per contract terms
  • Minor pricing differences between invoice and PO
  • Tax or rounding differences
  • Agreed-upon rebates or allowances
Trade deductions / chargebacks — retailer-initiated penalties and claims, more common if you sell into large retailers. Common examples:
  • OTIF (On-Time In-Full) fines
  • Shortage claims
  • Compliance violations (labeling, pallet config, ASN timing, routing requirements)
  • Promotional or co-op advertising claims
  • Returns and RGA deductions
  • Slotting fees or new-store allowances
Standard deductions are high in volume but individually small. Trade deductions are lower in frequency but larger and more often invalid.
Every short-pay identified in Cash Application flows automatically into the Deductions module, with context already attached. From there, Stuut’s agent takes action:Standard deductions within policy — the agent validates against your contract terms, posts the adjustment, and closes it. No action needed.Trade deductions with a clear validation path — the agent pulls supporting documentation and adjudicates. Valid claims are accepted. Invalid claims get a rebuttal drafted and submitted through the retailer’s preferred channel.Ambiguous or high-dollar claims — routed to your team with a recommended disposition and supporting docs pre-assembled.The agent tracks submitted rebuttals, follows up on aging disputes, and closes out when the retailer responds.
Deductions surface in your task queue. Each task includes:
  • The short-pay amount and invoices involved
  • The deduction type and reason code (if detected)
  • Supporting documentation the agent has pulled
  • The agent’s recommended disposition (accept, write off, or rebuttal)
You can also view deductions from the relevant invoice’s detail page.
Deductions — the customer has already paid less than invoiced. A short-pay is on the bank statement and needs to be resolved via coded claims.Disputes — the customer is contesting an invoice before paying. Disputes arrive as unstructured communication and require investigation first.A deduction and a dispute can be linked — if a short-pay traces back to an ongoing complaint, the agent connects them.
The agent can pull from:
  • Shipping records — BOL, POD, carrier data, ASN records
  • Contract and pricing master — pricing, allowances, payment terms, freight responsibility
  • Trade promotion records — promo calendar, funded amounts, co-op and MDF claim eligibility
  • Retailer portals — Walmart Retail Link, Target Partners Online, Amazon Vendor Central, and other portals where claims and debit memos are filed
The agent drafts a rebuttal and submits through the retailer’s preferred channel:
  • Portal — for retailers with dedicated submission portals
  • EDI 824 — for machine-readable dispute responses in large-retailer relationships
  • Email — for customers without a formal portal
You can review any rebuttal before it goes out if your configuration requires approval.
Writing off a deduction means closing it with no recovery. Stuut supports automatic write-off rules for recurring small adjustments posted to a GL account.For larger or invalid deductions, write-off is a manual decision in the deduction workspace.
Deductions begin in Cash Application. When a payment does not fully cover the invoiced amount, Cash Application flags it as a short-pay and routes it to Deductions with full context attached.If a deduction is resolved and the customer sends the remaining balance, Cash Application picks up that payment and closes the loop automatically.