Deductions Management Software

Portal fatigue? Bots to the rescue!

Many AR departments in Australia are painfully familiar with portal fatigue, as it’s often their job to retrieve supporting deduction documents from a retailer portal or proof of delivery, bill of lading, or delivery notes from carrier or transporter portals. Considering the number of different portals used and the fact that not every user is trained on each one, it’s easy to see why portal fatigue is a real concern for today’s businesses.

Esker leverages RPA bots and available APIs to support integration with your customer's portals using our software to automate the retrieval of deduction-related supporting documents and the dispute of specific deductions.

Say “goodbye” to the pains of manual data entry

To facilitate AR deduction investigation, Esker’s software uses different layers of AI technology that extract data from documents and enrich deductions with reliable information — no more manual data entry! Built on a set of technologies designed to mimic human intelligence, Esker Synergy AI captures data on customer-supporting documents such as payment remittances, debit notes, promotional invoices, credit requests, or simple emails.

Esker Synergy identifies key header information (customer reference, name, amount, or invoice number) as well as line information (products, quantities, prices or promotion references) and classifies the deduction in the appropriate category (promotional agreement, price discrepancy, shortage, damaged products) based on the document content.

Accuracy is improved along the way thanks to Esker Synergy’s ability to automatically adapt to layout changes by learning from user corrections.

Approve or dispute AR deductions quickly & accurately

Esker embeds a multi-level approval workflow within the software that’s pre-configured based on the type (typically trade vs non-trade) and amount in Australia. This allows users from different departments to investigate and approve/dispute customer claims (sales reps for matters related to sales agreements and promotions, supply chain reps for issues related to delivered products, etc.).

Easily adapted to specific needs, workflow users can enrich the deductions case with additional information and related documents, as well as add other coworkers to the workflow on a case-by-case basis. What’s more, by linking the customer deduction with the associated internal documents (payment, promotion, invoice, delivery note or order), employees have easy access to all the information they need for fast and accurate approval/dispute of deductions.

Enhanced collaboration meets improved communication

An internal chat tool within our software allows users to add participants to a given deduction and informally gather additional information without having to go through the more formal approval workflow. These internal conversations are visible to all contributors directly on the deduction.

Users can also clarify or dispute deductions directly with customers using external conversations. Predefined templates are available for email communications, which helps ensure consistency while adding a personal touch. When customers reply, their answers are automatically attached to the deduction to make sure that the context is clear and no information is lost.

Increasing visibility into approved deductions

Esker’s software integrates with any ERP system thanks to a connectivity suite that provides multiple ERP integration options using middleware, APIs, or managed file exchange — ultimately easing the pain when setting up a solution in a hybrid ERP environment in Australia.

When applied to Esker Deductions Management, the system integration capabilities automatically create deduction claims from short payments for tracking and further investigation purposes. Once deductions have been settled/approved in Esker’s solution workflow, they can be automatically accounted for in the ERP as a credit note or on a G/L account, also clearing any residual debit if the customer has already short-paid.