The traditional dispute resolution process is time- consuming as it involves redundant and manual paperwork. Plus, it tends to be full of errors. Here’s how it works.

Step 1: Receipt of the Cases under Dispute

The analyst takes the dispute tickets or case provided by either the company’s account department or a client

Step 2: Logging and Tagging

The analyst records the disputes in the company’s tracking system, and tags each case or ticket according to their importance depending on the dispute reason code.

Step 3: Aggregating Data

The analyst gathers all the pertinent information to identify the right persons involved for the invoice under dispute.

The analyst then manually pulls out all relevant information and documents such as order invoice, Proof of Delivery (POD), sales invoice, Bill of Lading (BoL), tax receipt, and other related documents. The analyst then proceeds to study the filed dispute at a superficial level.

Step 4: Requesting Additional Data

When there are missing documents, the analyst gets in touch with the customer to request additional information so the dispute can be resolved quickly.

Step 5: Resolving the Dispute

After obtaining all the related documents, the analyst then proceeds to research for the basis and validity of the filed dispute so he or she can determine the best way of dealing with the disputed item. In particular, the analyst will study whether the dispute should either be refunded, collected, or written-off.

Step 6: Requesting for Further Clarification or Action

The analyst will communicate with the client if he or she finds that the dispute is invalid. The analyst either informs the client of the dispute’s invalidity or seeks additional clarification or a withdrawal of the filed dispute.

Step 7: Seeking Approval

If the analyst deems that the dispute is valid, then he or she will proceed to get the nod of his or her superior. It’s another step that prevents the timely resolution of the dispute and is another task that involves manual paperwork.

Step 8: Issuance of Credit Memo or Debit Memo

The analyst will get in touch with the client to inform that the company will issue either a debit memo or credit memo if the superiors approve the validity of the dispute.

The analyst will also inform the accounts department and request to update the invoice status in the ERP. The account status will be closed once the changes have been reflected in the system.

Step 9: Generating Reports

Manual reports will be generated for the use of executives and managers who will study the deduction functions. Report generation tends to be full of errors and time-consuming when there is no centralized real-time data.