The Q1 2026 Supplier Playbook: Turn Sales Into Cash Faster

This isn’t about fighting every deduction. It’s about protecting working capital with a repeatable operating system.

1) Build a “Net Cash Waterfall” for the last 60–90 days

Stop looking at one number (gross sales). Track the flow:

Gross invoiced → short pays → deductions → credits/billbacks → returns/unsaleables → net cash received

If your team can’t explain the waterfall, you can’t manage it.

2) Classify deductions into three buckets (and treat them differently)

A practical framework (also reflected in industry commentary) breaks deductions into:

• Trade practices (expected settlements like promotions/markdowns)

• Preventable deductions (process/data/compliance mistakes)

• Customer errors (duplicates, unauthorized, excessive, post-audit surprises)

Why it matters: each bucket has a different “fix.”

• Trade practices need better planning and accrual discipline.

• Preventables need root-cause cleanup.

• Customer errors need proof and speed.

3) Set a dispute SLA (service-level agreement)

Late January is not the time to “get to it when we can.”

Pick a target:

• 7 business days to assemble a proof packet and decide: dispute, accept, or escalate.

Speed wins because documentation goes cold fast.

4) Create a weekly “Cash Exceptions Standup”

30 minutes. Same attendees every week: finance + sales + customer service + supply chain.

Agenda:

• top 10 deductions by dollars

• top 10 by frequency

• repeat offenders (same retailer code, same SKU, same lane)

• one owner per root cause, with a due date

This meeting is where you stop repeating the same loss.

5) Standardize your proof packet

Make it easy to be right.

A good baseline packet:

• PO, invoice, BOL, ASN/EDI confirmation (if applicable)

• promo approval or event ID screenshot

• delivery/appointment proof

• retailer correspondence trail

When a dispute is valid, you should be able to respond quickly without a scavenger hunt.

6) Fix the top 3 “repeat triggers” first

If you’re seeing the same deduction reason over and over, that’s not a collections problem.

It’s a process problem.

Common repeat triggers:

• promo dates or item lists drifting from what’s in the portal

• pricing or terms mismatches

• labeling/routing/appointment misses

• duplicate deductions (same reference taken twice)

When you remove repeat triggers, cash improves without adding headcount.

7) Re-forecast Q1 using net assumptions, not gross hope

This is the grown-up move.

If you historically see a deduction drag, build it into your forecast and treat improvement as upside—not an assumption you need to make payroll.

What to do this week (late January)

If you want immediate traction:

• Pull the last 60–90 days of deductions and rank by dollars.

• Identify one retailer where you see the most short pays.

• Stand up the weekly cash exceptions meeting.

• Standardize the proof packet template.

• Pick your first root cause to eliminate (not just dispute).

Do that, and Q1 starts to feel manageable again.

Where Woodridge Retail Group fits (without the hard sell)

Woodridge Retail Group works with supplier teams who are trying to stop the “mystery money” problem—where strong sales don’t translate into predictable cash.

If your late-January reality is portals, short pays, and unresolved deductions, the goal isn’t to argue more. It’s to tighten the operating system so fewer issues trigger, and the valid ones get resolved faster.