Why Your Deduction Team Is Always Playing Catch-Up

If you’ve ever seen a dog chase its tail, you know the cycle: spinning, frantic, and getting nowhere.

That’s what deduction management looks like for a lot of finance teams.

You’ve got claims coming from every direction—shipping errors, price variances, and promotion issues. And just when you think you’ve caught up? Another wave hits. It’s like trying to mop up water while the faucet’s still running.

Let’s picture a fictional team at a snack food company called “Crunch & Co.” They’ve got a lean AP team, two analysts, and no dedicated deduction staff. They’re talented but overwhelmed. Retailer portals are a maze. Disputes are time-sensitive. And documentation? Scattered across inboxes.

Crunch & Co. recovers about 20% of its deductions. The rest are too late or too hard to validate, so it eats the loss.

That’s the reality for so many retail brands.

The core issue? Most teams aren’t set up to win at deduction recovery. They’re reactive, not proactive. They’re dealing with each deduction as it comes instead of spotting patterns and solving the root causes. They don’t have the tools—or time—to investigate every claim.

But those write-offs snowball when the average deduction is $400 to $600, and you’re getting dozens a week.

There’s a better way.

Call to Action: If your team is exhausted and still falling behind, let’s talk. HRG exists to help teams like yours stop chasing and start recovering.

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