Dispute Processing

If a customer is disputing an invoice, you can put the item in dispute and indicate the amount and reason for the dispute. Putting an item in dispute does not generate any accounting entries.

These steps describe the process flow for dispute processing:

  1. Mark an item as disputed, and enter a dispute reason and the disputed amount on the View/Update Item Details - Detail 1 page.

  2. Run the Condition Monitor process to put the disputed item on the action list for the AR specialist, and then notify the specialist.

  3. The AR specialist researches the reason for the dispute and determines whether the item should be collected, refunded, or written off.

    During the investigation process, the AR specialist may perform these tasks to help determine how to handle the disputed item:

    • View or change details for the item, using the View/Update Item Details component.

      Drill down to see details about contracts, invoices, and sales orders related to the item.

    • Assign an action and action owner to the item for further research.

    • Create a conversation entry and attach documents, if needed, for a broker or salesperson, or enter comments about a conversation with the customer concerning the disputed item.

  4. Resolve the disputed item by doing one of these:

    • Take the item out of dispute on the View/Update Item Details - Detail 1 page.

    • Write off the item, using the maintenance worksheet.

    • Create a credit memo and apply the credit to the item, using either the Automatic Maintenance process or the maintenance worksheet.

      Note: If you write off the item or apply a credit memo to the item, run the Receivables Update process to update the customer's balance, update item activity, and create accounting entries.

    If the option to Resolve Dispute When Closed is selected on the Receivables Options – Payment Options page for the business unit SetID, the system automatically resolves the dispute when the item is closed. The dispute status change is recorded on the Dispute Status Tracking page (ITEM_DISP_T) and the dispute fields are cleared on the View/Update Item Details - Detail 1 page for the item.