Esker, a global cloud platform and leader in AI-driven process automation solutions for finance and customer service functions, today announced the launch of its Claims & Deductions solution to help businesses efficiently manage their deduction claims and protect margins. As an integral part of Esker’s Order-to-Cash suite, Esker’s Claims & Deductions solution enables customer service and finance departments to quickly resolve customer issues and keep short payments under control.

Thanks to AI-driven data capture and electronic workflow capabilities, Esker eliminates the manual pains of traditional claims processing. The solution manages both customer claims associated with products (e.g., product shortage, damaged products, etc.) and customer financial deductions (e.g., trade and promotional invoices, penalty charges, marketing contributions, etc.) that typically impact food, beverage and consumer goods manufacturers and distributors. And, thanks to seamless ERP integration, once deductions have been approved in Esker’s solution, they can be automatically accounted for in the ERP as a credit note or on a G/L account.

Overwhelmed by short payments, deduction claims and time spent investigating customer issues, businesses often write off small amounts because they take too much effort to reconcile. In fact, according to a 2018 IOFM report¹ researching and resolving an unauthorized customer deduction carries an average cost of $200-$300. Furthermore, studies show that a successful retail channel supplier operating on a 10% margin loses, on average, 3.7% to preventable and erroneous customer deductions.

“Every penny counts! We want to help businesses keep their deductions under control by easily tracking and investigating their deduction claims,” said Aurélien Coq, Order-to-Cash Product Manager at Esker. “AI technology delivers visibility and analytics capabilities through the centralization of all claims. Data capture and verification operations alongside effective investigation and approval workflows improve process efficiency and facilitate collaboration.”

By automating the reception, sorting and processing of its deduction claims, Esker customer GBfoods digitally transformed its process and improved overall efficiency. Since implementing Esker’s solution, the company has saved over 500 hours of customer service time annually, simplified the work of its customer service and accounts receivable teams, and increased visibility on claims resulting in more accurate accounting. “We’ve improved the whole O2C process and enhanced our collaboration with customers. Our dispute rate is down significantly, and order delivery service satisfaction level is over 98%,” said Susana López, Front-Office Retail Customer Service Manager at GBfoods. “Additionally, with all the time our CSRs have saved, they are now able to focus on higher-value tasks.”

“Esker’s goal is to continuously promote positive-sum growth in as many areas as possible to create an ecosystem where all stakeholders create value together,” said Jean-Michel Bérard, CEO at Esker. “Our Claims & Deductions solution applies this ambition to the often contentious realm of payment disputes and short payments to create mutually beneficial customer-supplier relationships. We aim towards helping everyone reach a better process.”

Esker’s Claims & Deductions solution is available worldwide.

About Esker

Esker is a global cloud platform built to unlock strategic value for finance and customer service professionals, and strengthen collaboration between companies by automating the cash conversion cycle. Esker’s solutions incorporate technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) to drive increased productivity, enhanced visibility, reduced fraud risk, and improved collaboration with customers, suppliers and internally. Esker operates in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific with global headquarters in Lyon, France, and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information on Esker and its solutions, visit www.esker.com. Follow Esker on LinkedIn and join the conversation on the Esker blog at blog.esker.com.

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