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Thursday, February 27th 2025 marked the launch of the CPG Deduction Summit, a share group-style event sponsored by UpClear. This new event held in Austin, TX brought together more than 40 deduction professionals representing 24 different organizations that included brands, consultants, and the other event contributors IAB Solutions, JAVE Insights, and TrewUp.  

The objectives of the day-long event were simple: new connections and new ideas. In addition to ample time to meet their counterparts from other companies, the agenda featured a diverse mix of deduction management topics. 

Kathy Rotondo, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at IAB Solutions shared the results of a study on deduction trends across more than 50 surveyed companies. 

A panel discussion facilitated by Kurt Kaiser, Senior Director of Marketing at UpClear, addressed the results of a pre-event survey that, among other things, identified backup retrieval and organization as the most time-consuming part of the process.  Panelists Karena Sandelli (The Run-a-Ton Group), Lauren Leiman (Twinings), Cynthia Frias (Simple Mills), and Rob Hand (Hand Promotion Management) added personal experience and anecdotes to selected topics from the event and IAB survey results. 

The afternoon kicked-off with Jenna Oviedo, co-founder of JAVE Insights, sharing her company’s expertise in outsourced deduction management and quantifying the value of a structured, dedicated, and cross-functional approach to deduction management: insight into what’s causing deductions that enables work to remedy things you can control, and more reclaimed capital from repayment for invalid short pays. 

Kyle Barnholt, CEO and Co-founder of TrewUp, focused his talk on deductions at UNFI and KeHE.  He shared his perspective on the new PPA and SSA programs at KeHE and UNFI, respectively as well as insights derived from data they manage. 

• Across all type of deductions, promotion deductions dominate both % of total deductions (62%) and % of revenue (10.2%) comparisons.  No other category was in double-digits for either KPI.
• Promo deductions also top the chart for disputes and repayments. 

The event wrapped up with lively round-table discussions where attendees discussed backup acquisition, deduction validation, and dispute best practices.  We’ll be fully reporting on these at a later date.   

Our takeaways from the CPG Deduction Summit: 

• You are not alone!  Challenges in Deduction Management are consistent across companies. Find ways to connect with other pros that manage deductions to learn and share.
• There was a world in which deductions didn’t exist!  Brand invoice payment habits (i.e. not paying bills on time) contributed to the invention of deductions.  
• Retailers and Distributors recognize the challenge created by deductions.  Outdated technology and consolidation contribute to an extremely complicated landscape. 
• Cross-functional collaboration is key, but you need data to identify hot spots.  Create a monthly session to align on priorities and a) work on addressing controllable processes, and b) dispute and recover invalid deductions.  
• Technology helps, but it will not replace human expertise in deduction management.   
• Celebrate success! Find ways recognize improvements and wins. Remember, every repaid invalid deduction improves the bottom line!

If you are interested in joining this CPG Deduction Share Group, attending future Summits, or are interested in the materials presented, send us a message at upclear.com/contact.  

About UpClear

UpClear makes software used by Consumer Goods brands to improve the management of sales & trade spending. Its BluePlanner platform is an integrated solution supporting Trade Promotion Management, Trade Promotion Optimization, Integrated Business Planning, and Revenue Growth Management.