1. Write the test before exporting data
Identify the supplier, entities, programs, effective dates, currencies, product groups, thresholds, and commercial question. State what would count as an earned benefit, an open claim, an excluded item, and a realized recovery.
“Find missing rebates.”
Better scope“Test whether FY2025 eligible U.S. purchases across three named entities reached executed volume tiers and whether all resulting credits appear by the contractual payment deadline.”
2. Build the governing-term set
- Executed master agreement
- Rebate schedule and rate table
- Amendments, side letters, and renewals
- Product, entity, channel, and customer exclusions
- Claim procedure and submission deadline
- Payment timing and credit mechanism
- Precedence and dispute language
Drafts and unsigned spreadsheets may provide context but should not silently override executed documents.
3. Export the minimum transaction fields
Typical fields include legal entity, supplier, invoice and line identifiers, dates, purchase order, product/SKU, category, quantity, unit, gross amount, discounts, net amount, currency, location, status, and reversal indicators. The exact schema should follow the test.
Resolve joins early
Supplier identifiers, entity codes, SKU/category mappings, units, currencies, and dates frequently differ between the agreement, ERP, supplier statement, and acquisition systems. Document crosswalk ownership and ambiguity.
4. Include the value that may already have arrived
A missing-credit analysis without credit memos, AP application, claims records, cash, and supplier statements can overstate exposure. Search for timing differences, netted payments, parent-level credits, corrections, and credits posted outside the tested entity.
5. Name the reviewers
6. Approve transfer and retention before files move
Use a documented encrypted channel, named access, minimum fields, a retention period, and a deletion path. Do not transmit contracts or transaction records through an ordinary web form or email attachment merely to “get started.”
Minimum readiness gate
- A bounded supplier/program hypothesis
- An executed governing-term set
- A sample export with a data dictionary
- Credits and claims data
- Crosswalk ownership
- Procurement and finance reviewers
- Written security and retention plan
- A decision-maker who can act on the result