Contingency recovery · CPG suppliers · Nationwide

We turn chargebacks and deductions into recovered revenue, stronger customer relationships, and lasting process improvement.

What we do

Recover the money. Keep the retailer. Stop the deduction from coming back.

01

Recover the dollars

We validate every deduction, build the evidence packet, file disputes in the right retailer channel, and pursue recoverable dollars through resolution.

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02

Protect the relationship

We dispute with documentation, not noise — so finance recovers money without turning every claim into a sales-account fight.

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03

Fix the root cause

We trace deductions back to item setup, routing, ASN, pricing and allowance failures so the same losses stop repeating.

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Send us your deduction file.
Find out what is recoverable — before you commit to anything.

Upstream CS is not a software platform. Senior operators work your file by hand — validating every code, building the evidence packet, filing disputes in the right retailer channel, and reporting back in plain English. You pay from what we recover. Nothing upfront, nothing if we do not recover.

The signature idea

Most recovery firms work the end of the lifecycle. The money is made at the start of it.

A deduction is created weeks before it hits the remittance — in a cost file that never synced, a PO routed a day late, an ASN with a missing expiry date. Recovering the dollar is worth doing. Removing the cause is worth more.

The retail deduction lifecycle and where Upstream Chargeback Solutions intervenes A five-stage horizontal flow showing a deduction moving from order, ship and invoice, through retailer receiving and audit, to the deduction being taken, the dispute window, and finally recovery or write-off. Below it, three green intervention panels show where Upstream works: a root-cause fix at the order and shipping stage, a forensic audit at the point the deduction is taken, and a documented dispute filed inside the window. A dashed feedback arrow runs from the final stage back to the root-cause panel. The deduction lifecycle — downstream01Order, ship & invoicePO accepted, routed, picked,labeled, ASN sent, invoiceissued against agreed terms.02Retailer receives & auditsReceiving counts, compliancescoring and allowancematching run on their side.03Deduction is takenThe remittance arrives short.A code, a claim number, andvery little explanation.04Dispute windowA fixed number of days toassemble BOL, POD, ASN andcontract evidence and file.05Recovery or write-offApproved, partially approved,denied, or quietly aged outinto cost of doing business.Unworked deductions become permanent margin loss.Where Upstream worksRoot-cause fixItem setup, cost files, routing,ASN accuracy and allowanceterms corrected at the sourceso the deduction stops.Forensic auditEvery code decoded, validityscored, and the recoverabledollars separated from thegenuinely owed ones.Documented disputeEvidence packet assembled andfiled inside the window, thenescalated and re-disputeduntil it resolves.The loop most recovery vendors never closeFindings feed back upstream
The retail deduction lifecycle. Upstream works three points on it: the forensic audit, the documented dispute, and the root-cause fix — the loop most recovery vendors never close.

Why suppliers use us

Three differences that show up in the P&L

01

You get paid first

Contingency only. No license, no retainer, no minimum. If we recover nothing, you owe nothing.

02

Root cause, not just recovery

We close the process failure generating the deduction, so it stops coming back next quarter.

03

Senior operators, not a claims mill

Your file is worked by people who have sat on both sides of a deduction — not routed to a volume queue.

Proof, honestly framed

What a 30-day deduction audit typically uncovers

We are a 2023-founded firm and do not publish other people's numbers as if they were ours. Here is the methodology instead: the four buckets every deduction file sorts into.

The four buckets a deduction audit sorts claims into Four stacked bands showing how a deduction audit categorizes claims: genuinely owed, recoverable now, recoverable with additional documentation, and expired past the dispute window. What a 30-day audit sorts your deduction file intoGenuinely owedValid claims backed by real receiving or contract evidence. Left alone, and flagged so you can budget for them.Recoverable nowInvalid or duplicated claims still inside their dispute window. Worked first, in dollar order.Recoverable with workClaims that need documents from your 3PL, carrier or broker before they can be filed.ExpiredPast the window. Unrecoverable — but the clearest evidence of what the process is costing you.Categories of finding, not a claim about results. Every file is different.
Categories of finding from a structured deduction audit. Every supplier's mix is different — the point of the audit is to establish yours.

Questions

The questions finance teams ask us first

How does contingency pricing actually work?

We are paid a percentage of what we recover, and only after the recovery lands. There is no license fee, no retainer, no onboarding charge and no minimum. If a claim is not recovered, there is nothing to invoice against it. The fee percentage is agreed in writing before any work starts, and it is the only way we get paid — which is why we will tell you when a deduction is genuinely owed instead of billing you to chase it.

What data do you need from us to start?

Typically read-only access to your retailer supplier portals, your remittance and deduction detail for the period under review, open invoice and credit data from your ERP, and your vendor agreements and promotional terms. For freight-related claims we will also want BOLs, PODs and carrier appointment records — usually from your 3PL. Most suppliers can assemble this in a few hours. We work from what you already have; you do not build anything new for us.

How long does recovery take?

It depends on the retailer, not on us. Some portals resolve documented disputes in weeks; others sit in research queues for a month or more, and post-audit claims can run longer. What we control is filing complete, evidenced claims early in the window rather than late — because a dispute filed after the window closes recovers nothing regardless of how strong the evidence is.

Do we have to switch software or implement a platform?

No. We are not a software company and we do not sell a platform. There is nothing to implement, integrate or train your team on. You keep your ERP, your EDI provider and your existing tooling exactly as they are. If you already run a deduction platform, we work inside it.

What happens if you recover nothing?

Then you owe nothing. That is the whole point of the model — the risk of a thin or unrecoverable deduction file sits with us, not with you. It also means we are candid at the audit stage: if we do not see enough recoverable value to justify the engagement, we will say so rather than take the work.

Is our retailer and vendor data secure?

We work under a written confidentiality agreement, access is limited to the people staffed on your account, and portal credentials stay under your control — we prefer named read-only users you can revoke at any time rather than shared logins. We are happy to work within your security review, your NDA template and your access-provisioning process.

Does this cover consumer transaction disputes?

No. We work exclusively on retail trade deductions between suppliers and retailers: the money a retailer or distributor subtracts from a supplier invoice for shortages, compliance failures, pricing claims, allowances, post-audit findings and OTIF-type fines. Consumer-facing transaction disputes are an unrelated field and outside our scope entirely.

Deduction audit

See what you're owed.

The deduction audit reviews your recent retailer remittance and deduction data, identifies what is recoverable, and shows you the root causes behind the repeat offenders. Recovery work runs on contingency — you get paid first, and our fee comes out of recovered dollars.