Every retailer names its deductions differently, codes them differently, and disputes them through a different system. A finance team working two or three of these accounts ends up holding several incompatible mental models at once. This page collects the deduction codes and categories we can verify against published, authoritative sources, grouped by retailer, so the right table is one search away instead of buried in a remittance PDF from eight months ago.
We have deliberately left out anything we could not verify against a primary or clearly authoritative source. Retailers revise codes and dispute processes over time; treat this as a working reference, and confirm current terms in the retailer’s own supplier portal before filing.
How to use this glossary
Two columns matter more than the others. “Typical root cause” tells you which internal team — ops, EDI, pricing, trade marketing — actually holds the evidence needed to dispute the code. “Commonly disputable” is a practical signal, not a guarantee: some deduction families are won often when documentation exists, and some are close to impossible to reverse because they reflect a genuine, contracted charge rather than an error.
Walmart
Walmart’s Accounts Payable Disputes Portal (APDP) organizes deductions by named category rather than a single simple numeric list visible to suppliers in advance. The categories below are the ones APDP is built to handle (SPS Commerce):
| Category | Typical root cause | Commonly disputable? |
|---|---|---|
| Shortage | Fewer units received at the DC than the invoice or ASN indicated | Yes, with a signed POD and receiving record showing the discrepancy |
| Concealed shortage | A shortage discovered after the shipment was accepted as complete | Yes, with carrier and receiving documentation, though harder to win than an on-dock shortage |
| Price difference (documented / PO vs. invoice) | Invoiced cost does not match the cost on file or the purchase order | Yes, with the cost change notice and Walmart's acknowledgement of it |
| Substitution overcharge | A substituted item was billed at a different price than authorized | Yes, with the substitution authorization on file |
| Goods billed not shipped | Walmart's system shows an invoice for product it says never arrived | Yes, with proof of shipment and delivery |
| Carton shortage / freight bill signed short | Carrier signed the bill of lading for fewer cartons than shipped | Sometimes, if the shipping paperwork contradicts the signed-short BOL |
| Carton damaged | Product marked damaged on receipt | Sometimes, with packaging and handling evidence |
| Defective / destroyed merchandise allowance | Product deemed defective or destroyed at the DC | Case-by-case; depends on whether the defect is disputed as a manufacturing versus handling issue |
| OTIF fine | Case-level miss against Walmart's on-time or in-full delivery standard, charged at 3% of cost of goods | Yes, when carrier, appointment or receiving records show the miss was not supplier-caused (Supply Chain Dive) |
Excluded from APDP entirely: Post Payment audit deductions and Accounts Receivable deductions, which route through separate processes, along with several returns-center-routed codes such as freight on returned merchandise, labor/handling/repackaging charges, and the returned-goods handling charge (SPS Commerce). Full walkthrough in our Walmart APDP dispute process guide and Walmart OTIF fines guide.
Target
Target maintains on the order of 250 deduction codes in total, though only about 20 to 25 appear with any regularity on a typical vendor’s remittance (SupplyPike). The codes suppliers see most often (iNymbus; Confido):
| Code | Meaning | Typical root cause | Commonly disputable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| A030 | Carton shortage | Fewer cartons received than invoiced | Yes, with BOL and receiving detail |
| A032 | Damage / defective | Product damaged or defective on receipt | Sometimes, depending on when and where the damage occurred |
| A034 | Unit or case-pack shortage | Quantity per case does not match the pack configuration on file | Yes, with item setup and pack-size documentation |
| A035 | Overshipment / RTV | More product shipped than ordered, or product returned to vendor | Sometimes, depending on authorization for the return |
| A036 | Cost difference | Invoiced cost does not match Target's cost file | Yes, with the cost change notice and its acknowledgement |
| A038 | Substitution | A substituted item was billed differently than authorized | Yes, with the substitution agreement |
| A004 / A135 / A147 | Returns, spoils, RTV family | Product returned, spoiled, or sent back to vendor under policy | Case-by-case, with return documentation |
| A176 | System-generated auto chargeback bundle | Multiple issues (shortage, cost, substitution, pack) bundled into one deduction | Yes, but only after the bundle is broken apart into its individual components |
| TR08 | Backorder charge | Order not fully filled by the requested date | Sometimes, with fill-rate and inventory documentation |
| TR09 | Accessorial charge | Additional freight handling fee | Case-by-case |
| TR11 | Expedited freight charge | Freight upgraded to meet a delivery requirement | Case-by-case, depending on who requested the expedite |
| TR14 | Freight on returns | Freight cost associated with a product return | Sometimes, depending on return authorization |
| TR15 | Domestic sort and segregation | Fee for sorting/segregating freight domestically | Rarely, this is typically a contracted fee |
| VCNA / VCPN / VSUP / VONL / VIAP | Vendor income types | Contracted marketing, co-op, supply chain or online allowance income | Rarely; these generally reflect agreed contract terms rather than errors |
| 90C | Cotiviti third-party audit deduction | Historical transaction flagged by Target's audit vendor Cotiviti | Case-by-case, requires historical agreement and transaction records |
| 90SF / 90SG / 94S / 94SG / 94SS | PRGX third-party audit deduction family | Historical transaction flagged by Target's audit vendor PRGX | Case-by-case, requires historical agreement and transaction records |
Full detail in our Target vendor deduction codes guide.
Kroger
Kroger groups deductions under the umbrella term MCB, for merchandising charge back, organized by reason code and sub-code rather than a single flat list (iNymbus):
| Family | Typical root cause | Commonly disputable? |
|---|---|---|
| Promotional allowance (off-invoice, scan-down, coupon) | Allowance applied differs from what was billed, often a rate or date-range mismatch | Yes, with the deal authorization and performance backup (Confido) |
| Cost difference / list cost | Invoiced cost disagrees with Kroger's cost file, often a notification-timing issue | Yes, if the cost change notice met Kroger's required lead time; no, if it did not |
| Shortage, damage, overage | Quantity received does not match quantity invoiced | Yes, with a signed clean POD, BOL, and packing or weight records |
| EDI non-compliance | A required EDI document was missing, late, or malformed; documented at $250 or 1% of the invoice amount (Confido) | Rarely reversible after the fact; best addressed by fixing the EDI mapping |
| ORAD / late delivery | Delivery missed the Original Requested Arrival Date | Yes, with routing timestamps and carrier records showing timely routing |
| Cash discount | Payment terms discount taken or disputed | Case-by-case, based on invoice and payment date records |
| Returns and reclamation | Product returned or destroyed under Kroger policy | Case-by-case, with return documentation and a duplicate-claim check |
Disputes route through a supplier portal operated by PRGX on Kroger’s behalf, historically Lavante, now transitioning to PRGX’s Supplier Connect platform, with a 180-day filing window and no edits once a dispute is submitted (Confido; iNymbus). Full detail in our Kroger MCB deductions guide.
Amazon Vendor Central
Amazon does not publish numeric deduction codes the way Walmart and Target do. Vendor Central chargebacks are instead organized into six operational categories covering more than 40 individual chargeback types (Carbon6):
| Category | Typical root cause | Commonly disputable? |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase order (PO) accuracy | Late confirmation, down-confirmation, or cancellation as not filled; fees run around 3% of product cost for late/down-confirmed units and 10% for cancelled-as-not-filled (Carbon6) | Yes, if confirmation and fulfillment records contradict Amazon's system record |
| ASN accuracy | Advance ship notice does not match the actual shipment; fees run roughly 1–6% depending on the discrepancy (Carbon6) | Yes, with the ASN transmission log and shipment record |
| Preparation | Product not prepped to Amazon's requirements (labeling, poly-bagging, etc.) | Sometimes, with prep instruction records on file at time of shipment |
| Packaging | Packaging does not meet Amazon's carton or pallet requirements | Sometimes, with packaging specification confirmation |
| Transportation | Carrier or routing failure affecting delivery to Amazon's fulfillment network | Yes, when carrier records show the failure was not vendor-caused |
| Receive process | Discrepancy identified during Amazon's receiving process at the fulfillment center | Case-by-case, with shipment and receiving documentation |
Amazon Vendor Central disputes run on a 30-day window from notification, with one further 30-day window available after an initial refusal (SPS Commerce; Altus Commerce). Full detail in our Amazon Vendor Central chargebacks guide.
Costco
Costco does not publish a numbered or lettered deduction code catalogue equivalent to Walmart's or Target's. Claims are tracked in the Costco Vendor Portal by claim type and credit memo reference rather than a standardized code a supplier can look up in advance (iNymbus). The categories that recur most often in supplier-facing guidance are named, not numbered (Productiv):
| Category | Typical root cause | Commonly disputable? |
|---|---|---|
| Pallet configuration | Non-standard pallet type, overhang, uneven stacking, or weight/height violations | Yes, with packing specification and load records |
| Labeling / ASN mismatch | GS1-128/SSCC-18 pallet labels missing or not matching the ASN | Yes, with the ASN transmission log and label placement records |
| Late or refused delivery | Missed cross-dock appointment, or early arrival refused at the depot | Yes, with appointment confirmation and delivery timestamps |
| Quantity discrepancy | Units or cases received not matching the PO or ASN | Yes, with signed receiving documentation |
| Packaging / product damage | Club-pack packaging failure or transit damage | Case-by-case, with packaging specification and damage documentation |
Full detail, including why the dispute path is buyer-anchored rather than fully automated, in our Costco vendor chargebacks guide.
Dispute windows side by side
Walmart's APDP window runs up to 24 months for most AP deductions and 12 months for shortage deductions specifically, with a hard cutoff at two years from the original claim date (SPS Commerce; SupplyPike). Kroger's window is 180 days from the deduction date, with no edits allowed once a dispute is submitted (iNymbus). Amazon's window is 30 days from notification, with one further 30-day window after a first refusal (SPS Commerce). Costco does not publish a single standardized filing window across all claim types in its public supplier documentation, which is one more reason to file promptly rather than let a Costco credit memo sit unaddressed.
For how the underlying vocabulary fits together, see deduction vs. chargeback vs. dispute management. For the commercial decision of whether to work these in-house, see in-house vs. outsourced deduction management.
Frequently asked questions
Which retailer has the most deduction codes?
Target maintains the largest published code catalogue, on the order of 250 codes, though only about 20 to 25 appear regularly on a typical vendor's remittance.
Does Amazon use numeric deduction codes like Walmart and Target?
No. Amazon Vendor Central organizes chargebacks into six operational categories covering more than 40 chargeback types, identified by name rather than a numeric code.
Does Costco publish a deduction code list?
Not that we have been able to verify. Costco tracks claims by claim type and credit memo reference inside its Vendor Portal rather than a standardized, publicly documented code catalogue.
Which retailer gives suppliers the longest time to dispute a deduction?
Walmart's APDP window is the longest of the four we cover here for standard AP deductions, running up to 24 months versus 180 days at Kroger and 30 days (plus one 30-day extension) at Amazon.
Sources
Every figure in this article is drawn from the publicly available sources below. Retailer programmes, fee schedules and dispute windows change; confirm current terms in the retailer’s own supplier portal before acting.
- SupplyPike — Target Deductions Overview
- iNymbus — Target Deduction Codes Explained
- Confido — Target: Managing Deductions and Disputes
- iNymbus — Kroger Deduction Codes
- Confido — Kroger: An In-Depth Guide to Deductions and Disputes
- Carbon6 — Amazon vendor chargebacks: types and costs
- SPS Commerce — How to dispute Amazon vendor chargebacks successfully
- Altus Commerce — Amazon chargeback disputes
- SPS Commerce — Walmart’s APDP: a clear guide to the Accounts Payable Dispute Portal
- SupplyPike — What can I dispute in APDP?
- Productiv — Costco Vendor Compliance Guide
- iNymbus — Costco Vendor Portal: how to dispute Costco chargebacks
- Supply Chain Dive — Walmart raises OTIF requirement to 87%