Amazon Vendor Central’s Financial Scorecard tracks issues like shortages and missing invoices, ensuring timely payments. The tool uses charts and graphs for easy trend analysis and enables vendors to identify the reason for short payments without Amazon support.

What’s covered in the Financial Scorecard?

The Financial Scorecard tool shows potential defects in vendor supply, invoicing, and catalog processes. It suggests actions to fix issues and increase efficiency.
The financial scorecard provides insights through these sections:

1. Missing invoices

This section shows unpaid amounts for goods received but not invoiced. Amounts won’t be paid until defects are fixed.

Potential Causes

• • The invoice has not yet been submitted.
  • Lack of necessary references for Amazon’s identification.
  • Rejection due to non-compliance

To review missing invoices, click “View details” and cross-check the “Purchase order” column to ensure the invoice matches the specific PO. If discrepancies arise, resubmit the invoice. Allow a few days for Amazon to process recently submitted invoices. If an invoice remains missing, investigate potential reasons such as catalog setup errors or other defects before resubmitting.

2. Invoice cannot be processed

Invoices with errors or inconsistencies, incompatible with legal or Amazon standards, cannot be processed. The Financial Scorecard guides actions needed to rectify them.
For details, visit Support > Help > Invoices > Review rejected invoices. Alternatively, access your Invoices via the Payments tab, selecting Actions to view Rejection Details. This section lists invoices with processing defects, indicated by the displayed count.

Click “View details” to access and download invoice details. Here you can:

• • Review reasons for Amazon’s rejection.
  • Identify common causes, for instance, duplicate invoices or incorrect tax calculations.
  • Resubmit invoices after resolving the issues.

3. Potential shortages

The “Potential shortages amount” indicates products invoiced but not yet matched. Click “View details” for more information. After confirming a PO, ship items to an FC and issue the invoice upon shipment. Correctly created invoices with accurate shipments to ensure full payment. Potential shortages represent invoices still processing or awaiting matching. Regular checks help ensure timely payments.

Click “View details” to access and download invoice details.

• • Verify that shipped products match the dates specified in the Advanced Shipment Notification (ASN).
  • If the shipment hasn’t been sent and the delivery window is open, send it promptly for Amazon’s matching process.
  • If unable to deliver, issue a credit memo or cancel the invoice to resolve payment disputes.
  • Refrain from sending invoices before product delivery to avoid misidentification or missing product flags in Amazon’s system.

4. Remaining shortages

This section shows the remaining shortages after the matching process.
The “Remaining shortage” amount represents invoice items that could not be matched to received items. This open shortage will be deducted from invoices when paid.
The “Shortage at due date” amount indicates unmatched amounts at the due date, often partially matched by Amazon’s system.

Monitor this section regularly to understand monthly trends. Sudden shortage increases may reflect warehouse logistics, catalog changes, or other issues requiring investigation.

If products were shipped, shortages may stem from the supply chain, invoicing, or catalog issues. Investigate and resolve by disputing the cause.

If the shipment wasn’t delivered, submit a credit memo to cancel the invoice. Go to Support > Help > Invoices > Submit a credit memo. This confirms acknowledgment of the shortage and facilitates resolution with Amazon.

5. Supply chain, invoicing, and catalog defects

This section displays faults identified in the vendor’s supply chain, invoicing, or catalog operations, potentially leading to shortages or payment delays. Each category reveals the defect rate and amount within the selected period.

How to analyze this data?

Select a defect category to observe monthly trends.
Peaks could indicate warehouse supply issues, catalog adjustments, or other issues. Aligning peaks with their respective months and process changes can simplify issue identification and correction.

Consider Staffcloud, which can manage these tasks for vendors seamlessly. We handle everything from creating invoices and shipments for vendors to maintaining records of supporting documents for all Purchase Orders, managing disputes, and identifying issues like over-deliveries or missing invoices. To find out more about our services, contact us today at support@staffcloud.net or submit your inquiries right here.