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Agreement

Channel Partner Manufacturer

End Customer

Claim

Payment

Promotional Pricing and

Trade Spending

Programs are strategic

levers for manufacturersto drive business

performance. The

execution and monitoring

process of such

programs can be

complicated, slow, and

costly. But, with the

combination of SAP ERP

andVistex Incentives

and Paybacks Module

(IP), you can

streamline the process

validate claims against

agreements

reduce disputes and

adjustments

prevent overpayments

achieve dramatic

savings in laborcosts

Solution Brief

BILLBACK MANAGEMENT

Billbacks occur when a manufacturer negotiates anagreement with a channel partner or directly with an endcustomer for special pricing or spending programs. Theproduct is sold to the end customer through a channelpartner or the channel partner incurs expenses based on thenegotiated spending program. The channel partner files aclaim with the manufacturer. The manufacturer audits theclaim and sends a payment to the channel partner. The endcustomer may also be eligible for a payment from themanufacturer.

Agreement

Channel Partner Manufacturer

Customer

Claim

Payment

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The Challenge of Billbacks

Manufacturers often collaborate with channel partnersto offer special pricing and spending programs for salesand marketing activities. This ensures that theirproducts are competitively priced and have adequatemarket exposure. Market forces usually drive thestructure and content of such programs.

The process from negotiating an agreement to claimreceipt and final settlement is referred to as BillbackManagement.

Manufacturers create agreements with their channelpartners containing product pricing and/or approvedspending programs. These agreements can involve oneor many channel partners including their end customers,and multiple agreements may simultaneously apply incertain cases. Agreements might encompass pricing-related credits, warranty recoveries, marketing funds,volume commitments, market share statistics, andcooperative advertising; Agreements can changefrequently, and even be modified retroactively. Claimdata can originate from the channel partner, endcustomer, or an external source, such as a GroupPurchasing Organization or a Data Aggregation Service.

Auditing each claim can require a considerable amountof time and money and too often, manufacturers findthemselves doing so with a collection of basic tools,such as spreadsheets, e-mail, faxes, and phone calls orwith inflexible legacy applications. That makes itdifficult to ensure accurate agreement validations andquick claim turnaround, which in turn results in lengthy

dispute cycles and increased labor costs.

When a channel partner submits a claim, it should becompared to the eligibility and pricing terms in theagreement. Are the claim amounts consistent with theagreement? Is the channel partner eligible for abillback? Was the product shipped to the eligible endcustomer? Could the claim be a duplicate? Did thechannel partner or end customer return the product?

Taming the Complexity

The answer to this complexity is Vistex BillbackManagement. The solution helps you bring order to adifficult and error-prone process. Billback Management isan application of the Incentive and Payback Module(IP), a comprehensive, integrated set of solutions designedspecifically for your industry. Leveraging the software ofSAP and Vistex and drawing on their experience, thesolution lets you record and process claims, control variedand changing agreements and ultimately, transformbillback management into a systematic and effectiveprocess.

With SAP ERP and IP Module, you can manage the entirebillback life cycle, from claim request to settlement, andminimize manual intervention to bring new levels ofefficiency and accuracy to the process.

The software enables you to:

Create, manage and automate a variety of agreementswith multiple channel partners and end customers

Accept claims via EDI, flat files, web portals, ormanual entry using fast entry tools

Review claims for completeness and accuracyincluding pulling data from SAP Business Warehouseand SAP CRM applications

Carry out mass changes to claims for incorrectsubmission data

Process submitted claims against applicableagreements using billback documents.

Settle billback documents based on flexible settlementparameters, for example, daily, weekly, monthly

Easily reconcile and resolve disputes

Produce timely reports and establish a full audit trailto support corporate accounting and complianceefforts

Factor in calculation models to account for monies

already earned by channel partners during thefulfillment cycle

Use multiple currencies and units of measure in theentire billback process

Use analytical and simulation capabilities to evaluateand promote the desirable programs and quicklymodel new programs

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Communicate with partners via print, EDI and/orweb portal technology

Provide real time integration to SAP Financials andControlling Module, especially in reconcilingdeductions already taken by channel partners againstsubmitted claims

Support a multi-tier distribution model where initial

shipments are sent to channel partners consolidationcenters and subsequently shipped to channel partnersbranch locations and onward to end customers

Utilize the reported end sale data to control variousperformance incentive programs offered to channelpartners and/or sales employees

Aggregate claim and billback document data inLogistics Information Structures and provide extractstructures for SAP Business Warehouse

Provide a holistic overview of spending programs

with complete visibility at customer and product levelusing a checkbook approach

The solution is fully integrated and embedded in SAPERP. As a result, you can consider documents from otherenterprise processes, such as sales and procurement, in thebillback process. For example, you can easily comparequantity sold to a channel partner with the quantityclaimed from the sales data resident in your SAP ERPsystem. And you can readily use billback information inyour finance and supply chain processes.

The complete integration of Vistex and SAP also means

there are no interfaces and up-front integration costs tomanage, and ongoing maintenance and upgrades areseamless. And because SAP ERP is based on the SAPNetWeaver platform, the solution offers easy integrationand flexibility in virtually any IT environment all ofwhich helps ensure a low total cost of ownership.

The Payoff of a Streamlined Process

With SAP and Vistex, you can manage billback claims withlower costs and fewer resources, and shorten turnaround timethroughout the billback process.

Overall, the software can help you to:

Create and approve agreements using Workflow

Reduce labor costs, get more productivity and fasterturnaround times in claims processing

Provide a more transparent, closed loop process tomanage agreements, claims and billbacks

Reduce the amount of overpayments and disputes

Link up real time with Financials to record accrualsand settlement of billbacks in full compliance withcurrent financial regulations

Provide a complete financial and profitability pictureof the various agreements

In summary, the combination of SAP and Vistex enables you tomanage the complexities of billback management, efficientlyprovide a key service to your channel partners and strengthenyour companys ability to compete.

Typical Billbacks Lifecycle

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www.vistex.com

Vistex, The SAP Pinnacle

Your organization has invested in SAP solutions. Your

investment needs to yield more value.

Vistex provides packaged solutions and services thatextend core SAP functionality and add dramatic value toyour SAP investment.

Powered by SAP NetWeaver, Vistex delivers stylish,innovative add-ons to SAP functionality that allowscustomers to fully exploit the strengths and potential oftheir SAP systems. We leverage our extensive business andtechnical expertise to deliver unprecedented solutions toSAP users that demand more value from their installedSAP systems.

Our flagship product, the Incentives and Paybacks (IP)Module, is comprised of two fully-integrated embeddedSAP add-on applications, SAP Incentives

Administration by Vistex and SAP Paybacks andChargebacks by Vistex, both of which have beenbranded as Global Solution Extension Products by SAP,licensed and supported by SAP through the SAP ServiceMarketplace since mid-2004. These solutions have beenimplemented by several SAP customers to better manageIncentive Compensation, Rebates, Paybacks/Billbacks, andChargebacks. Our newest solution, Foundation Data forSAP streamlines the maintenance of pricing structures andmaterial, customer, and vendor master data.

Founded in early 1999 and headquartered in Chicago,USA, Vistex solutions have been deployed by several SAPcustomers. Since its inception, Vistex has a proven trackrecord of partnering with SAP to exceed customerexpectations. Located across USA, Germany and India,our professionals are dedicated to providing high endcustomer support and services.

To learn more about how Vistex solutions can help youdrive business performance in your SAP environment, visit

www.vistex.com

Copyright2007 by Vistex, Inc. All rights reserved.Vistex, Inc. logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vistex Inc.or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respectivelogos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germanyand in several other countries all over the world. All other product andservice names mentioned are the trademarks of their of their respectiveowners.

Vistex, Inc.

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