Overages FAQ
What are billable overages?
Billable overages are scenarios where Walmart has received a greater value in goods than what was paid by Walmart on a specific PO. These overages are opportunities to get paid for the value of additional goods received by sending an additional invoice.
How are billable overages identified?
Multiple data sources are reviewed including invoices, payments, and receiving data in order to find these billing opportunities across the last two years of POs. Two years is the window of time that you have to bill for these overages. We wait 125 days after the invoice date on a PO before making an overage judgement on a PO. We have this waiting period so that we can ensure that all goods have been received by Walmart, and also to ensure that the initial payment of the invoice has been finalized.
The most important thing to know is that these are overages identified with Walmart's own receiving data.
Are SQEP Overage fines the same as these billable overages?
Not necessarily. In our analysis, we are able to spot many more billable overage opportunities than what is fined for in SQEP. So the PO list does not necessarily overlap.
How are billable overage amounts calculated?
Roughly, we multiply the price of an item, times the quantity received, in order to calculate a "Received Amount" per item. Then we add these up across the entire PO, and compare it to the amount Walmart has paid, to see if there is an overage amount. This also factors in allowances given on the invoice.
Are POs with deductions taken into account?
SupplyPike will include POs that have deductions on them ONLY if there was a previously denied shortage dispute. All other POs that have deductions on them in addition to the overage will not be included. It is strongly recommended to dispute the deduction, as the overage may be related to the deduction itself.
I don't over ship goods, so why do I show overages?
Walmart sometimes mis-receives goods. If they receive item #1 as item #2 on the same PO, then you can end up with one item on the PO as over, and another item as short. If that's the case, you'll receive a shortage deduction, and we'd recommend to dispute the shortage in this case. This PO would not show on Overages.
Other times, Walmart may accept goods from one PO by mistake to an entirely different PO. These are difficult to spot definitively since the receiving issue spans multiple POs.
Overall, whether it was a mistake on the shipping side, or a receiving issue, when a PO has an overage, and there is no deduction, then billing Walmart allows you to get paid for the amount you are owed.
Are allowances accounted for?
Yes, if the original invoice on the PO had an allowance, this will factor in to the value of the goods received any overage amount shown, so the overage amount owed will be after any allowances are applied.
How do I invoice Walmart?
You will invoice Walmart for these overage invoices roughly the same way as a regular invoice. You'll supply the PO number you're billing for with the overage, as well as a new invoice number, and an amount owed along with any allowance(s) that are supposed to be on the invoice. Regarding the invoice number, we recommend adding a "00" or "99" to the end of the original invoice number, with no dashes, spaces, or letters. This fits their preferred format. Additionally, be sure to supply the correct item number associated with the overage. Failure to do so may cause Walmart to not properly process your invoice as if it was a standard invoice.
NOTE: It is NOT required to submit any additional proof outside of the invoice itself.
How quickly does Walmart pay overage invoices?
Walmart pays overage invoices at the same rate that they pay regular invoices, ie: with your standard payment terms.
How are overage payments identified?
SupplyPike keeps track of the PO numbers with billable overages, and monitors for new invoice numbers on these POs in order to spot new overage invoices and any payments on those invoices. Right now, we do require the new invoice number to have either been paid or deducted before we will reflect the overage payment inside of SupplyPike, so these will not show immediately after billing Walmart.
Can I get deductions on overage invoices?
It is possible to get a deduction on an overage invoice if Walmart doesn't agree on that particular PO. These deductions will enter into the Deductions app in SupplyPike, where you'll have the option of further trying to dispute or not. If you do dispute, you'll need to supply proof just like any other deduction.
I'm unsure about billing Walmart for overages. What can you tell me to be reassured?
Suppliers have been billing Walmart for overages for years. Walmart reps have stated in public forums about the practice, supplying best practices. SupplyPike has helped numerous suppliers bill for overages and get paid on a vast majority of what is billed. An option exists to only start with a small sample of POs or a single month, go through the process and wait to get paid, to feel more comfortable with going after the entire 2 year window.
How to Bill Walmart for Overages
Open the Overages page on the left side of the SupplyPike app underneath the Walmart section.
Select the month(s) that contain Billable POs that you wish to bill for, and click Download Overages.
In this report, you'll see the POs that we identified billable overages on, including the individual items and their ordered, invoiced, and received quantities, as well as received amounts (values). You'll also see total Paid Amount, a Gross Amount Owed, any allowance(s) on the original invoice, along with the Net Amount Owed after the allowance is taken.
Review these overages to ensure that you are comfortable billing for this data.
To bill Walmart, you will have to submit invoices the same way you send them a regular invoice, via EDI. This is a step that will have to be done outside of SupplyPike. At a minimum, you will need to bill based on the PO number on the overage report. We would also recommend applying a new invoice number to this new invoice, and billing for the Amount Owed. It's recommended to give any allowance on the original invoice to avoid getting an allowance deduction.
Once the invoices have been sent, SupplyPike will monitor for payments or deductions given on these new overage invoices, and report the results inside the app in the Invoiced POs, Invoiced Amount, Paid Amount, and Deducted Amount columns. You can also select these months and download the Payment Report to see specific invoices get paid.
Solutions to translate the SupplyPike Overage Report into invoices sent to Walmart
There are many different accounting and ERP systems and methods to create invoices to Walmart, so your specific mileage may vary on the steps you need to take to bill Walmart.
Remember that these invoices can be created and sent just like any other invoice.
Some suppliers that SupplyPike has worked with have been able to automatically create a batch of invoices from the Excel-based Overages report, matching up columns to invoice fields.
You may be in a situation where bulk import is not an option, and if so, that would mean you might have to create these invoices one at a time in order to transmit to Walmart and get paid.
For these reasons, many suppliers are doing this process on a quarterly or a monthly basis depending on volume, so that this is not a frequent activity requiring a lot of time.