Navigating the Accounts Payable Disputes Portal (APDP)

Learn about:

The new Accounts Payable Disputes Portal
The APDP dashboard properties
How to view dispute details

On September 27, 2021, Walmart launched its new Accounts Payable Disputes Portal (APDP) app in Retail Link, replacing Direct Commerce as its portal for disputing AP deductions for invoices found in APIS.

The new portal allows users to see their deductions by claim line and dispute these lines individually. Users create disputes based on either the claim number or invoice number. Invoice disputes are typically those that have a microfilm number attached to them.

It's important to note that APDP does not display historical dispute data. The app only shows new disputes that the user created within Retail Link. Suppliers will still have access to Direct Commerce for older disputes for a period of time.

Users may find the APDP app in the Apps section of Retail Link. Let's go over the main points of the dashboard.

How to navigate the Accounts Payable Disputes Portal dashboard

The Accounts Payable Disputes Portal (APDP) has many features for Retail Link users to navigate. At the top are the Key Metrics, followed by the list of all disputes.

Key metrics

For starters, there is a status bar at the top of the portal displaying key metrics:

A pie chart showing the percentage of disputes in each status
"Draft" disputes
"Supplier Action" disputes
"Walmart Research" disputes
"Approved" disputes
"Denied" disputes
The total number of all disputes

Draft disputes are those that the user has begun but not submitted. Users have 14 days to submit or cancel a dispute request before the app deletes the dispute.

Supplier Action disputes are those that a Dispute Analyst has reviewed and provided comments on. These disputes require action, and the user must respond to these comments within seven days. Otherwise, the dispute will be canceled or denied.

Walmart Research disputes are those that the user has submitted successfully, and the claim is in the dispute queue.

Approved disputes are those that the Dispute Analyst has reviewed and ruled in the supplier's favor. Walmart, in turn, has since reimbursed the supplier for these disputes.

Denied disputes are those that the Dispute Analyst has reviewed and denied reimbursement.

Dispute list

The dispute list shows the most recent 5,000 claims (20 per page). Users can filter by the following fields:

6-digit vendor number
The username that created the dispute
Claim or invoice number
Claim code (e.g., 22, 24, 51, etc.)
Purchase order (PO) number
Dispute date
Dispute amount
Status of the dispute
Last updated date
Dispute number
Dispute case number (note: draft disputes will not have a case number, and this column will instead display the status of the draft)

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Accounts Payable Disputes Portal (APDP) Dashboard

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Filtering the APDP list by claim code

At the top of the list is a Download button which allows the user to download a comma-separated values (CSV) file of all the disputes in the portal. The file includes the columns on the homepage, as well as more detailed status information, shipping method, and freight details of the order.

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Clicking on the Download button in APDP

Users can filter the entire list by clicking on a metric at the top of the dashboard. Clicking the symbol underneath the metric will display the disputes for that status. For example, clicking the "Draft" symbol will pull up all of the disputes that the user has not submitted yet.

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Clicking on the Draft status button

##Viewing dispute details in the APDP

To view a dispute's details, click on the "Dispute #" (represented by a blue link). The information will appear in an internal pop-up window on the page. Some of the information available on the details include:

Dispute status
Item information
Claim/invoice information
Dispute description and attachment(s)
Change log displaying user IDs, timestamp of the change, and a brief description

Disputes in the "Draft" status will show the information the user has added, including descriptions and attachments.

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APDP dispute details – Draft

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APDP dispute details – Draft Cancelled

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APDP dispute details – Walmart Research

If the dispute is in the "Approved" status, the details will show information about the approval, including:

Claim amount, code, and category
Approved amount (note that this may be different from the disputed amount, which the user can see in the top section)
The date and time on which the approval occurred

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APDP dispute details – Approved

If the Dispute Analyst has denied the dispute, the user will find the details of the denial in an attached letter along with a comment about the dispute. The user may find additional documentation about the denial on this page as well. The letter will contain the deduction information, such as PO number, invoice number, etc.

In the letter, the Research Coordinator will describe the reasoning for the denial and provide contact information for Enterprise Business Service (EBS) if the supplier has questions.

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APDP dispute details – Denied

Clicking on the "Dispute Case #" (represented by a blue link) will open a new page detailing the approved or denied dispute. This page will show details such as:

The dispute information (claim number, PO number, claim amount, claim date)
The total amount disputed
The total amount approved or denied

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APDP approved case details

Summary

The new Accounts Payable Disputes Portal (APDP) app is now available for suppliers in Retail Link and replaces Direct Commerce. Suppliers must use this app to create new disputes.

The dashboard contains many filters and has at-a-glance dispute information. The data is downloadable in a CSV format for reporting purposes. Users will also find additional documentation attached to their approved or denied disputes in the details section.

New changes to the Deductions Navigator dashboard

Deductions Navigator is taking on a new look! We updated our software to accommodate the new APDP data, so now you can submit disputes to APDP in a single click and view granular dispute data for each claim line.

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Deductions Navigator – Dispute Status

Dig into your deductions and hover over the status to see how many lines there are in the deduction and in what stage they are in the dispute process.

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