Schemes are how brands steer their distribution network: a percentage off for hitting a volume slab, a free case for every ten, a display incentive, a festival push on a new product. They work. They are also one of the least controlled parts of a sales budget.
The problem is rarely the scheme itself. It is what happens afterwards: working out who earned what, checking claims against real sales, and paying the right amount to the right dealer — usually months after the sales happened.
Where scheme money leaks
- Claims are calculated by the dealer, and checked — if at all — against a different set of numbers.
- Schemes overlap. A sale qualifies under two schemes and is paid twice.
- Terms change mid-scheme and old claims are paid at new rates.
- Liability is invisible. Finance learns what a scheme cost when the claims arrive, not while it is running.
- Approvals happen in chat, so nobody can later show who agreed to what.
What good scheme management looks like
- Schemes are defined in the system, with their period, eligible products and the rule for what is earned.
- Accruals build up as sales happen, so at any moment you can see what each dealer has earned so far — and your total liability.
- Claims are raised against those accruals, not built from scratch.
- Approval is a separate step, by someone with authority over the money.
- Approved claims post to the dealer's ledger, so what you owe and what they owe you stay in one account.
How Zaqnet handles schemes and claims
In Zaqnet's dealer network:
- Schemes are set up with their terms, and scheme accruals record what each dealer earns from qualifying sales.
- Claims are raised against a dealer, tracked through their status, and approved by people who hold that permission — kept separate from those who manage dealers day to day.
- Approval credits the dealer's ledger, alongside their invoices, payments and other entries.
- Approvals appear in ControlRoom's Approvals app for whoever is responsible for deciding them, with the claim and its context in front of them.
- Targets sit next to schemes, so a dealer's progress and payout can be read together.
If you cannot say today what your running schemes have cost so far, you are not managing them — you are waiting for the invoice.
Modern trade claims are claims too
Retail chains raise their own claims and deductions — promotions, listing fees, short supply, damages. The discipline is the same: record the agreement, keep the evidence (the PO, the delivery, the signed proof of delivery), and settle against it. See general trade vs modern trade for how both channels fit in one system.
Where to start
Take your largest running scheme. Put its terms, its dealers and its qualifying sales into one place, and compare the accrual with what dealers are claiming. The gap is usually large enough to pay for the change. Schemes are one part of running a dealer network. See the rest in distributor management software.