How can I justify the need to purchase deduction management software? It is expensive, but less than the cost of managing the deduction process manually and writing off the deductions that slip through the cracks.

Answer: You can document how much time your department spends managing deductions. Many companies spend as much time researching and resolving deductions than they do collecting past due invoices even though outstanding deductions are only a fraction of the dollar value of open invoices. You can also document the fact that deduction resolution is labor intensive and time consuming. It takes time away from risk management and from collection. You can explain that open deductions provide excuses for customers to delay payment. You can point out that customer goodwill could be damaged if internal problems that result in errors, which in turn result customer deductions, are not resolved promptly.