Where is my money?
Your supplier support inbox has a steady stream of the same question. A supplier dispatched thirty orders last month and the payout was smaller than expected. Some orders are waiting for proof of delivery. Some are on buyers with payment terms who have not paid yet. One has an open dispute. Two were held because the supplier's bank account failed a check after they changed banks. The supplier knows none of this. They just see less money than they expected.
Your finance team answers each email by looking up each order in the platform, the payment provider and the dispute log.
Why payouts are held and nobody can see why
A B2B marketplace usually releases money to suppliers only when certain conditions are met, which protects buyers and you. Those conditions depend on your model: delivery confirmation, the end of a dispute window, buyer payment on terms, a reserve for new suppliers. Each is tracked in a different place, and the payout run simply leaves out anything not ready.
Suppliers get a payout total and a list of orders included. The orders left out, and why, are not explained.
| Hold reason | Where the information lives |
|---|---|
| Awaiting proof of delivery | Carrier tracking or supplier upload |
| Buyer on payment terms, not yet paid | Your receivables records |
| Open dispute | Dispute log or support system |
| Reserve for new suppliers | Your payout policy |
| Bank verification failed | Payment provider |
What unexplained holds cost
Supplier support time, first of all: the same question answered by hand again and again. Supplier frustration, which is serious for a marketplace because good suppliers can sell elsewhere. Cash flow worries for small suppliers, who may have paid for the goods weeks ago. And holds that should have been released but were missed, because nobody noticed the condition had been met.
There is a trust problem underneath. A supplier who cannot see why money is held starts to suspect the marketplace is holding it for its own cash flow. That suspicion is hard to shift, and it is often what pushes a supplier to suggest buyers order from them directly instead.
The payout tracking we build
- Hold rules: your payout conditions are written as rules, such as release after delivery confirmation plus your dispute window, or after buyer payment for orders on terms.
- Condition tracking: each order's conditions are checked from their sources: carrier tracking or proof of delivery uploads, receivables, the dispute log and the payment provider's account status.
- Status per order: every order gets a payout status and reason, such as held, awaiting proof of delivery, with the expected release date where it can be estimated.
- Automatic release: when conditions are met, the order is marked ready for the next payout run through your payment provider, such as Stripe Connect, without anyone needing to notice.
- Supplier view: suppliers see a payout page listing every order with its status and reason, plus the next payout amount and date.
- Action prompts: where the supplier can fix the hold, such as uploading proof of delivery or updating bank details, they are told exactly what to do.
After suppliers can see their payouts
Suppliers stop emailing to ask, because the answer is on their payout page. Those who can speed things up, by uploading proof of delivery for example, do so. Finance deals with genuine exceptions rather than status questions. Holds are released on time because the system checks conditions every day.
Your team also gets a view it did not have before: the total value held, by reason, across all suppliers. If most holds are waiting on proof of delivery from one carrier, that is a fix to make with the carrier, not a hundred emails to answer.
Are payout questions filling your inbox?
- Suppliers regularly ask why a payout was smaller than expected.
- Payout holds are explained by hand, order by order.
- Suppliers cannot see which orders are held or why.
- Held orders are sometimes released late because nobody noticed.
- Proof of delivery is chased by email.