# Supplier return referral brief template | SourceX

Canonical: https://refer.sourcex.si/resources/supplier-return-authorization-referral-brief-template
Last updated: 2026-10-19

A company introduction about supplier return authorization needs one page of metadata: the retailer's size, the return task, which record classes exist and which system holds each, how many years and roughly how many returns, who owns each class, who can authorize a licensing discussion, any documented access event and one open question. It carries no RMAs, inspection reports or credit memos. Below is the blank template a retail finance advisor can fill with the merchandise operations director, then one completed Illustrative example.

This template belongs to the [supplier return authorization hub](/guides/workflow-supplier-return-authorization), which explains why split return decisions matter. The CEO can authorize the discussion and sign; [who can license supplier return records](/questions/who-can-license-supplier-return-authorization-records) explains who else should be named.

## The blank brief, line by line

Copy the table and replace the right-hand column. Where nobody knows the answer, write "unknown" rather than guessing.

| Line | What to write |
|---|---|
| Company | Full-time headcount at peak, country, year founded, number of stores or distribution centers |
| Return task | One sentence on how defective or non-conforming goods go back to suppliers and how credit is settled |
| Hard case | The return pattern that is hardest to close, in a few words |
| Record classes | Return requests and RMA numbers, return orders, inspection reports, appeal correspondence, write-off approvals, credit memos |
| Systems | The plain product name for each class: ERP, supplier portals, buyer mailboxes, AP automation |
| Years of history | First and last year per system, and any earlier ERP kept read-only |
| Volumes | Rounded estimates from counts the company already has: returns per year, share ending in a partial credit |
| Record owners | The role that runs each class: merchandise operations, buying, accounts payable |
| Authorized contact | Sponsor, approver, and whether counsel joins |
| Access event | A dated event with its source document, or "none" |
| Open question | One neutral question only a review could answer |
| Not attached | A plain statement that no records, exports or logins are included |

## How to fill the return-specific lines

**Return task and hard case.** Keep both short. "Returning defective goods to about 300 vendors and settling credit" is enough for the first. For the second, name the exception, not a story: "supplier accepts part of a return and rejects the rest".

**Record classes.** Retail finance advisors often list only what the ERP holds. The reasons for a short credit usually sit elsewhere, on the supplier's inspection report and in the buyer's appeal emails. Listing those classes, even when they live outside the ERP, tells the reader the history can explain a decision and not only a balance.

**Systems.** Describe them in the vocabulary the ERP itself uses so nobody has to translate. A NetSuite shop can say how many vendor return authorizations sit in each status, since with Advanced Shipping they move through Pending Approval, Pending Return and Pending Credit. A Dynamics 365 retailer can say whether every Returned order purchase order carries the vendor's RMA number, which that document type requires. Where suppliers raise credit memos on SAP Business Network, note that the supplier can adjust the credit to the actual return value for damaged items; that is where partial credits are born.

**Volumes.** Ask for counts the director already sees in a monthly report. Label each figure "estimate". Never ask for a sample.

**Access event.** Real ones are dated: a supplier portal subscription ending, a contract renegotiation with a set start, an ERP replacement with a cutover in the project plan. "We might change systems" is not an event. The [retention timeline for return history](/guides/preserve-supplier-return-authorization-records) covers what to ask when one is coming.

**Open question.** Make it checkable. "When a supplier accepts some units and rejects others, can the company still show the reasons, the appeal and the final match?" works. "This is valuable data" does not.

## Completed example: a 610-person home improvement retailer (Illustrative)

Fictional, written for this page. No real retailer, supplier or person is described.

| Line | Entry |
|---|---|
| Company | About 610 full-time employees at peak, United States, founded 1998, 22 stores and one distribution center |
| Return task | Returning defective or non-conforming goods to about 300 suppliers and settling credit, including disputed units |
| Hard case | A supplier accepts some returned units and rejects others as customer damage |
| Record classes | Return requests and RMAs, return orders, inspection reports, appeal emails, write-off approvals, credit memos |
| Systems | ERP for RMAs, return orders and write-offs; two supplier portals for inspection reports and credit memos; buyer mailboxes for appeals |
| Years of history | About eight years in the ERP; portal history depth to be confirmed with each supplier |
| Volumes | About 4,000 supplier returns a year, roughly one in ten ending in a partial credit (estimates, not opened) |
| Record owners | Merchandise operations for returns; buying for appeals; accounts payable for credit matching |
| Authorized contact | Merchandise operations director sponsors; CEO can open a licensing discussion; outside counsel to read portal terms |
| Access event | The largest supplier contract is renegotiated next quarter, on the renewal date in the current supply agreement |
| Open question | Whether appeal emails can be tied to the RMA they argued, or only to the supplier |
| Not attached | No RMAs, inspection reports, credit memos, exports, screenshots or logins |

A CEO reading this learns three things in under a minute: eight years of returns are findable by RMA in one system, the reasons for short credits sit with suppliers and buyers, and a renegotiation sets a natural moment to talk. That is enough to decide whether to take a call. Nothing in it would embarrass the director if forwarded.

## Lines to leave out of the brief

- Supplier names, product names, unit prices or credit totals.
- Any inspection report, credit memo or appeal email, redacted or not.
- Screenshots of the ERP or a supplier portal.
- Portal logins, report links or shared-drive paths.
- A view on what the records are worth, whether buyers exist, or what an offer might be.

Partners keep discovery at metadata level: what exists, how much, how long, which system and who owns it. If the director asks how a partner's reward would be reported for tax, point to [where to report referral fee income](/questions/where-to-report-referral-fee-income) and keep it out of the brief.

## Checks before the merchandise operations director forwards it

- The director has read every line and agrees the values are theirs.
- The retailer appears to meet the baseline: 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), documented operating history, rights to license and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English.
- You have signed the Channel Partner Agreement. The first valid introduction within the 90-day window is credited when the company submits a verified application.
- Portal terms, buyer interest, which records would be selected and any offer are written down as open. They stay unknown until SourceX reviews the opportunity.

SourceX licenses approved business data directly from companies for AI training and evaluation and manages the agreement, rights review, data preparation, delivery and payout. The [client opportunity brief generator](/tools/client-opportunity-brief-generator) can turn the lines into a short note, and the [warm introduction brief](/resources/a-warm-introduction-brief-for-a-business-owner) helps with the covering message. More retail context sits under [retail operations](/industries/retail-operations) and, for investor-held distributors, [specialty distribution](/industries/specialty-distribution-private-equity).

## Next step

> **Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000.** Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.

Once the brief fits on one page and the CEO has agreed to a conversation, [register as a partner](/register), confirm the retailer against [who qualifies](/who-qualifies) and read the [program terms](/terms) before you send it.

## Sources

- https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/netsuite/ns-online-help/section_N2387708.html
- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/supply-chain/procurement/purchase-order-overview
- https://help.sap.com/docs/business-network-for-trading-partners/creating-and-managing-invoices-credit-memos-and-debit-memos/93c8bb94b2eb4317ba270bb6a12d0919.html
- https://refer.sourcex.si/terms