A distributor told me their co-op recovery rate had doubled.
They used to collect about 30% of what they invoiced suppliers for co-op reimbursement. Now they collect about 60%.
They were thrilled. And they should be — doubling anything is hard, and their team earned it.
But look at that number from the CFO's chair.
60% recovery means 40 cents of every dollar they billed never came back. That's money for marketing they already ran and already paid for.
Imagine your AR team reporting that 40% of customer invoices went uncollected. Nobody would call that a good quarter. Someone would be rebuilding collections by Monday.
Supplier co-op reimbursements are receivables. The marketing ran. The cost hit your P&L. The supplier agreed to fund its share. The only open question is whether the cash shows up.
60% feels like a victory because nobody holds co-op to receivables standards. No aging report. No collection rate on the dashboard. No one in finance accountable for the balance.
The question isn't whether 60% beats 30%.
It's why anyone would accept 60% as the ceiling.
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