Workflow pattern · Finance operations
Settlement exception review runbook
Run the operator steps for intake, matching, variance review, and approval before a marketplace payout exception reaches close.
Every marketplace and processor pays a multi-channel brand on its own schedule, nets its own fees, refunds, and reserves, and reports the activity in its own format. Without a governed runbook, the settlement file lands, someone eyeballs the total against the bank deposit, and the real discrepancies (a reserve released early, a fee miscoded, a refund netted against the wrong period) get absorbed into the close instead of explained before it.
This runbook pairs with a clearing account and deterministic matching: the account holds the payout until every line is explained, and the matching rules mean the same input always resolves the same way. That combination is what lets the exception queue stay small: only the lines that do not fit the known vocabulary reach a person, and everything else posts on a rule finance already confirmed.
Target outcome
A procedural path that turns settlement files into assigned exceptions, supporting evidence, approval gates, and close-ready follow-through.
Risk tier
High
Human gate
Finance approves unresolved variances before posting, write-off, or escalation.
Systems involved
Where this pattern lives
01
NetSuite
02
Celigo
03
Marketplaces
04
Payment files
Controls to define
The governance you set first
01
File intake and ownership checklist
02
Line-level variance triage
03
Approval threshold rules
04
Audit-ready evidence packet
The runbook
How this pattern runs, step by step
- 01Intake: the settlement file lands against a named channel and owner, with the expected cadence tracked so a missing file is caught, not assumed clean.
- 02Match: deterministic matching rules tie each line to its underlying order, fee category, or reserve movement.
- 03Isolate: fees, reserves, and timing differences are separated from genuine variances instead of buried in the net deposit.
- 04Triage: unmatched lines are classified by cause and routed to the owner positioned to resolve that class of exception.
- 05Evidence: each exception carries the order, refund, or fee record it needs before it reaches a reviewer.
- 06Approve: finance reviews the exception queue and approves posting, write-off, or escalation; nothing posts without sign-off.
- 07Close: reconciled settlements feed the close package directly, so the period ties out without a separate end-of-month reconciliation scramble.
What this looks like in practice
A typical run: a marketplace remittance lands covering two weeks of orders. Deterministic matching ties the bulk of lines to existing sales orders and known fee categories automatically. What is left (a reserve release that does not match the expected schedule, or a refund netted against an order already closed) becomes the exception queue. Each exception carries its evidence packet, so the reviewer is deciding, not investigating from scratch.
Where to go next
Carry this pattern forward
NetSuite payout reconciliation
Use the payout hub when the buyer intent is commercial and the question is how Altura solves settlement trust.
Vista Recon
Use Vista Recon when the workflow should become a repeatable productized reconciliation path.
NetSuite HealthCheck
Use a HealthCheck when the constraint spans more than this one workflow and the account needs a prioritized operating map first.
Ready to convert this workflow?
Altura can help map the current state, define controls, and decide whether this should become integration work, automation, AI assistance, or a productized path.