Delayed Cash Recovery from Returns Reserve Holdbacks

$10,000-$35,000 per month (school-sourced returns; 4-6 day processing lag; 20-35% reserve; average sale price $15-25/unit; tied-up working capital cost at 6-8% APR) • $12,000-$40,000 per month (school sales typically 25-40% of publisher revenue; 20-35% held in reserve; weighted average hold period 10-14 weeks; cost of capital at 6% APR) • $15,000-$50,000 per month (school e-commerce sales often 30-50% of online channel; 20-35% reserve; weighted hold period 6-8 weeks; cost of capital at 6-8%)

Inventory and finance teams export sales, shipment, and returns data from distributor/ERP systems and retailer portals, then manually track open returns exposure and reserves by customer segment (collectors vs corporate) and title in spreadsheets while reconciling against royalty statements and distributor sales/returns reports. • Inventory Manager creates handwritten receiving tally sheets; cross-references against purchase order numbers in separate system; phones school contacts to resolve quantity disputes; batches credits manually in accounting software weekly • Inventory Manager maintains parallel Excel spreadsheet tracking received returns; manual count verification against packing slips; email chains with library contacts to confirm quantities; holds books in quarantine section pending monthly reconciliation cutoff