Step 5.4 — Chargeback Identification and Handling
Triggered by: Weekly HaulPay portal review — same day every week (suggested: Monday morning). Feeds into: Step 7.2 Weekly Cadence and Step 5.5 Reserve Reconciliation.
Note
This is the single highest-value control in the entire Forza accounting workflow.
Per tech stack meeting: “No notice is given. CBGB reporting is available on portal.” HaulPay does not proactively notify Forza when a chargeback occurs. The only way to know is to check the portal. This is exactly the risk the CBCG Report identified — undocumented chargebacks, silent margin erosion, no operational visibility by default.
🎯 Ideal State
The compensating control: Forza performs a weekly HaulPay portal review to identify any new chargebacks. If this review doesn’t happen, chargebacks accumulate invisibly until monthly reserve reconciliation (Step 5.5) surfaces them — weeks after the fact.
The Weekly Chargeback Review — Core Workflow
Cadence: Weekly. Same day of the week every week (suggested: Monday morning to review prior week’s activity). Who: Concetta (Accounting). This is a standing Accounting responsibility — not a Founder/CEO task or Ops task. Duration: 15–30 minutes per week.
Steps:
- Log into HaulPay portal.
- Navigate to the chargebacks section.
- Review all chargebacks dated within the past 7 days (or since last review).
- For each new chargeback: identify load number, invoice number, and Shipper; capture reason and amount; locate the load in EZ-Loader; cross-check against prior notifications or short-pay investigations.
- Log every chargeback in the chargeback tracker.
- Triage each chargeback — recoverable issue or accepted loss?
- Initiate appropriate action path.
Chargeback Action Paths
Chargeback Reason Action Path Shipper non-payment past aging window (Tier 2 recourse) Investigate why Shipper didn’t pay. Follow up directly — may be recoverable if Shipper-side oversight rather than a dispute. Fraud (e.g., double-brokered load) James investigation. May involve Highway / Carrier 411 fraud tools. Potentially unrecoverable. Disputed load (cargo claim, service failure) Open or continue cargo claim process (Appendix A). Chargeback persists until claim resolves. Cancelled load Verify cancellation was properly recorded — if not, resubmit correctly. Shipper credit deterioration Escalate to Nick immediately — may signal need to change Shipper status (credit hold, move to self-finance, or off-board). Unknown / no reason provided Contact HaulPay for clarification. Treat as investigation-required until explained. Escalation Protocol
Material chargebacks (above a threshold — to be defined by Nick) or patterns across Shippers escalate to Nick. Accumulating chargebacks for a single Shipper is a credit-quality signal.
The Chargeback Tracker — 10 Required Fields
Field Purpose Date identified Weekly review date Chargeback date per HaulPay When HaulPay actually posted the chargeback Identification lag Days between chargeback posting and Forza identification — should trend to ≤ 7 days Load number / invoice number For cross-reference Shipper For pattern detection Amount For financial tracking Reason Categorized per action paths above Status Open / In Investigation / Recovered / Accepted Loss Resolution Final outcome Days to resolution For SLA tracking Pattern Analysis → Upstream Process Fixes
Recurring Chargeback Cause Upstream Fix Documentation missing at submission Step 4.1 completeness gate + Step 1.6 configuration Reference numbers wrong Step 3.1 enforcement via Step 1.6 Shipper credit issues HaulPay credit check (Step 1.3) + ongoing credit monitoring Operational service failures Phase 3 execution discipline Aging window awareness: The recourse aging window is unknown per tech stack meeting (“Don’t know — Concetta will find out for us”). Knowing this window lets Accounting proactively chase at-risk Shippers before the chargeback trigger.
Owner: Concetta (weekly review and tracking). James (fraud/service failure investigation). Nick (material chargebacks, Shipper credit decisions).
🤖 SYSTEM AUTOMATION:
🛑 HARD GATE:
No Phase 5 monthly close completes without the prior week’s chargeback review completed. Missing even one weekly review means chargebacks accumulate into the unknown — exactly reproducing the CBCG Report conditions.
📍 Current State
- Chargebacks per tech stack meeting: “No notice is given. CBGB reporting is available on portal.”
- Per tech stack meeting: “Has Forza experienced chargebacks beyond the CBCG report?” — Answer: “No.” Recent chargeback volume is low.
- No documented weekly chargeback review workflow.
- No chargeback tracker — chargebacks handled case-by-case when Accounting happens to see them.
- No aging window knowledge for proactive pre-chargeback chase (Concetta action item).
- No defined material-chargeback threshold for Nick escalation.
🚧 Gap
- No weekly chargeback review SOP — the single highest-value compensating control doesn’t exist.
- No chargeback tracker — historical chargeback data not captured systematically.
- Aging window unknown — can’t proactively chase at-risk Shippers before the chargeback trigger.
- No escalation threshold for material chargebacks.
- Pattern detection missing — recurring causes don’t feed back to upstream process fixes.
- Identification lag unmeasured — no way to know how delayed chargeback discovery has been.
🛠️ Gap Closure Actions
- Establish the weekly chargeback review as a standing Accounting responsibility. Same day every week. Non-negotiable. Owner: Casey + Concetta | Effort: Policy — highest priority
- Document the chargeback review SOP with the 7-step workflow, 6 reason/action paths, and portal navigation specifics Owner: Casey + Concetta | Effort: Low
- Build the chargeback tracker (10 fields defined above) as a structured log Owner: Casey + Concetta | Effort: Low
- Confirm HaulPay factoring aging window Owner: Concetta + HaulPay | Effort: External
- Define material-chargeback escalation threshold (dollar amount or % of monthly volume) Owner: Casey + Nick + Concetta | Effort: Policy
- Establish at-risk Shipper chase protocol — proactively contact Shippers whose Tier 2 invoices are approaching the aging window Owner: Casey + Concetta | Dependency: Aging window confirmed | Effort: Medium
- Add chargeback metrics and pattern analysis to Phase 7 monitoring cadence Owner: Casey + Concetta | Effort: Low