How to pull your complete UNFI Natural deduction data

First, check you're on UNFI Natural

UNFI runs two separate deduction systems. If your myUNFI dashboard has a Go To Dispute Center button, you're on UNFI Natural and this guide is for you. If you look up deductions in ePASS on SV Harbor, you're on UNFI Conventional, which has different files and its own guide. Some brands sell through both. Not sure? See UNFI Conventional vs Natural.

What “complete” means: four layers

Every deduction raises four questions, and no single UNFI file answers all of them. That's why brands that send one export end up with deductions they can't explain, or can't dispute in time.

Here's what goes wrong with one layer. A brand we worked with sent a UNFI Debit Balance list showing about $117,000 of deductions against $78,000 of unpaid invoices. It was a useful file, but it couldn't show whether UNFI had paid anything in the past year, or when each deduction had been taken, and that date decides whether it can still be disputed. Those answers were in the remittances.

Before you start

• A myUNFI login with Dispute Center access.
• Your Remit To ID and Access ID. Both are at the top of any invoice, payment or adjustment screen in the Dispute Center. Your vendor number (VENDOR NO: on any remittance) works too.
• Which regions you sell in: East, West or both. They pay separately, so you pull each one.
• Access to the inbox that receives UNFI's payment and backup emails.

File 1: the Dispute Center export (your full deduction list)

This is the most complete list of what UNFI has taken. UNFI calls deductions adjustments.

1. Log in at myunfi.com and click Go To Dispute Center on the left of the dashboard.
2. If you have more than one supplier account, pick the right company on the Profiles screen.
3. Open Advanced Search (top right) and choose Adjustments.
4. Set Adjustment Date to Range, from 12 months ago to today. Don't skip this. Without a range, results stop at 90 days and you'll miss nine months of deductions you can still dispute.
5. Run the search and click Download Data (the grey button, bottom left). You get a CSV.
6. Repeat with Payments for the same range and click Download Data again.
7. If you have more than one supplier account, go back to Profiles and repeat for each.

How to tell it's the right file: the adjustments CSV has the columns Adjustment Number, Adjustment Date, Adjustment Reason, PO Number, Invoice Number, Payment Number, Adjustment Total Amount and Adjustment Item Amount.

Reading the numbers: an adjustment number ending -0-East or -0-West is a deduction. One ending -111-East or -111-West is an invoice chargeback: UNFI found a shortage, mis-ship, damage or price difference on one of your invoices and took it back.

What it won't tell you: the Dispute Center labels lines only as deductions or chargebacks. It doesn't say which program a deduction belongs to (a promotion, a trade show, a retailer's charge), and it holds no backup. Files 2 to 4 fill that gap.

File 2: remittance advices (what UNFI actually paid)

UNFI emails a remittance with every payment. It's the only file that shows which invoices were paid, which deductions were taken out of each payment, and on what date. That date matters, because your dispute window runs from the day a deduction is taken.

• It comes in one of two forms: a check remittance (headed CHECK DATE and CHECK NUMBER) or a direct deposit advice (ADVICE DATE and ADVICE NUMBER), usually as a PDF.
• The table reads: invoice date, invoice number, description, gross amount, discount amount, net amount. Negative lines are deductions.
• East and West send separate remittances. Make sure you have both.
• Pull every remittance from the last 12 months. If you're reconciling a balance with UNFI, go back to when the balance started.

Some of the reference numbers you'll see on deduction lines:

For the full decoding, see how to read a UNFI remittance and the UNFI code library.

File 3: deduction backup (why each deduction was taken)

The Dispute Center doesn't hold backup. UNFI emails it with your check remittance, so it's in the same inbox as file 2. Keep the attachments exactly as they arrive.

If backup is missing for a deduction, request it. Copy and adapt this email:

To: [email protected]
Subject: BACKUP REQUEST

Please send the backup for this UNFI Natural deduction:
Remit number: [your Natural remit number]
Deduction invoice number: [exactly as it appears on the remittance]
Check number it was taken on: [check or advice number]

The check remittance is attached. Thank you.

Attach the check remittance. Backup requests go to this address only. The dispute-management address handles MCB backup sign-up (file 4), not backup requests.

File 4: the weekly MCB backup (promotion chargeback detail)

MCBs (manufacturer chargebacks) are how UNFI bills you for promotions it ran on your behalf. For many brands they're the largest group of deductions. The store-level detail behind them, meaning which retailer, store, item and rate, comes in a separate weekly email. UNFI only sends it if you ask, and only to one address per company.

If you don't already receive it, send this from the address that should get it:

To: [email protected]
Subject: Add to weekly MCB document distribution, [company name], remit # [number]

Please add [your email] to the weekly MCB (manufacturer chargeback) backup distribution for [company name], remit # [number].

• The backup arrives as a ZIP file. Inside is a spreadsheet (CSV) of the chargeback lines. If it also holds a text copy of the same figures, use only the CSV, or every chargeback gets counted twice.
• Weekly promotion, show-order and quality chargebacks can arrive as separate mailings. They're different charges. Don't net them against each other.
• Pair each backup to its deduction with the week-ending date: MCB20260919 on the remittance matches the backup for the week ending September 19.

File 5: the Debit Balance list (if UNFI sends you one)

A Debit Balance list is what UNFI may send when your account is in debit: your open deductions add up to more than the invoices it owes you, so UNFI says you owe it money. It's an Excel file titled UNFI Natural Debit Balance List, with the columns REGION, NUM, LOC, NAME, INV, SUFFIX, ACC, STAT, PO, INV DTE, INV $, DISC $, NET $, CATEGORY and CUSTOMER.

Send it if you have it. It's the only UNFI file that labels every line with a category, such as MCB, Third Party, Advertising, Trade Sales, Quality MCB, Post Audit and Invoicing. That makes it the fastest way to see where your money went.

How to read it:

• Positive lines are your invoices that UNFI hasn't paid. UNFI is holding them against the balance.
• Negative lines are deductions that haven't been settled.
• The total at the bottom is the net balance. A negative total means UNFI says you owe it that amount, and it will keep holding your invoices until the balance is cleared.

What it leaves out, and why you still need files 1 to 3:

• Anything already paid or settled. It lists open items only, so it can't show what UNFI paid you.
• The date each deduction was taken. INV DTE is the date on the document, which can be weeks earlier. Your 12-month window runs from when the deduction was taken, so check the remittance for lines near the cutoff.
• The backup. It names the category, not the reason.

One time: UNFI's Supplier Deduction Key

UNFI publishes a spreadsheet explaining every deduction code it uses. It takes two minutes to get, and it decodes the rare codes on your files:

1. Log in at myunfi.com.
2. In the same browser, open UNFI's Supplier Deduction Key. It downloads an Excel file.
3. If the link doesn't download, look for Supplier Deduction Key in myUNFI's supplier training resources.

Your side: the proof each deduction needs

UNFI's files tell you what was taken and why. Whether a deduction is valid depends on what you agreed to, and that's in your own records. Gather these as you find deductions worth checking:

How far back to pull

• For disputes: 12 months. UNFI Natural allows 12 months from the date a deduction is taken, after which it's final. UNFI recommends filing within 60 days. See the UNFI dispute window.
• For reconciling a balance: go back to when the balance started, even if older deductions can no longer be disputed. You need them to agree the number with UNFI.

Common mistakes

• Leaving the Dispute Center search on its 90-day default.
• Pulling East and forgetting West, or the other way round.
• Sending only a Debit Balance list, which shows open items and nothing that was paid.
• Loading both the CSV and the text copy of the MCB backup, so every line counts twice.
• Netting show-order chargebacks against weekly promotion chargebacks.
• Retyping files or re-saving them in another format. Send them exactly as UNFI produced them.
• Skipping third-party charges because a retailer's name is on them. UNFI took the money, so they're yours to check.

Where to upload your files in OverDeduct

You don't need to sort or rename anything. Upload everything at once and OverDeduct works out what each file is.

1. Go to your workspace (overdeduct.com/workspace). No account is needed to start, and you can save your workspace to an account later.
2. Click Add several files at once. In a workspace you already have, it's the + Add files button.
3. Under Who took these deductions?, pick UNFI Natural.
4. Drop in every file: the Dispute Center CSVs, your remittance PDFs, the Debit Balance list, the MCB backup CSV, the Supplier Deduction Key and any proof you already have. CSV, Excel, PDF and photos all work, up to 25 files at a time. If you have more, add them in a second batch.
5. Click Add files. Each file is read on its own and you get a summary of what was added: new deductions, deductions already in your workspace, repayments and documents.

A few things worth knowing:

• Overlapping files are fine. The same deduction on a remittance and in the Dispute Center export is counted once. Your workspace keeps one ledger, however many files you add.
• Unzip the MCB backup first and upload the CSV inside. ZIP files can't be uploaded.
• UNFI's Supplier Deduction Key is recognized automatically and used to decode every UNFI code on your files, now and later.
• Proof documents (deal sheets, PODs, agreements, retailer invoices) can go in the same upload, or later through Evidence → + Add documents. Each one is matched to the deductions it could settle.
• New files later? Add each month's remittances the same way. New deductions are added and existing ones are kept.

Prefer not to pull the files yourself? We can work from a myUNFI user of our own. Ask for one through done-for-you UNFI recovery.