Step by step
Claim from a principal
Prepare a claim for what a principal owes you, from the invoices, returns or stock behind it, send the evidence file, record their answer and the credit note or payment.
Principals owe a distributor money back: their share of the trade schemes given to outlets, the difference when they lower a price on stock you already hold, expired and damaged goods, transport they agreed to pay. Kila builds each claim from the evidence it already holds, gives you the file to send, and follows the claim until the money comes in.
Open Claims to principals
Distribution › Claims to principals: “What principals owe back: schemes they fund, price differences, expiries and damages, transport.” Open lists the claims still running, with what each Claimed, what is Still due and its status: Draft, With the principal, Approved or Part approved. Paid, Rejected and All show the rest.
Tap Prepare a claim
Choose the Principal and the Kind, and the period From and To: this month to start with. Under the dates Kila says what it will look for:
Kind What Kila puts on the claim Scheme claim “Invoice lines in the period with the principal’s schemes (their share), and target rebates paid.” Price difference “Stock on hand when the principal lowered its price, at the difference. The new price is kept.” Expiries and damages “Expired, damaged and recalled goods credited to outlets in the period, at the principal’s price.” Transport “Transport the principal agreed to pay: one line per trip or invoice.” Tap Add a line for each. Other “Anything else the principal agreed to pay.” Add a Note if you like.
Tap Prepare
Kila says Claim prepared and opens the draft: one line for each invoice line, return or product behind it, with the date, the reference, the outlet, what it was and the amount. A line already on another claim is left out, so nothing is claimed twice: if there is nothing left, Kila says so, such as “Nothing to claim from East Africa Beverages for scheme claim between 2026-10-01 and 2026-10-30. Lines already on a claim are left out.”
Send the evidence file
“Send the evidence file to the principal, then mark the claim submitted.” Tap Evidence file: Kila downloads the claim as a spreadsheet file named after it and the principal, such as CLM-00012-EAB.csv, with your distributor code and each line’s outlet and SKU. Send it the way the principal asks.
Tap Mark submitted
Type Their reference if the principal gave one, and tap Mark submitted. Kila says Claim submitted: the claim is With the principal, and Due by shows when they should settle it: 30 days on at Mombasa Road, set in Distribution settings as Principals settle claims within (days).
Record their answer
When the principal answers, open the claim: “Record what the principal approved. Less than claimed is a part approval; nothing is a rejection.” Type the amount in Approved (KES), with Their reference and Their reasons for anything they cut, and tap Record their answer.
Record the credit note or payment
An approved claim says what is still to come: “A credit note is set against what you owe them; a payment comes into the bank, cash or M-Pesa.” In How, choose Their credit note or A payment, and for a payment, Into: Bank, M-Pesa or Cash. Type the Amount (KES) and the Credit note or payment reference, and tap Record it. When everything approved has come in, the claim is Paid, with how it was Settled by.
If you need to take a claim back
Link to this section: If you need to take a claim backA draft has Cancel the claim, and a claim with the principal has Withdraw the claim. Kila says Claim cancelled: “This claim is closed. Its lines can go on a new claim.”
Good to know
The scheme lines come from what was sold under the principal’s running schemes, at their share. See Run a trade scheme. The expiries and damages come from market returns credited to outlets. See Take back a market return.
Next: take back a market return.