How to Handle a Denied Open Invoice Dispute with Home Depot

An open invoice dispute can sometimes be denied when Home Depot’s system shows no record of a purchase order being received. Even if shipment paperwork is in order, payment may be withheld until a valid goods receipt is confirmed.

The good news is that a denial does not always close the door. Suppliers still have ways to provide additional details, request further review, and keep the dispute moving forward.

In this guide, we’ll cover how to handle a denied Open Invoice or POD dispute, provide context on Home Depot’s invoicing process, and share steps suppliers can take to maintain payment accuracy.

Why Denied POD Disputes Happen

Home Depot’s Accounts Payable (AP) team relies on a system-generated Goods Receipt, known as a Key Rec, to validate whether a product was received. Payment cannot be approved unless there is a corresponding Key Rec in the system.

Suppliers sometimes believe that providing a Bill of Lading (BOL) or other carrier documentation is enough to resolve a denial. However, these documents only confirm that a shipment left the supplier’s facility or that a truck arrived at a Home Depot location. They do not confirm that items were received into inventory. Without a Key Rec, the system will not release payment.

Common Root Causes of Denials

Denied POD disputes often trace back to operational or data-related issues that prevent shipments from matching properly in Home Depot’s systems. Common examples include:

• Bar code or UPC inaccuracies that cause mismatches at receiving.
• Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) errors, such as missing or incorrect details.
• SKU integrity issue, including cost, pack size, or unit of measure mismatches.
• EDI transmission problems that delay or block invoice submissions.

What To Do When A PoD Dispute Is Denied

If your dispute is denied, you still have steps you can take:

1. Review the reason for denial.
2. Reply with supporting details.
3. Allow time for review.
4. Escalate if delays continue.
5. Add stronger proof if needed.

What to expect and what to do next

• Allow the stated review windows before escalating.
• If denials are recurring, treat this as an operational issue and work upstream with your EDI team, carriers, and operations to fix root causes such as UPC/barcode errors, ASN mismatches, UCC128 label problems, or packing inconsistencies.

Use the Invoice Timeliness reporting and MP-SSP regularly to spot missing invoices and address them before disputes arise.

Ready to Automate Your Home Depot Deduction Process?

This guide gives you the steps to handle denied Home Depot disputes. The next step is putting automation in place.

iNymbus takes what you are doing manually and streamlines it with Robotic Process Automation. From gathering documents to filing disputes and reconciling payments, every step is handled faster and with greater accuracy.

With built-in expertise for Home Depot and 40+ other major retailers, iNymbus ensures your disputes follow retailer-specific processes without extra effort from your team.

If you are managing a growing number of chargebacks, shortages, or unpaid invoices, iNymbus helps you stay ahead by reducing manual work and protecting your margins.

For suppliers who want to recover revenue consistently and scale with confidence, iNymbus delivers the automation you need to move from direction to execution.