The problem
Leakage isn't inefficiency. It's margin you're leaving on the table.
A $100M company at 15% EBIT loses 3–5% to leakage, a third of net income, on numbers nobody was watching. (Illustrative.) It happens the same way whether you sell through distributors or sell direct.
Two models, the same blind spot
Wherever the complexity sits, nobody checks it against the contract.
Channel modelSemiconductors, hardware, distributors
SPAs, tiered pricing, claims, rebates, and stock rotation. Non-compliance nobody catches until the quarter closes.
Direct modelSaaS, AI, usage-based
Usage billing, contract gaps, unbilled usage, and failed renewals. Impossible to track by hand at scale.
One example: a channel deal
The price on the quote is not the price you get.
The CRM sees the first two lines. The ERP sees the last, a quarter or more after the deal was signed. Nobody sees the lines in between when the deal is approved, and that's exactly when the forecast is set and the margin could still be protected.
LinePer unitSeen today in
List price$1.000Price book, quoting tool
Volume and tier discount−0.040Quote in the CRM
Ship-and-debit under an SPA−0.070SPA spreadsheet, claim
Price protection−0.015Quarter-end reserve
POS rebate−0.010Claimed months later
Market development funds−0.005Marketing budget
Stock rotation and returns−0.010Distributor agreement
True net revenue$0.850ERP, after settlement