Distributor Free Goods Credit Status Report | Standard Issue

Distributor Free Goods Credit Status Report | Standard Issue

This is the most important report listed under the Reports menu on your Astro account. This is where you will track your Redemption Reports and track your incoming Credits. Only Admin Users can view and manage these reports. Distributor Free Goods Reports are separated into three sections: Uncredited, Credited, and Reconciled. 



Uncredited Free Goods

When a customer redeems a free good from either a Frequent Buyer Program or an Offer a batch report will start compiling under Uncredited Free Goods. There is a drop-down menu provided that will allow you to view All Free Goods, Frequent Buyer Free Goods, or Offer Free Goods. Items are batched according to Distributor with the Manufacturers listed below.

If you select the red Export Details (previously called Export for Review) button Astro will create a spreadsheet containing all Uncredited items. Each item on the spreadsheet will have an assigned Astro Batch ID number in the first column. If the ID# is (-1) it means that the item has not been pulled by the distributor yet. If the item has been pulled by the distributor and is in the process of being credited it will have a positive multi-digit number assigned to it as the batch ID#. 



You can review the individual Uncredited Free Goods batches by either selecting the Distributor or Manufacturer. Selecting the distributor will open up a report containing all redeemed manufacturer items reporting to that distributor. Selecting the manufacturer will open a report containing only redeemed items made by that manufacturer.

Distributor Batch containing multiple Manufacturer items.

From here you can Export either a Free Goods Only spreadsheet or a detailed Backup spreadsheet. You also have the option of generating a Summary PDF or a By Location PDF. These you can print right off your computer if you need a paper copy for your records. These spreadsheets and PDFs can be exported or generated at any time during the reporting, crediting and reconciling process. 


Credited Free Goods 

The moment your distributors mark a batch as Fulfilled (aka Credited) it will appear under the Credited Free Goods section. Now you will know to expect your credit memo. Your distributor will send you this memo in the same manner they did before you started using Astro. Some examples of these methods are: via email, under your account on the distributor's website, or delivered to you by your driver on paper. 

Credited Free Goods


There is a drop-down menu that will allow you to filter batches according to the month they were fulfilled. This will keep your screen clean and organized allowing you to quickly match your credit memo to your batch report. The batches will still be grouped according to the distributor with the manufacturers listed below. Click on the Distributor's name to open the batch.

Opening a batch will expose that batch's Astro Batch ID#. Your distributors have been advised to reference these ID#s on their credit memos which will help you to quickly match your memos to their corresponding reports in Astro. These ID#s are also the best way to reference a batch when communicating with us at Astro or with your distributor. Many distributors also reference a Reward ID number if they want to discuss a specific redeemed item with you. 

If you need help locating the Astro Batch ID, the Astro Reward ID or the Astro Card ID there is a more detailed explanation at the end of this article.

Image A:

Click on the Description to open batch | Click Reconcile to mark it as reconciled

Now that you have matched your credit memo to your batch report using the Astro Batch ID# you can open the full report by clicking the Batch Description.

Image B:

Opened Report with options to Export Spreadsheets or Generate PDFs
From here you have the option of Exporting two kinds of spreadsheets, Free Goods Only or Backup for your records. The Backup export will contain the same info as Free Goods Only on the first tab, the second tab will contain all qualifying transactions. Or you can generate PDFs that will organize the report into an easily printable document. Now you will need to compare your credit memo from your distributor to the report in Astro. 

Once you are satisfied that your credit memo matches the batch report and your credit was issued properly click << Back to return to the previous screen. Now click the red Reconcile button to move on to the Reconcile screen.

Reconcile Screen
Now click the red Mark Reconciled button. 

Reconciled Batches

After you mark a batch report as reconciled it will move over to Reconciled Batches. Your batch reports will be stored here indefinitely just in case you need to reference them again, export a spreadsheet or generate a PDF for your records. The batches will be organized according to month fulfilled and a drop-down menu is provided as a filter to help you keep things organized. 

Reconciled Free Goods

Clicking on the title of the batch report, aka the distributor's name, will open up the report. It will look just like it did when it was under the Credited Batches section. You will be able to see the Astro Batch ID#, the date the batch was pulled by the distributor (this date appears in the Batch Description), the date the batch was fulfilled or credited, and the date you reconciled it. If you need to you can export a free goods report by clicking the red Export for Review button.



Clicking on the batch description will open up the batch entirely and allow you to view each item in the batch. It will also reveal additional export and generate buttons used to create spreadsheets and PDFs. 

Opened Reconciled Batch
If you click on the Program Names it will break down that line even more. You will be able to see the location where the item was redeemed. 

Image C:




If you click on the location name you will be able to view the customer's cards. Each card includes the customer's name, the card ID#, the redemption and the transactions leading up to the redemption. Dragging your mouse over the green punch marks will reveal the item purchased and the date it was purchased on.

Redeemed Customer Cards included in a Batch Report


To return to a previous page in the report simply click << Back until you are taken where you need to be. 

If you would like a way to record Expected, Credited and Reconciled Monetary Values on these reports please read up on our Advanced Distributor Free Goods Batches portal. If you like what you see drop us a line and request it. 

Additional Information - Tips & Tricks


How to Lookup a Report or Redemption using the Astro Batch ID or the Reward ID


If your distributor gave you either the Batch ID or the Reward ID number to lookup because they have a question for you about a specific report or redeemed card you can enter that number in the Enter Reward or Batch ID search field located at the top of any section of your Distributor Free Goods Credit Status report. Then click the magnifying glass and it will take you to the exact report or item your distributor is referencing.

Search Reward or Batch ID

How to Locate the Astro Batch ID or Reward ID Yourself


If you are trying to locate the Astro Batch ID yourself because you need to contact your distributor and call their attention to a specific batch you can find it a couple ways.
  1. Clicking on any report located under either the Credited Free Goods or Reconciled Free Goods section at least once will show you the Batch ID number. In Image A you can see it mentioned in the first column of information, number 1299.
  2. Create a General Export. This can be done by selecting the red Export for Review button located on most generalized views of your reports. Image A shows it in the upper right above the list of batch reports. You can also find this export button on the Uncredited section of your portal. The Export for Review button will export all redeemed items located in the batches listed below it, and each item will show the Batch ID in one of the columns. Several items can share the same Batch ID number. This is a good method to use if you also need to find the Reward ID numbers or the Card ID numbers. Card IDs are helpful when communicating with us if you need a card re-opened or corrected.
One thing to keep in mind is that most distributors export according to manufacturer so their batches are very large and can sometimes contain hundreds of items redeemed at dozens of retailers. You are most likely only seeing a small fraction of a much larger batch report. So the more info and ID numbers you can give them the better.

If you are trying to locate the Astro Reward ID yourself because you need to contact your distributor and call their attention to a specific redeemed item you can find it a couple ways.
  1. Create a General Export by selecting Export for Review. Same method as mentioned in option 2 above. 
  2. Create a Specific Export. This can be done by selecting a specific batch from the list of batches. For example, Image A shows Astro Batch 1299. If you were to click on the Batch Description you will see the expanded view of this batch (see Image B ). Above the list of the item in that batch there are 4 red buttons with export options. Export Free Goods Only will contain all the Reward ID numbers in column B.
  3. Click on the batch, then the item, then the redemption - until you can view the card itself. This will require you to click on the Batch Description (Image A), the Program Name (Image B), the Location Name (scroll down awhile to Image C), then you will come to a view where you can see the cards with their green checkmarks, the Customer's Name, the Card ID and the Astro Reward ID (Image D). Image D shows a Reward ID of 238939.

Image D:

Example of a Real Redeemed Card in Astro

Another helpful ID number is the Astro Card ID which is useful information to have when communicating with Astro if you need a card re-opened or corrected in some way. This number can be found using the same methods used to find the Reward ID. This is also the same number that you see located in the upper right hand corner of the cards under your customers' checkout screens or their Histories. Image D shows a Card ID of 0001468932.