Research study · Independent distributorships · 2026

How do independent distributorships really run month end?

We are asking 25 owners and bookkeepers of independent surgical device distributorships how commissions, purchase orders and manufacturer statements actually get handled. Nobody publishes this. Everyone who takes part gets the full anonymized results. No sales pitch, and no phone call unless you ask for one.

Today

The dispute kit

A free spreadsheet that reconciles a manufacturer's commission statement against your delivery orders, drafts the dispute email line by line, and keeps a running total of what you recover. Yours the moment you answer.

January

The benchmark

What distributorships your size pay to get the books done, how often manufacturers pay short, how long POs sit, and what happens when a statement is wrong. Anonymized, with 25 shops behind it.

Only if you want

Fifteen minutes

If you tick the box, we send one email with a booking link for a 15-minute call. You pick the time. Your answers shape the benchmark, and you see it first.

Five questions, about a minute

The questions are about how the business runs, not about any patient or case. Answer as the owner, the bookkeeper or the person who actually chases the POs.

Name

Distributorship

Work email

Your role

State

Manufacturer lines you carry a few names is plenty

About the business

Reps on the team

Annual hospital billings, roughly

The five questions

1. Who does the books and the commission reports?

2. When a manufacturer's commission statement is short, what usually happens?

3. How long does a purchase order usually take to arrive after a case?

4. Which one costs you the most sleep?

5. What does getting the books done cost you today, all in?

Email me the anonymized results when they are ready. One email, no list. I am happy to spend 15 minutes on the phone. Send me a booking link.

That didn't go through. Please email access@fieldrepops.com with "research study" in the subject and we'll send the kit by hand.

Your answers go into the benchmark without your name or your company's. Nothing on this form asks for patient information, and the kit has no place to put any. Privacy policy.

Received

Thank you. The kit is yours.

You are on the list for the results. If you asked for a call, one email with a booking link is on its way.

Download the Manufacturer Statement Dispute Kit

Excel workbook, also opens in Google Sheets and Numbers. Start on the first tab. The example rows use made-up names; delete them before your first real month.

Who is asking

FieldRep Ops builds the operating and financial system of record for independent surgical device distributorships. It runs a live distributorship's money today. We are running this study because the next decisions we make should rest on how twenty-five shops actually work, not one. Questions: access@fieldrepops.com.