Dispute profits by a year (7)
I believe the answer is:
gainsay
'dispute' is the definition.
(I know that dispute can be written as gainsay)
'profits by a year' is the wordplay.
'profits' becomes 'gains' ('gain' can be a synonym of 'profit').
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'year' becomes 'y'.
'gains'+'a'+'y'='GAINSAY'
(Other definitions for gainsay that I've seen before include "Contradict, deny, dispute" , "Challenge, dispute" , "Speak against" .)