Catch duplicate supplier invoices before they get paid

The problem, in your words

The same invoice comes in twice. Sometimes the supplier sends it again as a reminder. Sometimes it arrives by email and by post. Sometimes the reference is typed a little differently the second time. Nobody spots it, and it gets paid twice. Getting the money back takes calls and emails, and sometimes it never comes back.

What we build

A tool that looks at every new invoice before it is paid and asks one question: have we seen this one before?

• It compares each new invoice with the invoices you already have.
• It flags a likely duplicate when it comes from the same supplier, for the same amount, with a date close to an earlier invoice.
• It also flags invoices with the same reference, even when the amount or the date is a little different.
• It reads references the way a person would, so small differences in spaces, dashes or capital letters do not hide a match.
• Every flagged invoice goes on a hold list, next to the earlier invoice it looks like.
• A person clears the hold list. They mark each invoice as a real duplicate or not. The tool never rejects or deletes an invoice by itself.
• It logs every check and every decision, so you can see later why an invoice was held.

You decide what "close" means for dates, and we write it into the rules.

What we need from you

• Read access to where invoices arrive: a mailbox, a folder or your accounting system.
• The invoices you already have, so new ones have something to be compared with.
• A person who clears the hold list.
• One person who can say yes.

How you know it works

On the first day we write 3 to 5 tests with you. For example: the same invoice sent twice, once with a changed reference, is held. A new invoice from the same supplier for the same amount, sent for a later month, is not held. The tool is done when it passes your tests on your real invoices.

What this page is

We build this to order. We have built tools that check data against written rules, like the delivery order operator. Fixed price, 5 working days.