Sample day-5 output: the duplicate hold list
What the duplicate invoice check hands a person on day 5 of the Proof. 20 sample invoices, 4 held, each with its evidence. A person confirms 3 duplicates and releases 1 false alarm.
Every row on this page is synthetic sample data. No real supplier and no real amount. It is shaped like one week of a UK wholesaler's purchase ledger.
The check asks one question of every invoice before it is paid: have we seen this one before? Each row below has the answer and the reason for it.
The hold list
| # | Supplier | Invoice number | Date | Status | Evidence | Amount (GBP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dairy supplier A | DA-48213 | Monday | cleared | No earlier invoice from this supplier with this number or this amount. | £1,642.50 |
| 2 | Fresh produce supplier B | FP-30917 | Monday | cleared | New number and a new amount for this supplier. | £2,915.62 |
| 3 | Packaging supplier C | PK-7714 | Monday | cleared | No earlier invoice with this number or this amount. | £2,368.80 |
| 4 | Haulage supplier D | HD/2291 | Monday | cleared | Weekly charge, same amount every week. Your rules list it as a fixed weekly charge, so the amount alone does not hold it. | £860.00 |
| 5 | Dry goods supplier E | DG-10482 | Monday | cleared | No earlier invoice with this number or this amount. | £3,912.15 |
| 6 | Cleaning supplier F | CS-5520 | Tuesday | cleared | New number and a new amount for this supplier. | £318.40 |
| 7 | Frozen foods supplier G | FZ-88140 | Tuesday | cleared | Looks like earlier invoice FZ-88104, but the amount and the week are different. | £4,207.36 |
| 8 | Chilled foods supplier H | CH-55131 | Tuesday | cleared | Replaces CH-55098, which credit note CN-2210 cancelled in full. | £1,184.40 |
| 9 | Drinks supplier J | DR-6603 | Tuesday | cleared | No earlier invoice with this number or this amount. | £2,740.80 |
| 10 | Waste supplier K | WC-1187 | Wednesday | held: same amount as last month, released by a person | Same supplier and same amount as the earlier invoice WC-1150 (not on this page), inside the date window in your rules. The service month on the invoice is different. | £395.00 |
| 11 | Dairy supplier A | DA-48266 | Wednesday | cleared | Same supplier as row 1, with a different number and a different amount. | £1,588.20 |
| 12 | Packaging supplier C | PK-7731 | Wednesday | held: likely duplicate, hold approved by a person | Same supplier and same amount as PK-7714 on row 3, two days apart. Only the invoice number is new. | £2,368.80 |
| 13 | Bakery supplier L | BK-20419 | Wednesday | cleared | No earlier invoice with this number or this amount. | £1,076.25 |
| 14 | Fresh produce supplier B | FP-30988 | Thursday | cleared | Same supplier as row 2, with a different number and a different amount. | £2,104.18 |
| 15 | Chilled foods supplier H | CH-55098 | Thursday | held: likely duplicate, hold approved by a person | Credit note CN-2210 already cancelled this invoice, and its replacement CH-55131 is row 8. Paying it pays for the same goods twice. | £1,184.40 |
| 16 | Energy supplier M | EL-774102 | Thursday | cleared | Monthly bill. A new amount, and a billing period different from every earlier bill. | £3,486.91 |
| 17 | Frozen foods supplier G | FZ-88177 | Thursday | cleared | Same supplier as row 7, with a different number and a different amount. | £3,955.10 |
| 18 | Haulage supplier D | HD/2304 | Friday | cleared | Extra run on top of the weekly charge. New number and a new amount. | £1,245.00 |
| 19 | Dry goods supplier E | DG 10482 | Friday | held: likely duplicate, hold approved by a person | Same invoice number and amount as DG-10482 on row 5, sent again with the date changed from Monday to Friday. A space in place of the dash does not hide it. | £3,912.15 |
| 20 | Pallet supplier N | PL-0456 | Friday | cleared | No earlier invoice with this number or this amount. | £540.00 |
What the person sees
The 4 held rows, each next to the invoice it matches, with the evidence and two buttons.
- Approve hold marks the invoice as a duplicate. It stays out of the payment run.
- Release sends it to be paid like any other invoice.
On this sample the person approves 3 holds and releases 1. Rows 12, 15 and 19 are real duplicates. Row 10 is a false alarm: the person presses Release, because it is the monthly fee for a different month.
A hold list with no false alarms would mean the check is too loose. That is why the hand-off exists: nothing on the hold list is paid until a person decides. The tool never rejects or deletes an invoice by itself, and it logs every decision next to its evidence.
The Proof reads and reports, it writes nothing. Writes come in the Pilot, through your own APIs, each one logged with an undo.
The totals, sample figures
- Sample total of the 20 invoices: £42,006.02.
- Sample amount cleared by the check: £34,145.67.
- Sample amount held before review: £7,860.35, the 4 held rows.
- Sample amount released by the person: £395.00, row 10.
- Sample amount held after review: £7,465.35, the 3 confirmed duplicates. Each bills for goods already billed in the same run, so this is the amount that would have been paid twice.
As the tool measures it
Rows checked: 20. Rows held: 4. Rows handed over to a person: 4. Confirmed duplicates: 3. Released as a false alarm: 1. Every cleared row carries its reason, so a person can check those too.
The Proof produces this list from your own ledger export on day 5, checked against the tests we write with you on day 1.
Contact
Send us the problem or email jayron@geurs.com