Managing and Preventing Duplicate Payments: Ultimate Guide

Professional recovery audit solutions provide essential protection against duplicate payments. Additionally, the time spent identifying and rectifying duplicate payments is time that could be better spent on more productive tasks. When duplicate payments occur, AP teams often spend time resolving these issues instead of focusing on taking advantage of early payment discounts or avoiding late fees. This distraction can lead to missed opportunities for cost savings and additional penalties. In fact, according to the Institute of Finance and Management (IOFM), organizations lose an average of 0.1% to 0.05% of their total spend on duplicate payments.

Are Manual Processes Costing You More Than You Think?

• Each accounts payable team will have their own process for handling duplicate payments.
• Brex helps maintain clean vendor records through standardized naming conventions and consistent payment information tracking.
• Regular vendor file maintenance and standardization are key to preventing these costly mistakes.
• It may initially seem like a minor clerical error, but the implications are far-reaching.
• For example, a large retail chain discovered a duplicate payment to a supplier worth $100,000.
• Additionally, large organizations may leverage more than one ERP, which can lead to duplicate supplier files.

Establish a dedicated AP email address (like ap@yourcompany.com) and make it clear to vendors that this is the only acceptable way to submit invoices. This prevents the same invoice from being sent to multiple departments or people. Remember, every duplicate payment that slips through impacts your bottom line. Addressing these common causes isn’t just about preventing errors — it’s about protecting your company’s financial health and future. A vendor might resubmit an invoice with a new date because they duplicate payments occur haven’t received payment, not realizing it’s already being processed. Or an employee might enter the same invoice twice with slightly different amounts due to a typo — $1,456 versus $1,546.

Preventative Measures for Duplicate Payments

It creates a prioritised list of every risk, showing all the relevant information staff need to investigate potential duplications. Staff are then able to investigate and act before the payment run, therefore preventing overpayments and protecting working capital before it ever leaves the business. In addition, limiting vendor payment methods can also simplify tracking and prevent making duplicate payments. By setting guidelines for accepted payment methods, businesses can reduce the chances of incorrect or duplicate payments being made. This can also help improve cash flow management by streamlining the payment process.

How to prevent duplicate invoices

Organizations must regularly scrutinize their financial transactions to spot redundancies. This process often involves comparing invoice numbers, payment amounts, vendor details, and dates of transactions. Discrepancies in these data points can signal the presence of a duplicate payment. To prevent duplicate payments, businesses should implement standardized invoice entry, maintain clean vendor data, and centralize invoice processing. Using 2-way or 3-way invoice matching, favoring digital over manual payments, and conducting routine audits are also essential controls. For businesses looking to eliminate duplicate payments, Brex offers a comprehensive solution that combines technology, process automation, and smart spend controls.

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They would stress the need for investing in robust accounting software and training employees to be vigilant. Relying on manual processes and paper invoices increases the likelihood of duplicate payments. Digital payments and electronic fund transfers (EFT) provide more control and reduce human error.

Keep up with your vendor master file

Auto-capturing and standardizing key invoice data reduces the manual entry errors that often lead to duplicates. This is where AP automation tools and centralized invoice processing can play a significant role. With AP automation, all incoming invoices are scanned and stored in a central system, making it easier to identify duplicate payments. The system can flag any potential duplicates based on invoice numbers, amounts, or vendor names. This allows the finance team to catch and resolve duplicate payments before they are processed. Implementing strong internal controls is key petty cash to preventing duplicate payments.

Best Accounts Payable Software Solutions – September 2025

By taking these steps, you’ll be able to ensure that your accounts payable processes are streamlined and efficient, while keeping costs down and relationships with vendors intact. However, if someone intentionally creates duplicate payments in order to gain additional funds, this is typically considered fraud and could result in criminal prosecution. Duplicate payments are not always considered fraud, depending on the circumstances. For example, if a duplicate payment is caused by a simple mistake or human error, it may be viewed as an innocent oversight. Built-in approval rules and automated routing ensure that invoices are reviewed by the right people at the right time.

• In other words, don’t make one payment from a vendor invoice, a second payment from a purchase order, and a third from a procurement approval.
• Regular process evaluation and reviewing accounts payable KPIs must become part of your routine, but don’t go it alone.
• Digital payments like ACH and virtual cards provide clearer audit trails and reduce tracking issues compared to paper checks.
• In the current landscape, the fusion of technology and human cooperation has given rise to a…

No matter how carefully you enter invoice details, you can’t https://nonnasitaliankitchen.co.za/index.php/2022/03/07/key-responsibilities-and-techniques-for-external/ eliminate duplication whenever human intervention is needed. They now route their invoices to a dedicated email inbox that automatically captures and processes them into a streamlined workflow. Today the company pays 90% of its invoices electronically, saving money for their team and strengthening vendor relationships.

You can set invoice tolerance limits in the automated accounts payable system to flag duplicate invoices, even if they have small differences. Let’s explore the effective ways to combat duplicate payments in accounts payable. As noted above, checks can get lost in the mail, take a long time to arrive, and may not always be deposited immediately upon their receival. As a result, checks are more likely to lead to delays and other problems, including duplicate payments.