Duplicate invoices are a common problem for businesses of all sizes. They may be attributed to a variety of reasons, such as human error or system glitches. For a large-scale business, overpaying suppliers because of duplicate invoices can be a serious problem that leaves a black hole in finances.
As in many cases, ‘prevention is better than cure’… The best way to eliminate the need to recover paid duplicate invoices is to eliminate duplicate payments in the first place. Once a duplicate payment has been made, it is often difficult and time-consuming to recover the overpayment, especially when you perform the process manually.
Sometimes, for reasons such as administrative overload, or a poorly designed or executed process, the recovery of overpayments may fall through the cracks, lost forever in the eternal paper chase of manual AP processing.
To avoid the financial distortion that AP overpayments create, and the hassle and complexity of recovering paid duplicate invoices, there is a clear business case for enterprises to leverage advanced automation technologies so they prevent the problem from happening in the first place.
Easing the problems of duplicate invoices starts with a good statement-matching solution. The data set generated by APMatching’s Statement-Matching module contains more value that extends beyond matching statements. It is used by the complementary Duplicate-Matching module to prevent and identify overpayments.
Statement-Matching works by comparing invoices against each other. The software uses multiple data points to cross-reference invoices that are received, such as the invoice number, date, amount, and supplier. Beyond matching supplier invoices to statements, and your purchase orders to supplier invoices, this information is also able to pinpoint duplication.
Duplicate-Matching uses automation to help enterprise AP departments to:
Duplicate-Matching provides assurance that duplicate invoices are identified and resolved at the earliest opportunity to prevent an invoice from being paid more than once.
The Duplicate-Matching module also identifies historic duplicate payments and drives a process to manage recovery. This resolves overpayments that have already been made, driving a process that enables enterprises to contact suppliers to request refunds.
As a value-added extra, APMatching also provides a managed service option that takes care of historic duplicate payment recovery, leaving your Accounts Payable team to focus on prevention.
Quite simply, for enterprises, the business case for Duplicate-Matching is an open and shut case – it saves money and improves financial performance.
The effective use of technology is a differentiator that provides a competitive advantage. Consequently, it is a key determinant of continuing success. APMatching automated accounts payable software provides enterprises with a sharper, more strategic edge to AP, maximising efficiency and optimising operations.
Take a personalised demo with one of our representatives, and we’ll show you how the software eliminates tedious, time-consuming manual invoice processing and automates duplicate invoice detection.
If you like what you see, we’ll give you full support so that you can more fully evaluate APMatching with a Proof of Concept (PoC), demonstrating how effective it is by using your own data.
Book a live demo to see the end-to-end processes on live customers systems and learn how easy it is to try this for free on a Proof of Concept.
Book a Live Demo to see the end-to-end processes on live customers systems and learn how easy it is to try this for free on a Proof of Concept.
